It’s one of Queenstown’s more well-known lifestyle properties owned by one of its most well-known residents.

Long-time muso, community stalwart and marriage celebrant Peter Doyle has put his 2.4-hectare pad on the corner of Lower Shotover and Speargrass Flat Roads on the market after 32 years of ‘‘great, great memories’’.

He and his late wife Marilyn initially bought just 0.8ha (2 acres) in 1988/’89 when farmers were allowed to cut off small blocks.

Then, to their surprise, a moratorium went on building in the countryside, so they just visited their property to mow the lawn and plant trees.

After that was lifted, they had a four-bedroom ‘character’ house built in 1991 by Ken Hughes, who also designed it, and it became quite a focal point for their friends.

‘‘You either had a bloody big sheep station or a backyard, so having this was quite unique.’’

They then took the opportunity to add 1.6ha (4 acres), meaning cricket games their boys enjoyed playing in their small paddock had a larger venue, which became the ‘DCG’ (Doyle’s Cricket Ground).

A Kiwi mate suggested Australia-born Doyle round up local Aussies for a cricket team ‘‘and we’ll form a team with New Zealanders and we’ll lick the pants off you’’.

‘‘Well, that was a red rag to a bull and away I went and found, I thought, the best Aussie cricketers in town.

‘‘But the only good thing about them was they were Australian, other than that they were useless.’’

Still, he’s continued to host Australia Day trans-Tasman clashes at the DCG ever since.

Up for grabs: Peter Doyle’s four-bedroom character home

Doyle, who also hosts rehearsals for his Queenstown Jazz Orchestra at his home, says ‘‘I don’t want to leave here but I know I have to’’.

‘‘I’m getting older, six acres is too much and my boys have moved away.

‘‘The other big thing is everywhere I go I’ve got to drive, so I’m looking forward to getting to Arrowtown ’cos I know a lot of people there and you can wander down to the bowling club.’’

Local listing agent, Harcourts’ Allyra McGrath, says the property’s ‘‘perfect for someone who wants to have a lifestyle property that’s usable for horses, being big enough to provide privacy without being too big that it’s a lot of work’’.

‘‘It’s flat, there’s good water [from the Arrow irrigation scheme and a bore] and it’s super-central, between Queenstown and Arrowtown, but you can’t see anything, really, but Coronet Peak.’’

McGrath says ‘‘we’ve had inquiry from a lot of families so far, people who are wanting to just make that step up to a bigger property’’.

She stresses there’s no ability to subdivide, though Doyle thinks that’ll eventually happen.

The sale’s by deadline treaty closing today.

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