Sale of luxury lodge on Tukituki Rd nets Hawke’s Bay Foundation more than $3 million

Val and Dick Bradshaw's parting gift to Hawke's Bay - a house that has sold for more than $3 million. Photo / Supplied

Hawke’s Bay is at least $3 million better off, thanks to the generosity of Canadian couple Val and Dick Bradshaw.

The Bradshaws have sold their River Lodge property on Tukituki Rd, with all proceeds from the sale going to a local charity, the Hawke’s Bay Foundation.

“Theirs is truly a gift that keeps on giving and their legacy will make a profound difference to many lives in Hawke’s Bay for generations to come,’’ Hawke’s Bay Foundation executive officer Amy Bowkett said.

News that the Bradshaws wanted to gift the proceeds of the property’s sale emerged in early April and created widespread interest. At the time, River Lodge had an estimated value of $2.5 million.

The final sale price far exceeded that, although the exact amount remains confidential.

However, Tremain Real Estate, which facilitated the sale - and wavied all fees and commissions in the process - confirmed the figure was more than $3 million.

The house on Tukituki Rd is a stunner. Photo / Supplied

“There’s been a noticeable recent interest in buyer activity in the higher-end property market in Hawke’s Bay which, along with the media exposure around this story, helped us to achieve both the number of tenders and price that we did,” Tremains managing director Simon Tremain said.

“I think once the buyer understood that the bid they were putting in was effectively going to an organisation as worthy and robust as the Hawke’s Bay Foundation, they had to feel pretty good about that.’’

The Bradshaws were longtime visitors to - and part-time residents of - Hawke’s Bay for more than 20 years, before deciding to sell their Tukituki Rd property.

The house sale will benefit Hawke's Bay as a region for generations to come, the Hawke's Bay Foundation says. Photo / Supplied

In recognition of the wonderful times they had enjoyed here, the Bradshaws wanted to leave a parting gift.

In doing so, they have left it to the discretion of the Hawke’s Bay Foundation to determine how the gift will be distributed.

Not surprisingly, the more than $3 million is the largest gift ever made to the foundation by a single donor.