Peter Thiel
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Peter Thiel, the technology billionaire who co-founded PayPal and Palantir and supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, has unveiled plans to build a large complex on a 193-hectare (477-acre) estate he owns on the south island. of New Zealand.
Thiel, an early investor on Facebook who is on the board of directors, bought the property in 2015 for $ 13.5 million through an Auckland-based company he owns, called Second Star Limited.
Plans for the resort, presented to the Queenstown Lakes District Council and released by the council on Tuesday, show several unobtrusive buildings blending in with the scenery on the shores of scenic Lake Wanaka.
The images in the plans, designed by Tokyo Olympic Stadium architect Kengo Kuma and Associates, show a private residential building integrated into a slope, as well as a larger luxury accommodation with enough space for 24 people. There is also an independent meditation pod, various aquatic elements and a building that has not yet been designed.
Kengo Kuma and Associates said the goal was to “design an organic architecture that blends in with the landscape” and respects indigenous nature.
The luxurious lodge would have 10 rooms.
Spas and theaters
The so-called owner’s cabin has a spa, pool, theater, office and three bedrooms, while the guest cabin has its own spa and pool, plus a library and 10 guest rooms with views. uninterrupted north-facing to the lake. Wanaka and the Southern Alps.
“The architecture of the proposed accommodation is unique,” said Jo Fyfe, senior planner at John Edmonds and Associates, who conducted an assessment of the complex’s environmental effects.
“The careful design and placement of buildings in the landscape is reflective and recognizes the landscape environment. The friendly design will use a green roof that will use the same natural rustic planting palette as the mountains that will be located inside.”
Up to 15 employees would work at the site at peak times, but none of them would reside there, according to planning documents. It is unclear when the lodge could be operational or how much it would cost to stay there.
Kiwi properties portfolio
In 2017, it turned out that the New Zealand government had granted citizenship to Thiel.
Situated in relative isolation from the world’s largest population centers, New Zealand has become a popular destination with people of high net worth in recent years. Google billionaire co-founder Larry Page was granted residency earlier this year.
The country, where about 5 million people live, has become synonymous with “preparers”: those who try to prepare for catastrophic events that can pose a threat to humanity. Today there is even a website dedicated to people who want to prepare their families for “survival” in New Zealand.
Reports had suggested that Thiel planned to build a kind of apocalyptic-proof bunker on his estate, which is currently used as a working farm. Although some buildings appear to be embedded in hillside, it is unclear whether any of them are intended to serve as bunkers. A Thiel representative did not respond to any requests for comment.
The planned hostel consists of three pods, while a separate pod is designed to serve as a private home.
A computer generated image of the luxury lodge and the house.
The prepper mania first came to light in January 2017, when an article in The New Yorker titled “Doomsday prep for the super-rich” revealed that New Zealand is essentially like a mecca for rich prepers. It is remote, geopolitically stable and sparsely populated. It is important to note that he could also become completely self-sufficient in terms of water, food, and energy if he ever needed it.
A year earlier, Sam Altman, former president of the prestigious Y-Combinator accelerator program, told the magazine that he planned to fly to Thiel’s home in New Zealand in the event of a pandemic.
It is unclear what house Altman was referring to, as Thiel has owned several properties in New Zealand over the years, albeit on significantly smaller plots. This includes a four-bedroom house in neighboring Queenstown, which he bought in 2011 for $ 4.8 million and was later built with a panic room after a fire. He has also owned properties in Auckland.
Thiel’s love for Aotearoa
Thiel’s love for Aotearoa (the Maori name for the country) goes back a long way.
According to an in-depth investigation by The New Zealand Herald, the serial entrepreneur visited New Zealand in 1995 when he was 28 years old.
He is also a big fan of the trilogy of the movie “The Lord of the Rings”, which was shot in New Zealand. At least five of his businesses bear names inspired by JRR Tolkien’s novels. Palantir, for example, is named after the seven stones that appear in “The Lord of the Rings” that can be used to communicate with other people, while his VC company Mithril Ventures is named after a metal the fantastic series that can “protect” and be “transformative”.
According to The Guardian, when preparing, Thiel said he was influenced by a 1997 book, “The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Prosper during the Collapse of the Welfare State.”
“New Zealand is already a utopia,” Thiel told Business Insider in 2011. In his citizenship application, he said he had found “no other country that aligns more with my vision of the future than New Zealand. “.