Queenstown, New Zealand
139 Frankton Road
Five luxury villas cascading down a dramatic hillside, overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Italian contemporary architecture engineered for one of Queenstown's most challenging sites.
Five luxury villas cascading down a dramatic hillside, overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Italian contemporary architecture engineered for one of Queenstown's most challenging sites.
139 Frankton Road is a multi-residential luxury development on the outskirts of Queenstown, comprising five individually designed villas that step down a steep hillside to capture panoramic views of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountain ranges.
Designed by an Italian architect with a New Zealand practice, the scheme blends Italian contemporary design language with practical Kiwi construction sensibility. The development evolved from an initial concept of three detached houses into the current five-villa configuration, maximising the site's extraordinary aspect.
The site's steep topography demanded an innovative access strategy including an inclined elevator system — effectively a private cable car — covering the 70-metre distance and 30-metre vertical rise from the garage level at Frankton Road down to the lower villas. Five single-stacker garages are positioned at the top of the site with direct access to Frankton Road, approved by NZTA.
Designed by an Italian architect with a Christchurch-based studio, blending Mediterranean design sensibility with practical New Zealand construction.
An inclined elevator system provides access across the 70m distance and 30m vertical rise from the garage deck to the lower villas.
Unobstructed views of Lake Wakatipu to the south, east, and west. The western boundary abuts council reserve, ensuring views are permanently protected.
Direct access to the Frankton Trail at the base of the site — a 15-minute lakeside walk into Queenstown CBD.
Each villa is designed for privacy with individual external terraces, gardens, and viewing areas tailored to its position on the hillside.
Complex topography addressed through geotechnical engineering, staged earthworks, and coordinated construction methodology across all five villas.