The Big House

WORDS: KIM TRIEGAARDT

One of the world’s largest Victorian timber houses, McLean’s Mansion has been undergoing renovations of a suitably epic scale

Victorian philanthropist and wealthy farmer Allan McLean had such empathy for “women of refinement or education in reduced or straitened circumstances” that he bequeathed to them his beloved Christchurch mansion as a place of refuge.

Made of kauri, with 53 rooms spread over 2100 square metres, McLean’s Mansion (originally called ‘Holly Lea’ and now known locally as 'the Big House') was the biggest residential building of its kind in New Zealand when it was built in 1899.

Designed by Christchurch architect Robert England, the mansion embodied Jacobean style with its massive proportions, solid base and tall towers. Its two French-inspired roof domes dominated the Christchurch skyline between Manchester and Colombo Streets and Bealey Avenue.

McLean could hardly have imagined that more than a century later the building that took two years to build would be damaged in the 2010–11 Canterbury earthquakes.

As it sat vandalised, empty and broken, he would likely have been heartbroken to see the Category 1 building in its own straitened circumstances.

However, the building has been able to keep its status as one of the world’s largest Victorian wooden houses thanks to efforts to fight the owners’ demolition plan.

The building’s demolition had been approved under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011, but Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga refused to grant an archaeological authority to demolish, which was challenged by the owners. The case went before the Environment Court, which ultimately supported the ‘no demolition’ stance due to the building’s outstanding heritage values.

Says Frank van der Heijden, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Senior Archaeologist: “The court concluded that, even in its present condition, the building ‘has very high historical and cultural heritage value that justifies protection. The values of the building are such that it is of local, regional, national and international

LOCATION Christchurch is located on the South Island’ s east coast, 363km north of Dunedin.

significance, and the building contributes towards Cantabrians’ sense of place and identity’.

“So much of the city’s heritage fabric has been lost as a consequence of the Canterbury earthquakes. The contribution the building makes to the social, economic, cultural and environmental wellbeing of the greater Christchurch community is enduring.”

Following the ruling, the owners put the damaged house on the market as is where is. This spurred a group comprising businesspeople, art collectors and artists to establish the McLean’s Mansion Charitable Trust to buy and restore the building.

The first stage of the restoration entailed the massive task of stripping the building to its bare bones – hauling out skiploads of trash left by squatters and vandals, and 250 tonnes of bricks and masonry.

Chris Kissling, McLean’s Mansion Charitable Trust Chair, says everything of heritage value that could be reused was cleaned, collated and stored.

“Salvaging as much heritage fabric as possible for reuse meant extensive hand labour rather than unforgiving mechanical demolition,” says Chris.

“For instance, all the tonnes of chimney bricks were handpicked from the collapsed heaps and cleaned and stacked on pallets to be available for landscaping.”

McLean built the house when he was 81 and lived in it alone with his servants for just five years before he died. It is in every sense an exceptional example of a 'Big House’ – an outstanding representation of the wealth generated in New Zealand through the early settlement of large tracts of land for pastoralism. (After arriving in Lyttelton from Scotland in 1852, McLean and his brother Robertson bought and leased extensive land holdings across the Waimakariri and then Waitaki regions, where they ran sheep.)

According to a Christchurch City Council history of the mansion, legend has it that when the octogenarian, who was planning his retirement home, was initially shown plans for a typical four-bedroom home, he retorted, “Not four bedrooms – 40!”

The imposing ‘Holly Lea’ was the result. A Frank Films documentary shot at the start of the renovation captures Project Director Richard Herdman’s awe of the scale of the building, from the sweeping central staircase under an enormous glass skylight to the carved kauri skirting boards reaching knee-high from the floor and its four tonnes of lead roofing tiles.

Money was no object for McLean, but 100 years on the trust has its own set of fiscal challenges. It paid $2.5 million for the mansion, and received a $1.94 million Christchurch City Council heritage grant. However, the trust’s latest significant application for $4.5 million of funding to meet the expected cost of the restoration was recently declined. And with the mortgage costs being borne personally by five individuals, the trust is appealing for more public support in the way of gifting, interest-free loans and “bridging finance in the form of suspensory loans that use the increasing value of the property as surety”, says Chris.

While funds are tight, Chris is optimistic.

“The trust expects the mansion will generate sufficient income to cover its costs,” he says.

“The intent is that tenanted space, bookable space and café/dining will generate the income to fund the maintenance of the building and grounds, including exhibits of gifted sculptures currently held in storage awaiting landscaping works.

“A considerable collection of original furniture and ornamentation is safely stored ready for reinstatement. We have had a very pleasing number of letters of support and expressed intentions of wanting to use some of the 52 rooms on a bookable basis.

“With the foundations remedied, floors all level and walls strengthened and plumb, the mansion will stand ready for a fit-out to suit a variety of users, including those who may require good soundproofing and climate control,” he says.

While tenants had yet to be signed up at the time of writing, Chris says discussions are underway.

Over the past century, the mansion has been a private residence, a home for ladies, a hostel for dental nurse trainees, and a private tertiary training facility. When its doors open as a centre for community-focused activities, Cantabrians will be the ultimate beneficiaries as the Big House once again embodies the spirit of public good.