A high-country station that has been the backdrop for many Queenstown holiday snapshots is now itself the focal point for buyers wanting to claim its iconic landscape for themselves.

Cecil Peak station, only 10 minutes by boat from Queenstown is being marketed by Bayleys, having been in its current Singaporean ownership for over 30 years.

Bayleys salesperson John Greenwood says the opportunity presented by Cecil Peak extends beyond simply owning a high-country sheep station.

“It is more of a chance to claim a unique part of what really is part of the country’s most recognised landscapes, across the lake there it is a touchstone image for anyone coming to the Queenstown Lakes district.”

With 23km of lake frontage and country soaring to 1,978m, Cecil Peak has long been part of the district’s landscape and history, named after the son of Wakatipu founding father William Rees.

The buyer who acquires Cecil Peak will have access to its 13,087ha of high-country pastoral lease and 329ha of freehold title land that extends up two main valleys running from the edge of Lake Wakatipu.

The pastoral lease provides right to run 14,000 head of sheep, but at present only operates at between 3,500-5,000 head and up to 500 cattle.

“Realistically the farm operation covers its costs. There are challenges in the vast majority of the country that forms Cecil Peak, it’s tough country and much of it can only be accessed on foot or horseback,” says Greenwood.

“That challenge is also a big part of the station’s appeal.”

The freehold land title extends across the bulk of the station’s flat country, comprising grass and tussock for stock to run on over winter before heading into the leasehold high country over summer.

“The real untapped potential for Cecil Peak lies in its tourism opportunities. That’s not entirely new to the station. It used to host about 18,000 visitors a year in the 1960s when it was the iconic sheep station for tourists to visit.”

The tourism opportunities could be developed through the restoration of the station’s multiple late 1800s stone buildings.

Their genuine build and relatively good condition provide an opportunity to be refurbished and offered as holiday-station type accommodation.

“With about half a million foreign tourists passing through Queenstown every year just across the lake, the appeal of experiencing the high country that sits so close is undeniable.”

Hunting and fishing opportunities also abound in Cecil Peak’s back country where dozens of fallow deer are regularly culled, partly to keep them off the station’s valuable grassland country. Access into the valleys running off the lake is guaranteed, with a good range of altitude ensuring varied game opportunities.

Meanwhile, keen fishers will find plenty of opportunity within the station’s many waterways that drain into Lake Wakatipu and are easily accessible from the station’s lakeside frontage.

Alongside the multiple stone buildings, Cecil Peak also includes a farm manager’s three-bedroom Lockwood home, and two Lockwood homes used by staff along with two cabins.

Additional facilities include woolsheds, covered sheep yards and shearers’ quarters with kitchen facilities. The station is completely off-grid, having its own small hydroelectric station delivering power to all buildings.

Cecil Peak belongs to an elite group of several high-profile stations within the Wakatipu district renowned for their memorable landscape and high-country grandeur.

The most recent similar property to be marketed in the district was the 18,000ha Halfway Bay station that sold in 2022 for an estimated $30 million-plus.

Cecil Peak comes with a ratable valuation of $33 million.

“This really is one of those rare opportunities to secure a piece of New Zealand’s postcard landscape.

“Judging by early enquiry we are expecting a high level of interest in it both from within New Zealand, and overseas,” says John Greenwood.