Family Enjoys Life In Home Like Castle

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 19

Family Enjoys Life In Home Like Castle

Most young boys at some time or other dream of living in a stone castle with a tower and a spiral staircase, surrounded by a moat and green sward. For Alan West, now aged 17, the dream came near to reality seven years ago when his parents moved in to the caretakers’ quarters in the tower and third story of the red brick Chamber of Commerce building at the corner of Oxford terrace and Worcester street. They have a winding staircase, windows peeping from beneath eaves, and the green sward and moat are supplied by the Avon river and its grassy banks. The building, erected in 188 S, is a landmark well known in Christchurch for its charming design and old-world appearance. Mr and Mrs A. R. West have spent seven years there as caretakers with their son and daughter and have grown very fond of their home. Envy of Friends

On a tour of the quaintlyshaped rooms and “secret doors’’ (some lead to Are escapes) yesterday, Alan said he was the envy of many of his boyfriends. “They would love to live here because it is the nearest thing to a medieval castle we know in Christchurch,” he said. Mrs West’s friends also enjoy visiting the unusual home, although many who arrive puffed from climbing the winding stairs wonder how she manages. "But I love it—even the stairs, and the view is thoroughly worth the climb,” Mrs West said.

With a front door on a busy city intersection and a back door on the green banks of the river where ducks and seagulls gather

(but there are no gardening chores to be done) the Wests find their home ideally located. No parking problems, plenty of life to watch and plenty of beauty to look out on were some of the advantages they mentioned. From all rooms of the premises there are engaging views. The south side windows look over the beautiful flower gardens surrounding the Scott monument, the island in the curve of the river and beyond to the Port Hills. From one room the activity in Worcester street can be seen and part of the Christchurch Cathedral. The West family greatly enjoys the activity seen from its windows. “I don’t think I would enjoy living in a quiet back street after this,” Mrs West said.

“When we stay in the country we miss the roar of traffic and the bustle which goes on when the pictures come out at night,” Alan said.

From one room the view extends up to Victoria street bridge; the living room looks down on grassy river banks and benches where the family enjoy watching people and the antics of ducks, seagulls, and water-rats about whose habits they have learnt much. Popular Tower

The tower >room is perhaps the most popular of all the rooms in the house. Many friends have been entertained there to view special events such as Royal visits to Christchurch and the city’s centennial procession. ‘‘Seats in the tower are at a premium at those special times,” Alan said.

The quarters are surprisingly spacious—much roomier than the average city flat and have what interior decorators today call “shape interest.” Beds placed attractively under eaves, irregu-larly-shaped doors and some windows framed by concrete flowers and pedestal ornaments add to the charm of the dwelling. There are three bedrooms, a living-dining room, long hall, kitchen, bathroom and utility room.

The very small kitchen tucked under an eave off the livingdining room, Mrs West says, is the perfect size because no one is able to pass through while she is working. Interested in antiques, the Wests have added to the atmosphere of old-world quaintness by furnishing the dining-living room with a refectory table and wheel-backed dining chair and on the walls hang glass-funnelled metal lamps and a cuckoo clock.

The Wests’ home has the advantage of sharing the central heating of the building through the week in winter so that it is only necessary to heat at the weekends. Novel Drying Green The “drying green” on the roof is reached by more steps but is more private than many a suburban drying green, for the boarded walk round the roof is completely closed from view. The “attic” residence is an example of how suitable pets can be kept in a home with no ground. Fish tanks all over the house testify to Alan’s keen hobby—fish culture, and the family budgerigar, which keeps watch over the river and gardens, is in a good position to argue with more sparrows than he would see in an ordinary home. It is perhaps a curious note that Mr and Mrs West, who are from England, should come to New Zealand to live in an old and historic home. In Muswell Hill, London, they were custodians of a block of modern flats.