There has been plenty of interest in the Speargrass Inn at Fruitlands since it was put on the market in early November.

Tall Poppy Central Otago owner Peter Hishon said they have received lots of enquiries nationally, but mostly from within the South Island, and Southland and Otago in particular.

Owned by the Cubitt family of Dunedin since 2018, the historic building was originally built in 1870 as a hotel, and has also been used as a restaurant and gallery over the years.

Alexandra locals Bert and Annette Kemp carried out an extensive renovation on it back in the mid-1980s, and people would frequent the restaurant for morning and afternoon teas.

In the 1990s, it was used for birthday parties and Christmas parties, and has always been an iconic part of Central Otago.

Peter said It had great potential for a wedding venue because there weren’t many other options around the district.

Sandy Cubitt is an interior designer and has spent the past few years doing up the whisky room, adding new lighting and furniture, and also sealing the roof and stone walls to future proof the building.

It has a rateable value of $1.09 million and comes with a gallery, the commercial kitchen and chef’s residence above with an ensuite, as well as a separate accommodation unit with three ensuite rooms, the whisky room, established trees and 4500sqm of land.

Fruitlands was once a thriving community back in the early 1900s, which had two schools and the land was originally subdivided for orcharding.

The Fruitlands estate originally had 40,000 apple trees planted, but according to Wikipedia, only one crop was ever exported - the hard winter frosts destroyed most of the trees.