The price of luxury

After being on the market for more than two years, Moose Lodge may soon get a new owner, thanks to proposed changes to the Overseas Investments Act. Photo / Supplied

It has hosted royalty, prime ministers and celebrities, but for more than two years, Moose Lodge has been closed, awaiting a new owner.

The remote retreat, on the shores of Lake Rotoiti, near Rotorua, was mothballed in 2006 when its owners decided to sell up. An overseas buyer offered more than $10 million for the 38.3ha property in 2007, but withdrew after a six-month wait for Overseas Investments Office approval.

Since then the 21-room lodge and its golf course have been largely deserted, the elegant grounds kept in shape by a caretaker.

The property, which has a 2008 Capital Valuation of $7.8 million, is being sold by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

National director Dean Humphries was watching with interest the Government's proposed changes to the Overseas Investments Act, which could make it easier for foreign buyers to invest in such properties.

The Government wants to make foreign investment simpler, while protecting sensitive land, assets and resources.

The buyers who offered more than $10 million were from Southeast Asia and intended to spend considerable money on the property, Humphries said. "It would have been up with Huka Lodge. There are very few local buyers for a property like this."

Built in 1931, Moose Lodge was a popular hideaway for dignitaries and celebrities wanting a private holiday. The Queen and Prince Phillip relaxed there after their 1954 tour of New Zealand, and Princess Anne and Prince Charles also holidayed at the lodge.

The walls of the billiard room and library are decorated with photos of the lodge's most famous guests, including Dame Margot Fonteyn, Pierre Cardin, Sir Keith Holyoake, Robert Mitchum, former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Viscount Cobham and Sir Walter Nash.

Its name dates to 1898 when the lakeside land was bought by Canadian Frank Reyner from local Maori. He built a cottage on the property for weekend fishing trips, and mounted four mooseheads on the outside walls.

Reyner died in 1931 and the property was bought by a friend, Sir Noel Cole, who filled a swamp, planted thousands of trees and built the lodge.

Cole died in the 60s and by the time Errol and Noeline Officer bought the lodge in 1983, the property had suffered years of neglect. They restored the lodge to its 1930s style.

The current owners, a partnership of two New Zealand-based Singaporeans and a Japanese partner, bought the property in 1994 and added a deer farm. They extended and upgraded the lodge and created a double nine-hole golf course, on which 18 holes can be played using 12 fairways.

Today, the lodge is full of memorabilia from a bygone era, including New Zealand paintings, antique furniture and crystal chandeliers.

In a boatshed by the jetty is the lodge's original MV Moose, a 30-foot kauri launch built by Cole and used to take guests - lounging in wicker chairs - out on the lake for cocktails.

The lodge has indoor and outdoor thermal baths, one pool housed in an ornate poolhouse on the lake shore.

Humphries said it was difficult to value but offers above $5 million would be considered.