The Award Winning Old Doctor's Residence located in the historic precinct of Naseby, Central Otago, has been sensitively restored by the husband and wife team of Grant and Jan Bean into gracious, luxury bed and breakfast accommodation. Take a break at this highly rated Qualmark Boutique and Lodge residence when cycling the Otago Central Rail Trail. Or come for a relaxing escape and explore this unique part of New Zealand – our World of Difference.
THE RESIDENCE
The Old Doctor’s Residence in the centre of Naseby began life in the early 1870s as a tiny gold miner’s cottage. Any materials available were used for building – corrugated iron imported from the United Kingdom and broken down packing cases which had held the belongings of these new immigrants to New Zealand. Newspapers were used not only as backing for the more elegant wallpaper, but also to eliminate draughts.
A decade later, another similar cottage was added. This extra space provided successive town doctors with their waiting room and surgery. With little available timber to hand, this dwelling was built from bricks crafted from the local clay at Dansey’s Pass.
In 1895, when New Zealand-trained surgeon Robert Church occupied the house, Naseby was promoted as “one of the cleanest and healthiest towns in the colony; it possesses an excellent climate and atmosphere”. At this time, the busy town boasted a Courthouse and Warden’s Office, County Council Chambers, a Town Hall, Masonic Hall, Athenaeum, a District Hospital, Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic places of worship, a state school and a Roman Catholic school, a flour mill, and several hotels and stores.
And in the early years of the new century, further residential accommodation was built onto the Doctor’s Residence in the style of the Victorian villa. Newspapers dated 1902, and used as wallpaper backing, have recently been found in the villa section of the house.
These three disparate units have combined seamlessly to create the gracious dwelling which is now The Old Doctor’s Residence luxury bed and breakfast.
BEDROOMS:
Both bedrooms are tastefully decorated in tones of earth and sky – perfectly relaxing colours inspired by the vast Maniototo landscape.
Our wonderfully comfortable super king beds are dressed with top-quality cotton sheets. These are teamed with a goose down underlay, quilt, duvet and pillows from Novadown in Dunedin. We also provide you with specially woven soft grey blankets and distinctive throws from the Stansborough textile mill in Lower Hutt.
The Stansborough sheep station in the Wairarapa hosts a unique flock of grey sheep, which historically originated from an island off the coast of Sweden. More recently, the lustrous, silky fibre created from their fleeces was chosen to be woven into costumes for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.