Restoration of big house

Press, 3 August 1985, Page 8

Restoration of big house

One of Christchurch’s oldest big houses has been restored, and is for sale. The house, in Webb St, St Albans, is almost 100 years old. It has recently been restored, with many original features intact. The task has taken Mr and Mrs Tony and Gill Perkins almost five years. The Perkins bought the house in April, 1980. It had been used as flats and was in need of substantial renovation. The couple who previously had restored four smaller houses, felt ready for the challenge.

“We enjoy redecorating, it is a hobby with us,” Mrs Perkins said yesterday.

“The house had a lot of potential and it had not been knocked about too much for us to bring it back to its original charm.”

The house was built in 1889 for Alfred Louisson, who is believed to have been one of three brothers who came to New Zealand about 1860. Another brother was Charles Louisson, who was Mayor of Christchurch about the turn of the century, and a member of the Legislative Council for some years.

Alfred Louisson, a wealthy bachelor businessman, eventually retired to England. In 1913, a journalist with “The Press,” a Martin Luther Reading, bought the house and lived in it for 10 years before selling up and emigrating to the United States where he apparently pursued his career with considerable success. The house’s first 70-odd years as a family home

ended after the Second World War when it was converted to a nursing home for returned soldiers.

Although the house is now well insulated, fully carpeted and modernised, albeit discreetly, its colonial character is still much in evidence. The tradesmen’s entrance is still there at the back of the house, but the old nursery is now a bedroom and the former maids’ quarters have been converted to a second kitchen. The laundry was once the butler’s pantry.

Separate doors into several of the larger rooms, one for the owner of the house and one for the servants, remain.

Mr and Mrs Perkins say they are selling the property because they have

found another of Christchurch’s historic homes to do up. . “We are really not interested in maintaining a place once we have done it up,” Mrs Perkins said. “The interest is in creating it, then passing it on to someone who can enjoy it.” The Perkins, originally from England, believe that New Zealanders should appreciate their “lovely old homes” more and not pull them down. They feel they are doing their little bit to retain part of New Zealand’s heritage.

The house will be offered for sale by public auction on August 21. The real estate agent, Mrs Jennifer Bertram, of Robert Brown Real Estate, would give no indication of the price range expected for the property.