Warwick House is nicknamed The Castle due to its impressive neo-gothic turret.
The South Island’s oldest mansion, which was once a home away from home for US millionaires and politicians visiting Nelson and is now being run as a high-end boarding house for professionals, has hit the market.
The sprawling property at 64 Brougham Street is a Nelson icon and is commonly known as The Castle by locals due to its impressive neo-gothic style turret.
Globetrotting Kiwis Nick and Jenny Ferrier fell in love with the sprawling property of 11 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, four kitchens, four lounges and a ballroom bigger than some people’s entire houses 21 years ago.
After living in Europe and Asia for 15 years, they decided to return to New Zealand to give their three children a Kiwi upbringing and rented a property on Brougham Street, in Nelson.
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Warwick House was just a few doors down and Jenny and the children quickly became enchanted with the property whenever they walked past.
Nick Ferrier told OneRoof he was still overseas when he received the life-changing call that the home, which dates back to 1854 and is one of the oldest substantial homes in the country, had suddenly come up for sale.
“Our oldest daughter called me in Hong Kong and said ‘dad, dad that castle is on the market. Come back and bring your cheque book’.”
The Ferriers were the only buyers at the auction for the rundown Victorian Gothic home and – despite it not featuring in their long-term plans - found themselves with both a new family home and a major renovation project.
They spent the next five years painstakingly transforming it back to a large 810sqm stately home from the five three-bedroom flats it had been converted into in the late 1930s during the war.
Locals call the historic home The Castle due to its neo-gothic turret. Photo / Supplied
“It was half empty and so run-down. There were vines growing up through the roof. The garage was completely overgrown, the staircases were completely overgrown, it was really quite a mess.”
Ferrier said nothing had been done to the house for about 60 years and they ended up ripping off false ceilings and walls to reveal the original Victorian features.
“It’s over 30 individual rooms so it took many years. We just sort of went through room-by-room basically and tore out all the false ceilings and false walls and the old bedrooms and the old bathrooms.”
There were also some good surprises along the way such as discovering a large rimu staircase that had been hidden for 70 years, original lead lights and four impressive arches.
It took them an entire year just to restore the large 100sqm ballroom to its former state and they had to remove 14 doors and windows that had been erected to make it into one of the three-bedroom flats. They even uncovered decorative cornices and the original 5.19m high ceiling when they knocked out its false ceiling.
“It was probably the largest private renovation that’s been done of an old home in NZ I would say.”
He estimated they had spent $1 million on the renovation plus five years of their time as they both worked on the restoration full-time.
The house has 11 bedrooms including some guest suites which local and overseas politicians have stayed in. Photo / Supplied
The category 2 heritage-protected Warwick House played a special role in Nelson’s history and everybody seemed to have a story about it, Ferrier said.
“We would have people come and say ‘I used to look up here at night’ and ‘it was my Rapunzel castle’, and ‘I would dream about a white knight’ and others would say ‘mum would say if I didn’t do my homework they would put me in the dungeon in the castle’.”
As their children grew up and started moving out, they opened the home to visitors running it first as a bed and breakfast and then as a small boutique hotel.
The first two guest suites were completed in 2006 and proved hugely popular with high-profile guests such as John Key before he became Prime Minister, friends of former US president John Clinton and UK politician Lord Chris Patten.
By 2010 there were seven guest suites available returning between $300 and $400 a night.
Ferrier said there was so much interest in the home that they also started hosting guided tours and numerous events such as high teas, weddings and murder mystery nights in the grand ballroom, which saw more than 20,000 people through its door during that time.
“Everybody is fascinated with the architecture and story. Some of the architecture in there is unique to New Zealand – the arches and the bay windows and the oriel windows are the best examples of that architecture.”
Ferrier said their successful accommodation business was running at 95% occupancy when Covid hit, grinding their business to a halt and forcing them to refund all their guests.
The owners spent an entire year restoring the 100sqm ballroom, which had been converted into a three-bedroom flat during the war. Photo / Supplied
The couple moved to their bach in Ruby Bay, Tasman District, during the pandemic and now live there permanently.
Their oldest daughter Dani, who had been travelling overseas until the Covid pandemic, returned to Nelson and took over the reins from her parents.
She now runs her business coaching company from the premises as well as running the property as a high-end boarding house with about 14 students and professionals from New Zealand and overseas renting nine of the rooms.
Ferrier said his daughter had created a great community and the residents regularly met up in the ballroom for yoga, movie nights and open MIC nights – some were even opened up to the wider community.
However, she was now keen to continue her travels later this year and the Ferriers have decided to sell the iconic property – which has a rateable value of $2.9m – by tender.
Summit Realty listing agent Jo Say said it was one of the most significant houses in New Zealand and was rich with period architectural features.
“It has all of this rich history inside it, but it’s also been lovingly restored and is very much a live house that’s being used.”
Say said it was a rare opportunity for someone to become the owner of such a historic property and would suit someone who wanted a large family home or to run it as boutique accommodation or a venue.
“It’s going to be people who really appreciate the beauty and the craftsmanship of this beautiful building.”
- 64 Brougham Street, Nelson South, Nelson is for sale by way of tender, closing April 12
