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| May 2001 |
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New livery for Riccarton House
The repainting of the outside of the two-storey house is the biggest project approved by the Riccarton Bush Trust for this year. When it was last painted in 1992 the colour was chosen by committee. This time the trust board investigated the original colour scheme used at the turn of the century and used this. Samples of original paint were scraped off the house and, with advice from Christchurch City Council heritage planner, Jenny May and architect William Fulton, and with the aid of a 1934 painting by Austen Deans, one of the Deans family which built the house, the colours were decided. It is being painted in heritage sand (a type of cream) with red ochre for the trim. The Deans family settled at Riccarton in 1843 and in 1914 gifted the bush to the province. The house was bought by the City Council in 1947. A Board administers the bush and house with representatives of the City Council (Crs David Buist, Ishwar Ganda and Barbara Stewart), the Riccarton-Wigram Community Board (Mike Mora, Alison Wilkie and Helen Broughton) and Charles and Brian Deans representing the Deans family with Brian Molloy from the Royal Society. The Board wants to recreate the house as close as it can to its early days. For instance, it is always looking for furniture and household items from the turn of the century. It also wants more visitors. At present about 10,000 visit the 6.5 hectares of bush, Deans Cottage, which is the oldest building on the plains, and Riccarton House. The Board’s administration officer, Graham Hemming, says the board is investigating ways to attract more people and to improve heritage interpretation for visitors. "This could be done by information boards, guided tours, audio visuals, actors, or themed events. We want to emphasis the uniqueness of the heritage site," he says. At present the house is also used as a function centre for various events and it is also used for curriculum-based education under the Learning Experience Outside Classroom scheme in conjunction with the Canterbury Museum. "We are very keen to promote the whole area — after all it was the birthplace of Canterbury in European terms," Mr Hemming says. Contact: Graham Hemming on 348 5119 or Riccarton House on 341 1018. Fax: 941 6545.
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