New golden age for historic barn

A Central Otago period building is set to have a fresh start as a luxury retreat,

The proud new owners of a barn in the historic gold mining town of St Bathans, Central Otago, have grand plans to turn it into a ‘‘1800s style’’ luxury bed and breakfast.

Tim Groenendaal and his partner bought the property after reading about the listing on Stuff.

The pair have a passion for spinning local history into destination accommodation, and plan to retain as many of the original features as possible, while adding some creature comforts.

‘‘We’ve had success running an Airbnb on Waiheke Island, and our next move was to create a series of historic, pioneer-spirit BnBs in gold mining areas,’’ Groenendaal said, speaking from another historic cottage the pair recently bought in Reefton on the West Coast.

A location in St Bathans was a ‘‘must’’ for the couple, although they hadn’t expected to find their dream property there so quickly. They are usually based in Auckland, and bought the barn without being able to see it in person.

The 806-square-metre property comes with ‘‘extensive chattels’’, including a boat, a ute, and plenty of period furniture, that Groenendaal said immediately caught his eye.

‘‘The owner had amassed a really impressive collection of period furniture. What I love is that if you drove past it, you wouldn’t know what was inside.’’

That’s how he plans to keep the exterior. ‘‘There will be nothing modern,’’ save for some modern plumbing that will go in to replace the existing portaloo, and to run a wood-fired hot tub in the chilly southern winters.

The barn is ‘‘certainly old’’. It belonged to the same property as the town general store, which burned down.

‘‘All that’s left on the section is the barn, although no-one actually knows if it was originally used as one, or its exact age,’’ Groenendaal said.

According to homes.co.nz, the property was last bought in 2007 for $280,000. However, the council classified this as a NonArm’s Length transaction between related parties, which means the sale price may not have reflected market value.

Groenendaal said he could not share what he paid for the barn until his settlement date.

‘‘We’ll hang onto as much of the heritage as we can, and will carefully make sure that we look after everything there, inside and out, of any historical value,’’ he adds.

The barn is less than a minute’s drive from the town’s famous haunted Vulcan Hotel.

Male visitors to the hotel are fabled to be haunted by the spiteful spirit of a woman named ‘‘The Rose’’, who was murdered in one of the rooms, in the town’s gold mining heyday. ‘‘I’m happy to have a drink with a ghost one night. I’m fascinated by those stories, although I might live to regret saying that,’’ said Groenendaal.

Groenendaal said he is following his deep fascination with the gold mining era of New Zealand’s history, and hopes that these BnBs will inspire a similar interest in Kiwis who come to stay in them.

‘‘A lot of New Zealand’s wealth came from that era, and a lot of these towns are rich with amazing heritage that we want to present to New Zealanders. We’re going to do something special with this place.’’