Cliff & Susan Peiffer, Terranora, NSW
1571 · 2026This is the story of two people, a terminal diagnosis, a 450 year old palace in India, and a decision to build something that would outlast every reason not to. Forty-one years of love, a diagnosis that should have ended everything, and seven years turning a dream into stone. This is the long version.
Cliff met Susan forty-one years ago and has told anyone who would listen ever since that he found his soulmate. Thirty-six years of marriage followed, four children together (Wade, Amber, Brad and Brandy), and a life carried along by adventure, travel, business and years working abroad in South-East Asia, culminating in building a successful public company together. They had no idea yet that the hardest chapters were still ahead. Or that they would face every one of them together.
“Three to six months. That was the prognosis. He was forty seven years old.”
At forty-seven, Cliff was diagnosed with Amyloidosis, an extremely rare terminal illness affecting fewer than 1,000 people on the planet. He was given three to six months to live. He did not accept it. With an unshakeable positive attitude, an incredibly supportive family and exceptional medical treatment, Cliff and Susan sit here seventeen years later to tell their story: of how, and why, they built an authentic copy of a 450 year old Indian palace.
Fatepur Sikri was founded in 1571 as the capital of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, one of the most progressive rulers of his age. Akbar had three principal wives: one Muslim, one Christian, and one Hindu. His favourite, by every account, was his Hindu wife, Jodha Bai, a celebrated Indian princess whose name the palace, and this estate, still carries.
In 2010, the family travelled to Fatepur Sikri for the first time. Turning into the palace’s vast courtyard, they fell for its unusual, unrepeatable architecture on sight. Cliff placed his hand on one of the huge two-tonne columns, the exact columns that now stand at their home, and told Susan: I could build this. She said, go on then. The rest is history.
Cliff and Susan designed the home and its bungalows themselves, then brought in a brilliant designer and draftsman, Richard, now a dear friend. Five years of planning and design followed, and two more trips to India, before construction finally began in 2015. Working as owner builders, with no developer, no shortcut and no compromise, they completed the build seven years later. The family now carries the responsibility of a home built to outlast a generation.
After years in remission, the Amyloidosis returned aggressively in 2020, and Cliff was also diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, bone cancer. Once again, extraordinary medical care, immunotherapy and that same unshakeable attitude carried him back into deep remission. In 2024, early stage Parkinson’s was added to the list. He keeps fighting. The words tattooed on his arm, in Hindi, say it plainly. He means every word.
Cliff, Susan and their family now look forward to welcoming family, friends and guests into their loving home, inscribed in stone. What an adventure. What a legacy to pass on to their children. What a building that will stand the test of time.
Cliff & Susan Peiffer
Owners of Jodha Bai Estate
Jodha Bai Estate, located in Terranora, Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia
“We didn’t set out to build a retreat. We set out to build something that would outlast us, and prove that love, when it is stubborn enough, can.”Cliff & Susan Peiffer, Owners of Jodha Bai Estate