Old Forest School sits across five acres of heritage gardens, and open lawns. Built in 1933, added to over the decades, and looked after ever since.
Formal gardens give way to wildflower meadows. Hedgerows lean into the orchard. Ancient trees shade the lawns. Gravelled paths connect buildings that have been here long enough to feel like they grew from the ground.
The Buildings
The Schoolhouse — the original 1933 building. Rimu floors, high ceilings, good bones. Works as a ceremony space, a dining room, or a quiet place to gather when the weather turns.
The Noshery — the main dining building. Long tables, warm light, the kind of room where dinner runs late and nobody minds.
The Little Barn — dancing, festoon lights, a disco ball. The evening ends here.
The Forest Cabins — four 1940s forestry workers’ cabins, restored and tucked into the native bush. Sleep eight. For those who want to stay the night and leave slowly in the morning.
The Grounds
The Round — a ceremony space beneath the canopy, encircled by the gardens.
The Walled Garden — enclosed, private, roses growing where they want. A hidden corner that feels entirely its own.
The Wildlife Pond — fringed with ferns, lilies drifting on the surface, dragonflies in summer. Old working buildings draped in wisteria form the backdrop.
The Fernery — green shade, wisteria, ferns spilling across old timber.
Oak Meadow & The School Baths — open ground at the edge of the property, wildflowers, the 1940s tennis court stretching toward the forest.
The Orchard Paths — old fruit trees, hedgerows, gravel underfoot.
The Lawns — open, generous, the forest at the edges. Where guests wander during cocktail hour and children find space to run.
The Seasons
The property changes meaningfully through the year. Spring brings blossom and fresh green canopy. Summer opens everything up — roses, long light, warmth through the evenings. Autumn turns the meadows golden and the leaves amber. Winter shows the bones of the place: mist, native forest still green, fire smoke, sculptural quiet.
Weddings and celebrations run October through April, when the gardens are at their best.
Every stone, every branch — listening.
