When Teresa and David Templeton bought a lifestyle property in Hadlow on the north west outskirts of Timaru in 2005, they wanted peace and tranquillity.

“We liked the idea of open space, and being close to town, though with the benefits of rural living. 

“Coming home and destressing at the end of the day, space for our children to grow up in an endless backyard, and the privacy when your neighbours are not on top of you: for us, those are the joys of a lifestyle property,” says Teresa. 

Looking back, she says they essentially bought a piece of land with a house on it.

“It was only a couple of years old, so just a bare paddock still, with no trees around the house. Now we have plenty of established trees in fully landscaped grounds, which has been the property’s biggest transformation in our time.”

On two hectares, the property offers the opportunity to carry stock, which the Templetons tried in the early years before deciding to lease their paddocks to a neighbour. 

“Although we love having sheep and cows out there to look at, we didn’t have the time or the patience to look after them, so it is far better all round to lease the land,” says Teresa.

With their children now adults and no longer at home, Teresa and David are making a move, and bringing in Carly Galbraith and Calvin Leen of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Timaru to market the property. Although the Templetons have lived in it as a family home, the house was originally built as a homestay, and could easily revert to that use, as Carly explains.

“It has two wings, with a central kitchen and living area, and four of the five bedrooms have ensuites. 

“As well as running an accommodation business, options for a new owner include multi-generational family living, with the house offering different things to people at different stages of life. Privacy is easy to achieve.

“Any premium level lifestyle property can be assessed by its capacity for indoor-outdoor entertaining and family life. For this property, the pool and barbecue area score at the highest possible level. In addition, its purposeful position relative to the road to ensure privacy; its stunning mountain and rural views; and its locality 10 kilometres from downtown Timaru in South Canterbury’s lifestyle dress circle make it one of the most desirable to come to market for some time,” says Carly.