Claremont luxury heritage lodge steeped in history

Claremont Country Estate was formerly part of one of the great North Canterbury Estates – the “Double Corner” Estate, one of the oldest great Canterbury farming estates.

The limestone homestead was built by Captain Weeks in 1866 and named “Claremont” after Queen Victoria´s private residence. Hand-cut limestone blocks, quarried on site, were used. This was quite a feat at that time as there were no roads and the only access was on horseback via the river bed. The homestead, which now offers luxury accommodation, is one of Canterbury's notable country houses and is listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. It is also one of the few limestone houses in the country.

This historic homestead was lovingly restored to its former glory during 1999 and 2000 and modernised to create unique luxury heritage accommodation.

The famous geologist Julius Von Haast lived at Claremont at the time he discovered Moa bones in the nearby Glenmark Swamp. These moa bones were sold to museums around the world and raised revenue that was used to fund and found the delightful Canterbury museum in Christchurch.

The estate boasts stunning scenery and a treasure trove of some of the most amazing geological features in NZ. In 1872 Alexander McKay discovered the fossilized remains of a plesiosaur at Claremont. These remians are now in the Canterbury museum. This was one of the earliest significant fossil finds in New Zealand. Since then the fossilized remains of over 134 vertebrates have been removed from Claremont and as recently as 2004 the complete head of a mosasaur was found on the property.

During the 1980´s the “KT boundary” was discovered at Claremont and this contributed to the conclusions of Louis Alvorez that planet Earth had been hit by a giant meteor 65 million years ago. The remains of the world´s oldest penguin remains were also recently found here leading scientists to conclude that birds co-existed with the dinosaurs.

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