PHOTO: The Russley Road mansion, where Calendar Girls performers were live-streamed around the clock for 12 weeks in 2020, was New Zealand’s first ‘mansion-style’ adult entertainment residence. (file photo)CALENDAR GIRLS/SUPPLIED
Christchurch strip-club mogul James Samson has offloaded his famous Russley Road estate — and now he’s packing his bags for Paris as Calendar Girls prepares for a bold European expansion.
In one of Christchurch’s biggest residential deals of 2025, Samson’s sprawling 7500sqm property — once dubbed the Calendar Girls Mansion — quietly sold for $6 million in an off-market transaction. Only last month’s $9.55m Fendalton sale topped it.
Samson confirmed on Thursday he is heading offshore to launch Calendar Girls across major European cities.
“Moving to Paris to open Calendar Girls there and around Europe… We’ve got every major city in New Zealand after 30 years, it’s time for Europe,” Samson told The Press.
Calendar Girls marketing manager James Samson.SUPPLIED
Calendar Girls marketing manager James Samson.SUPPLIEDA Huge Landholding Set for Redevelopment
The buyer, SG Residential Property — directed by developer Stacey Giles — is widely expected to redevelop the massive site.
Samson admits the land size sealed its fate.
“They’re just a developer. I didn’t have the heart to put a bulldozer through it, so they can. If you can fit 60 houses there, it was always going to happen,” he said.
The property last sold in 2000 for $555,000, making its 2025 sale price a striking reflection of Christchurch’s long-term land value growth.
Built in the mid‑1990s, the Russley Road estate near Christchurch Airport is a four‑bedroom, three‑bathroom home with a 600 sqm floor area. (File photo)Don Scott
Inside the Former ‘Calendar Girls Mansion’
Built in the mid-1990s, the estate features:
4 bedrooms
3 bathrooms
600sqm of internal living
A 7500sqm landholding near Christchurch Airport
The mansion gained nationwide attention in 2020 when Calendar Girls relocated 10 performers there for a 12-week gated, livestreamed event — the first “mansion-style” adult entertainment concept in New Zealand, mimicking high-profile US operations.
Images of dancers relaxing by the pool or filming inside the mansion turned the property into an instant talking point.
Calendar Girls: A Brand Never Far From Controversy
While Samson’s strip-club empire spans Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, recent years have also brought headlines.
In 2023, workers’ collective Fired Up Stilettos formed after 19 dancers were fired from the Wellington club.
During a nationwide tour, UK music legend Billy Bragg joined workers on the Wellington picket line, saying he was offering “night time industry solidarity.”
Despite controversy, Calendar Girls remains one of New Zealand’s most recognisable adult-entertainment brands — and now Samson wants to globalise it.
What’s Next? Europe. Lots of Europe.
Samson is now focused entirely on launching Calendar Girls in Paris and throughout major European capitals.
With New Zealand expansion complete — and his Christchurch mansion now sold — Samson says the time is right.
“We’ve got every major city in New Zealand after 30 years… now it’s time for Europe.”