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Clawton Masonic Village
photos: operator / Village Guide
Retirement living · Westown, New Plymouth

Clawton Masonic Village

South Auckland Masonic Properties Limited · Westown, New Plymouth · 20 independent villas surrounded by native bush
Life Score
33
Basic
Capital Back
21
the money ↓
See what life here is like — then weigh what it means for your family further down.
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The village

Life here

Nestled in the leafy Westown suburb of New Plymouth, Clawton Masonic Village is a compact community of 20 villas operated by the Masonic Villages Trust, a charitable organisation founded over 60 years ago. Surrounded by beautiful native bush alive with tuis, bellbirds and kererū, the village offers independent living just minutes from the city centre. Residents benefit from the Trust's philosophy of community, family and compassion—values rooted in Freemasonry's charitable principles.

Your home

Living options

Independent Villas

The village comprises 20 standalone villas designed for independent living, each with secure lockable windows and doors.

✓ 20 villas
✓ Independent living
✓ Secure lockable windows and doors
Living options
A day in the life

What living here is actually like

Life at Clawton is centred on community connection and local convenience.

Community & Convenience

Residents enjoy an annual luncheon hosted by the Taranaki Masonic Trust, fostering social bonds within the village. The location offers easy access to Westown centre, which features a post office, local shops, cafes, restaurants and a nearby doctors' surgery. The surrounding native bush provides a peaceful, natural setting.

✓ Annual resident luncheon
✓ Walking distance to Westown shops and cafes
✓ Nearby medical services
✓ Native bush setting with bird life
Always something on
On your doorstep

Facilities & services

Lawn mowing service
General maintenance
Secure villa design
Peace of mind

Care for life, on site

If your health changes, you won't have to leave the place you know. Clawton Masonic Village offers these levels of care on site:

Independent
Care and community
Where it is

Setting & neighbourhood

Clawton Masonic Village is located in Westown, a suburb just minutes from New Plymouth city centre in Taranaki. The village sits within a beautiful natural setting surrounded by native bush, home to tuis, bellbirds and kererū (native pigeons). Westown centre provides residents with convenient access to a post office, local shops, cafes, restaurants and other services, including a nearby doctors' surgery. The Masonic Villages Trust operates six retirement villages across Taranaki, all reflecting the charitable and benevolent principles of Freemasonry.

Interested?

Like the look of Clawton Masonic?

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Now the practical part

The money — what comes back to your family

You've seen why you'd love it. This is the part most families only discover at the exit statement — so we put it in plain sight. Every figure is from the village's own filed Disclosure Statement.

Capital Back score
21
Capital-unfriendly · #482 of 520
Better than 7% of NZ villages — yet the market median is just 46. The sector is tough.
Deferred fee
20%
~$34k on a $170k unit, over 5 years
Your share of capital gain
0%
operator keeps 100% of any uplift
Time to get capital back
—
not enough resales disclosed
Fees after you leave
Continue
charged until the unit resells
7 years
Your estate receives
$180,000
Operator keeps (deferred fee)$-10,000
Share of your $170,000 back106%
Before you sign, get independent eyes on the contract.An ORA-review lawyer or independent financial adviser — never paid by any operator — checks what it really means for your family.
⚖ Get independent advice →
How the 21 is built

Nothing hidden — every component

The Capital Back score is a transparent weighting of five filed terms — you can see exactly where this village wins and loses.

Move-in fee you don't get back Deferred Management Fee — weighted 30%
20% deferred fee — lower is better.
50
Share of capital growth Capital gain to resident — weighted 15%
0% — the operator keeps any resale uplift.
0
Fees stop when you leave Weekly fees on exit — weighted 15%
Fees continue until the unit resells.
0
Interest if repayment is slow Interest on delayed capital — weighted 10%
No interest on delayed repayment.
0
The filed terms, in plain English

What the Disclosure Statement actually says

Every operator uses different words for the same thing — we normalise them so you can compare like with like.

%

Deferred Management Fee

20% of $170,000 = ~$34,000

Accrues over your first 5 years, charged on the entry price.

Market: median 30%; only 16% of villages charge under 25%.
↑

Capital gain

0% to the resident

Any increase in the licence value at resale is kept entirely by the operator.

Market: just 8% of NZ villages share any capital gain.
!

Fees & interest on exit

Watch this

Weekly fees continue until the unit resells.

Market: 220 of 520 villages keep charging weekly fees after you've gone.
Before you sign the ORA

The reckoning usually arrives too late

  • You're buying a licence to occupy, not the home — you can't sell, rent or borrow against it.
  • Roughly $34,000 is gone in deferred fees within 5 years, whatever the unit later sells for.
  • Your family carries the risk of how long resale takes — and the operator's ability to pay.
  • None of this is hidden — it's all in the Disclosure Statement most people sign without reading.
Have someone independent read it first

We'll connect you with a retirement-village review lawyer or independent financial adviser — no operator pays to be here.

Request an ORA review → Talk to a financial adviser