– Couple ditch dream build after buying legendary architect\u2019s Coromandel bach<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThey [motel units] were derelict. They had broken windows, exposed wiring \u2013 it was totally abandoned, but the restaurant [Lakeland House] was flourishing.\u201d <\/p>\n
The friends spent a year renovating the self-contained units and landscaping the grounds to create direct access from the accommodation and restaurant down to the water.<\/p>\n
Braxmere Lodge, which offers 10 self-contained lakeside holiday apartments, officially opened its doors in November 2013.<\/p>\n
Annabel said her family had spent several Christmases there and every January she booked out all 10 apartments for a long weekend to spend with friends.<\/p>\n
![\"Braxmere](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2f888cd0384d83e1f49c6c120ae2472f.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Annabel Whisker (far right) books out the lodge for a long weekend every January and invites a group of friends to join her family. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cEach family has a unit, and we take boats, water skis, paddle boards, fishing rods and biscuits. We have created lifelong memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annabel said the lodge was in an underrated but very special lakeside spot. \u201cIt is a pretty sleepy village, I guess. I\u2019d like to think that one day it\u2019s something people would say is an untapped market.”<\/p>\n
Braxmere Lodge and the restaurant (when it had been running) had also benefitted from the neighbouring and more established villages of Pukawa, Kuratau and Omori, which were popular holiday spots, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe customer base for the restaurant was massive from those areas, but also often those people would have guests staying at Braxmere because their baches or houses didn\u2019t have the capacity for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The neighbouring manager\u2019s house, which they bought in 2016, is also included in the sale. Annabel said it would suit someone with an interest in food and beverage and wanted to reinstate the restaurant, which had been closed since the last tenant left in August last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would only sell it altogether because we believe it gives the owner or manager a house to live in and then keep the restaurant and the accommodation as the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThere is a huge demand for the restaurant to reopen and for boaties to make their trip to Waihi Bay for meals and refreshments on the edge of the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annabel said the friends were sad to be selling, though. \u201cIt is a really special spot for our family. It\u2019s probably going to be really tough for our [four] kids to go there for the last time, but I think it\u2019s definitely time for somebody to come in and give it the next level that it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
– 88 and 104 Waihi Road, Tokaanu, Taup\u014d, is for sale for $3m plus GST if any<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– Two farming couples transformed an abandoned fishing lodge in Tokaanu into Braxmere Lodge, now selling for $3m.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1258,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-490409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Braxmere](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8160566b709dcec9b7ddf131950c93fa.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Braxmere](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b1ad945e2b2054a9a0a04866644b0cef.jpg\")
<\/p>\n