Testimonials

Drive into tranquility and be over awed by the beautiful white estate house. Ruby and Sapphire came to enthusiatically greet us followed by the warm welcoming  Stuart and Jane.  Our room was sumptuous and impeccably clean and the whole house and grounds were a sensuous delight that clung to us and made the stay absolutely wonderful.

I went for a quiet spell and to recharge. It was perfect. Loved the gracious grounds, and the warm hospitality. It is dog friendly and mine had a ball.

“Have just arrived back in Australia after 3 wonderful nights at Tipapa Estate, exploring the local region and wineries of the area with my wife and daughter. Tipapa is a historic country home with expansive grounds and beautiful gardens. The accommodation is something else – the bedrooms are enormous and very comfortable. Jane and Stewart are wonderful hosts. You can sample their fantastic home cooked food. Tipapa is a dog friendly venue , complete with Ruby and Sapphire the indomitable German Shorthaired Pointers. Located adjacent to Woolshed, a late Nineteenth Century woolshed that is a premiere wedding venue on the South Island. We left Tipapa Estate feeling relaxed and reinvigorated. This was an absolute first class holiday experience.”

This place is a slice of heaven! Our visit was in early Spring and the flowers and trees were freshly blooming. The home and property overall is stunningly beautiful. Our room was very spacious, the bed and pillows were super comfortable and we took advantage of the bed warmer to preheat before snuggling in for the cold night. Everything was so clean and well maintained. Both Jane and Stewart are such wonderful hosts. The breakfast spread was yummy. We got to try some of Jane’s juice and jams she made, and Stewart’s homemade sour dough bread (from starter they keep alive). We took them up on the opportunity to share a family meal with them, along with another family staying there at the same time. Stewart cooked an awesomely delicious Thai dish and Jane made a very tasty Pavlova for dessert. Jane shared stories about the history of the estate and people that had lived there, and took us all around the property showing us the plants and animals. The place is great for large gatherings and I could see why people would be tripping over themselves to book this gorgeous place for their weddings. Otherwise, such a great place to just relax, unwind, breathe in the fresh air, and take in a wink of country life. We can’t thank Jane and Stewart enough for their gracious hospitality. Love them; love it all!

Loved our stay at the bed and breakfast.
Jane and Stewart went above and beyond – very friendly and helpful.
Absolutely stunning house, super peaceful and relaxing. Also, lots of interesting history.
The homemade apple juice and home grown stewed apricots for breakfast also added a special touch.

“We would like to thank you again for your hospitality, we have enjoyed our stay in your beautiful home. We will certainly come back and hopefully the weather will be better next time!”

“I just wanted to say a big thank you to you both for your wonderful hospitality. Tipapa was the perfect venue for our weekend catch up with the others, and we felt so relaxed and at ease in the house. We will certainly be telling others about it.”

We had our wedding reception at the Woolshed at Tipapa Estate and stayed in the homestead over the weekend with friends and family.
It was a no brainer to pick this venue with its dog friendly approach, beautiful grounds and relaxed atmosphere. We didn’t need to look any further. Working with Jane, Stewart and Kate was fabulous – pragmatic, friendly, helpful, willing to cope with more unusual requests such as smoking our own salmon in a charcoal fired smoker.
The Woolshed is beautiful but rustic, a lovely combination of history with the ability to use the wooden features to create a more modern vibe, nothing too fancy, and that’s the beauty of it. Stuart’s woodcraft and quirky eye can be seen in hand built benches and even the men’s urinal has an individuality to it (you’ll have to visit to see this). Setting up was all hands on deck and cups of tea on offer all around, a lovely way to start the weekend.
Jane and Stewart are fabulous hosts with a couple of awesome German shorthaired pointers with lots of playful energy. Our own dogs were readily welcomed which made the whole weekend very relaxing for us. The four B&B rooms are super-comfortable with their own individual theme and history. Peeking out the windows onto the amazing gardens is a bonus particularly at the quieter times of day (although the windows were useful for yelling at brides trying to hide from the madness in the gardens).
We had our wedding at the Woolshed but also stayed at the estate for 2 nights. We had an great BBQ dinner on the Friday night prepared by the folks at Fossil Rock and heated on the BBQ by Stewart. We had dinner on the patio overlooking the grounds and the setting and food was amazing also catering well to vegans and vegetarians. Finishing up in the lounge with a crackling fire was very cozy.
Breakfast on the wedding day was very relaxed adapting to people also getting hair and makeup done. Special touches like Stewart’s tomato sauce and the home-made bread and fruit juice made it personal and thoughtful with so much produce coming from the estate. We had lots of cool chats to Jane and Stewart along with good coffee which regularly topped up Glen’s caffeine quotient. We can’t wait to return with our dogs to remember our magical wedding day at Tipapa Estate and the lovely weekend we had with special friends and family.

Absolutely stunning venue, with even better hosts! It was a joy to have a wedding in the beautiful gardens and The Woolshed was perfect as a reception venue. Highly recommended!

“We had a lovely stay at Tipapa Estate. The grounds and the building are beautiful. Jane made us feel right at home and made a wonderful breakfast including freshly baked bread and fruit from the garden. We loved that we could bring our dog, there was lots to explore and the resident dogs (Ruby and Sapphire) are very well behaved and friendly. I would definitely recommend and look forward to coming back again.”