The Sargoods and Edgewater Hotel

Wānaka

19 Jan

Percy Sargood relocated to Dunedin New Zealand in December 1890, travelling from Sydney on the Zealandia. In 1891 he commenced work as the manager of the Christchurch and Dunedin Sargood Company warehouses, and the boot factory of the firm. He rose up the ranks from junior partner to senior resident partner in 1894. In 1902 he took over full control of the now semi-independent New Zealand operation. The New Zealand business became a limited company in 1907 under the name of Sargood, Son, and Ewen Ltd., with Percy Sargood as governing director.

Percy would present motivational speeches to the staff to remind them of the need to focus on customer satisfaction. He strongly believed in the motto of “Fair trading and fair dealing” in business dealings and all his community engagements.

Percy was part of a large group who visited Otago in January 1912 to assess the expansion prospects of agriculture and the need to extend the railway. In mid-February 1912, Percy Sargood and William Ernest Sargood (Percy’s youngest brother) were guests of Charles Turnbull, owner of the Wanaka Station. Later that month a ballot was held at Cromwell for the three runs subdivided from the Criffel section of the Wanaka Station, with allocation of Run 511 to John Wrightson, Run 512 to Harry Wood and Run 513 to Maria J Smith. The remaining land from the subdivision of Wanaka Station was purchased by Percy Sargood in March 1912 from Mr R.M Turnbull.

The station consisted of a large area of freehold, which could be made profitable by the implementation of irrigation. The land was split ownership between Percy and his wife, Lucy Sargood (née Ormond), with Percy owning 1326 acres and Lucy owning 1334 acres. Following the purchase of the land, Sargood made a presentation to the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce outlining how small holdings and dense population of settlers could be supported with availability of power and water for irrigation by building a hydro scheme between Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea.

The Wanaka Station farming activities grew in size and diversification under Sargood’s operation. The area of orchard trees grew to approximately 10 ha, largely located on the east side of Cardrona Road north of Orchard Road. Fruit trees included apples, pears and plums. Other farming activities included cattle, sheep and horses. The Station achieved many awards for apples, cattle and sheep at the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society.

The two original Wānaka Station homesteads were destroyed by fire, first in 1914 and then again in 1931. The foundations of the latter were the only aspect of the building to survive and have been preserved in Homestead Park, along with the original gardens and fruit trees.

In 1935 Percy Sargood was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his business and philanthropic activities. He died at Dunedin on 5 November 1940, at his residence, Marinoto in Maori Hill, Dunedin, following a period of illness. In 1946, his daughter Gulielma MacPherson purchased the land owned by Percy in a Dunedin auction for £7100 for farming sheep and keeping orchards. The land owned by Lucy Sargood was auctioned but not sold at the same time, and it seems likely it was purchased by the MacPherson’s later on.

At his death, Sargood directed that the bulk of his estate should be converted into a charitable trust fund (The Sargood Bequest) for the benefit of the arts and the youth of New Zealand. He left Lady Lucy with only household goods, as she was wealthy in her own right. During the period 1939-1974 the trust also received a steady income from the company Sargood Son and Ewen averaging £14,000 per annum from 1939 up until the mid-1960’s

From 1970 onwards, the Sargood family have given many community land donations, including parts of the Wānaka golf course, Homestead Park, and the Te Kākano Trust.

Percy Sargood’s grandson, Rolfe Mills, was Project Manager for the Rippon subdivision in the late 1970s, including Sargood Drive. It was he who identified a 4-hectare block of land for the Edgewater Hotel. In the early 1980s, Roger Milson and Richard Paynter of Christchurch negotiated with Mills to build the hotel. Don Donnithorn, a respected Kiwi architect, collaborated on the design of the hotel’s building, inspired by farm buildings of Central Otago.

Work on the site began in 1985 with Paynter & Hamilton Construction. A local motel was purchased to accommodate the tradespeople who travelled to work on the Hotel. Edgewater opened in July 1986 with an inauguration ceremony by the Minister of Tourism, Rt Hon Mike Moore. It was originally run by Quality Inn, an Australian hotel chain, but this was taken over by a board of shareholders.

In 2004, Edgewater’s Pavilion was constructed to accommodate for weddings and events.