Welcome home – Te Rangi Lodge

It’s not often you find an historic Wairarapa homestead where the owner’s story is equally impressive as  that of the property, but Te Rangi Lodge is one such place.
By Denver Grenell.

Craig and Dawn Goodwin bought the 150-year-old homestead in late 2024 and opened it as a lodge earlier this year, but it is their journey to get here that fascinates. Craig, Wairarapa born and bred, spent many years in the Royal Air Force, having enlisted at just seventeen. Years later, after working in East Timor, he was shoulder-tapped for a diplomatic role with the United Nations. While on assignment in Sudan, he met the US-born Dawn – and the rest – as they say, is history.

The couple’s work took them around the globe, from Iraq and Lebanon to New York and Geneva. It was while posted in Kenya that the Goodwins began hatching plans to return to New Zealand and open a lodge. “We used to enjoy going out to these small lodges in Kenya that had family-style dining. So we always had this idea of setting up a lodge in the style that we experienced there,” Craig says.

The 150-year-old homestead was built from timber sourced from the property.

When it came to moving back to New Zealand, Dawn recalls, “Craig’s parameters were the Wairarapa and Wairarapa only (laughs). And mine were to be in the country as much as possible.” They found the perfect place in the stately Rangitumau homestead, just north of Masterton. And with their daughter Gwynneth due to start Year 11 at school, the move, a homecoming of sorts for Craig, came sooner rather than later.

The homestead was built in 1877 by Englishman James Stuckey, who doctors had ordered to convalesce in New Zealand following an injury at sea. Not one to do things by halves, Stuckey imported a full workforce of builders and gardeners from England to realise his vision, utilising the timber found on the property.

Extensive grounds are a feature of the property.

One hundred fifty years on, the house offers accommodation for groups large and small, with the deluxe King bedroom, the family suite or the option of booking the whole house for larger groups. The first weekend they opened just happened to coincide with the 2025 Golden Shears shearing competition, which saw the Goodwins hosting eight-time Golden Shears winner Rowland Smith and family. The rooms are spacious and elegant, tastefully decorated with artworks and furniture pieces collected on the Goodwins’ travels. “We like to bring in elements from all the places we’ve lived,” Dawn says.

 But Te Rangi Lodge isn’t just a luxurious place to stay; it can also cater (literally) to those with an appetite, with Craig’s penchant for European-style food an added feature. Te Rangi has hosted several themed dinner nights recently, including a whisky and wine paired menu for visiting guests during their stay. Craig has always loved cooking, and he found it a necessary de-stresser from his work at the UN. “After a long day at the border in Lebanon, I would come home and just cook straight away to unwind.”

Craig and Dawn Goodwin – at home in Te Rangi.

 Dawn recalls going to wineries in Lebanon and for long lunches “with salads, and tabouleh and hummus, then a meat course and a fish course, sitting on these long tables enjoying the culture of food and wine.” That ethos underlies the menus offered at Te Rangi. If dishes such as broccoli risotto, Wairarapa beef rib on polenta, with Marsala tiramisu for dessert pique your tastebuds, then keep an eye out for similarly themed dinners in the near future. Craig and Dawn also hope to host larger Mediterranean-style outdoor lunches during the warmer months.

 The now ten-acre property also features a swimming pool, a pond that, interestingly, seems to attract ducks during duck shooting season, plus James Stuckey’s original well, which supplies fresh water to this day. Though Te Rangi Lodge is a world away from Lebanon and Kenya –  its front deck offering sweeping views of the Tararuas and the rolling farmland – Craig and Dawn have woven their story into their new home.
For more info and to book, see https://www.terangilodge.co.nz