US-born couple James Glucksman and James Boussy took over the luxury accommodation in 2010 after moving to Oamaru from China, where Mr Glucksman was working as a health economist.
"We were looking for something new to do and somewhere new to do it and we wanted to go into hospitality," Mr Glucksman said.
"It couldn’t be typical, and New Zealand sounded like a nice place and we found the lodge and leapt into it head first."
Admittedly, neither man had any hospitality experience.
Over the years, the couple developed a distinctly hands-on approach, from tailored breakfasts to dinners cooked by Mr Glucksman. Now, after building a new home in Kakanui, they felt ready to move one — even though they still enjoyed running the business they had poured so much work into, Mr Glucksman said.
"We’ve completely renovated it.
"We replaced the roof, we expanded the annex building to make the rooms there larger, we refinished and refurnished and renovated every room. We installed insulation, we built the wall on the streets, we replumbed it, rewired it, built the patio between the two buildings. We’ve done a lot."
That investment, combined with their personal style of hosting, has paid off.
"We get almost universal positive feedback, both for the lodge and for the experience of staying in Oamaru," Mr Glucksman said.
"The thing guests say more than anything else is they wish they could have stayed longer."
"They’re generally just like everybody else."
Dame Kiri, often portrayed as a diva, was a case in point.
"I was extremely nervous because it was early on in our tenancy," he said.
"But she was one of the loveliest guests we’ve ever had. I mean, she was absolutely stupendous. She was here for three nights. She was showing us pictures of her dogs and playing with our dogs and hanging out in the garden and she was a lovely, lovely guest."
The lodge is now well established internationally, particularly with travel agents and clients in the UK, Europe, Australia and the US. But Mr Glucksman credits local support for their success.
"It’s all exceeded our expectations. We started with a completely blank slate — the amount we did not know could fill a book," he said.
"What really, really helped me a lot was making friends with local people."
He singled out Toni McLennan for introducing them to prominent Waitaki Valley philanthropists Doug and Gloria Hurst just weeks before their first guests arrived.
"He was having a birthday and they wanted to stay.
"We were brand new and had no idea what we were doing, but they knew that."
They seemed to enjoy it and booked again.
"And that’s just the kind of overwhelming support that we got from all Oamaruvians as newcomers. We were foreigners coming in, completely cold, and people really, really, really treated us well."
That backing continued during later immigration difficulties.
"People leapt to our aid. It was really touching and probably the highlight of our experience."
Their new Kakanui home will include guest space, allowing them to continue hosting on a smaller, more casual bed-and-breakfast scale.
The five-bedroom Pen-y-bryn Lodge is for sale through Bayleys and has already attracted interest.
"There’s been consistent expressions of interest, not yet reaching fruition," Mr Glucksman said.
"But we’re not at a stage where we’re worried about it.
"We don’t feel like there’s a definite sell-by date and we’re still enjoying it. We enjoy the guests and we’re still busy."
