{"id":561340,"date":"2026-08-07T02:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T02:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/561340\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T02:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T02:07:08","slug":"its-a-one-off-alpaca-farmers-chapel-a-global-hit-with-tourists-and-now-for-sale-all-things-property-under-oneroof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/561340\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a one-off\u2019: Alpaca farmers\u2019 chapel a global hit with tourists, and now for sale, All things property, under OneRoof"},"content":{"rendered":"

– The Old Chapel in Riwaka has attracted strong buyer interest after listing for $649,000.<\/p>\n

– Paul and Julie Greenaway transformed the 1920s Brethren chapel into a cosy two-bedroom home.<\/p>\n

– They are selling after four years to move closer to family and travel by campervan.<\/p>\n

A charming 1920s chapel with a modern twist seems to have everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.<\/p>\n

The Old Chapel at 441 Main Road, in Riwaka, Motueka<\/a>, hit the market less than two weeks ago with an asking price of $649,000.<\/p>\n

Within days of the listing going live, the agents were inundated with inquiries.<\/p>\n

K Real Estate agent Rebecca K told OneRoof it was incredible to attract so many serious buyers so quickly. \u201cWhich is unusual because it\u2019s not a huge house.\u201d<\/p>\n

But owners Paul and Julie Greenaway aren\u2019t surprised their little chapel is wooing buyers; they felt the same way when they snapped it up four years ago for $630,000.<\/p>\n

The couple had been looking to downsize from their alpaca farm in the Moutere Valley when they spotted the chapel hidden behind a high fence on Riwaka\u2019s main street.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The 1920s chapel conversion has been cleverly renovated to include a modern kitchen and bathroom. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Original features include native timber such as matai floorboards and rimu beams. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Paul told OneRoof that they knew it was the one from the first open home. \u201cIt had the character we liked and have looked for in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple had just a few days to carry out their due diligence before the two-bedroom property went to auction. They were relieved they were the only ones who turned up to bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were pretty excited to secure it at the auction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple ran it as a holiday let at first. It was a hit with overseas guests who wanted to stay somewhere special while visiting Abel Tasman. \u201cWe were full, it never stopped,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

Discover more:<\/p>\n

– Who bought Southland\u2019s mystery mansion? Foreign buyer deal leaves locals guessing<\/a><\/p>\n

– Selling up, but not going anywhere: Christine Rankin on real estate, death threats<\/a><\/p>\n

– Scots chasing southern dream snap up God Defend New Zealand composer\u2019s villa<\/a><\/p>\n

Then last year, after selling their nearby farm, the couple moved into the chapel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal was to have the chapel as our next step to enable us to downsize and still have a nice place to live while we thought about where and when we go next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul said the property dated back to at least the 1920s when it was a private Brethren chapel in the grounds of the historic Cederman House.<\/p>\n

The chapel was then converted into a two-bedroom residence in the mid-1980s. \u201cVarious owners since then have put their stamp on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The owners found an original hymn board, which had been rescued from a church damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes, after a long search. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Soft furnishings by the owners\u2019 favourite designers Orla Kiely complete the mid-century look. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Paul and Julie replaced the roof and windows, repolished the wooden matai floors, painted the exterior, and redecorated to their own taste. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to be sympathetic to the original building but modernised it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple loved hunting out the right pieces for the property and after months of searching, located a hymn board rescued from an earthquake-damaged church in Christchurch. They had also found an old church pew.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years we\u2019ve done a fair amount of property development, and we love sourcing old pieces that work with new pieces,” Paul said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are the chapel bits and the mid-century and modern bits. The kitchen and bathroom are modern, but you can step back in time once you are in the lounge or the bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s a one-off. You hear about a converted church, and you think it\u2019s a big old cold stone building that someone has tried to turn into a house. This is like a little cottage with lots of timber, original floors, an open staircase that leads up to a mezzanine level, and it\u2019s really cosy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple said they were selling up to move closer to family. \u201cWe\u2019re going to sell up and travel around in our campervan for a bit before we decide where we go next.\u201d<\/p>\n

– 441 Main Road, in Riwaka, Motueka, is for sale for $649,000<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– The Old Chapel in Riwaka has attracted strong buyer interest after listing for $649,000. – Paul and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,1258,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-561340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-latest-news","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561340","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=561340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}