Kate Sheppard may have been a trailblazer for women’s suffrage, but it was only 25 years ago that anyone recognised the heritage and significance of her Christchurch home. Certainly, Julia Burbury, who in 1985 bought the 1880s house with her former husband, had no idea that the rambling villa and its huge gardens on the edge of the University of Canterbury had such an important provenance.
“I was a young mum with two small children, and I was just wanting a property for me to get stuck into the garden,” she says.
“We’d looked over this amazing garden and lovely looking villa. There were huge trees, a tennis court, swimming pool. The house didn’t even go on to the market; it was a private sale. But there was nothing to say it was Kate Sheppard’s house.”
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It wasn’t until Pam Wilson, from the then Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand), started digging for the suffrage centenary in 1993 that the family realised how important their house was.
Sadly, there are no photographs of Sheppard and her band of women in action around the table in the grand dining room.
A fire in the local council offices in the 1950s destroyed any original documentation on the house.
It is known that she and her second husband, Walter Sheppard, lived there from 1888 until his health issues forced them to move in 1902.
The petition and its signatures supporting the right of women to vote were famously pasted on to rolls of wallpaper, to be rolled out with a flourish on the floor of Parliament.
When Julia renovated the back of the house, turning original kitchen and utility rooms into the present kitchen and bedrooms with en suites, researchers found samples of original wallpaper (now preserved and covered up), but nothing to do with the petition. The new kitchen, with high atrium ceilings over the casual dining and living area, was supervised by well-known architects Warren and Mahoney.
Julia was careful to retain the early mouldings, window joinery, fireplaces and ceiling roses, but rearranged the house to face the sun and garden and tennis court and added french doors and sweeping verandas and pergolas.
Doors between the huge formal parlour and dining room were removed to allow crowds of up to 100 to circulate, and the kitchen is big enough for catering teams.
Kauri floors in the kitchen are original, as is the swinging door and a servery that would have separated formal rooms from utilities in Sheppard’s day.
The decor is now a modern mix of white, grey and polished wood. Only the red dining room hints at the deep, ornate Victorian decor.
“I think Kate would have approved of my work on the house and garden,” says Julia. “When I took on this house myself in 2004, after my separation, I felt Kate on my shoulders telling me I could do this. “Although she may not approve of my sitting on the deck with a wine in my hand after a hard day of gardening, she was big in the temperance movement, after all.”
Julia’s work has earned nomination as a New Zealand Garden of Significance, for its colourful borders and mature trees on the spreading 4000sq m grounds.
Ancient white camellia in the garden are a nod to the symbol Kate and her suffragists wore. Spring bulbs, white wisteria, hundreds of magnolias and rhododendrons give way in the summer to roses.
She also keeps a vege and herb garden, and four heritage chickens, much as Sheppard would have done.
“We held an absolutely wonderful garden party for the centenary, with teas and orchestras,” says Julia. “I want to share the house.
“After the earthquake, when so many event venues were destroyed, I teamed with caterers for weddings and events.
“We’ve had 1200 people through the house on fundraising tours, supper clubs and garden parties.”
Dr Anna Chrighton, who has a history with heritage and arts organisations, was one who lobbied Heritage New Zealand in 2010 for the Sheppard House to be given Category I listing.
“It is extraordinary that it wasn’t recognised,” she says. “We’re an extraordinary country in that we don’t recognise exceptional things that are right under our noses.
“It’s time to recognise the local, national and international significance of Women’s Suffrage.
“[Heritage] Listing is something special — it’s not an obstruction for owners. In fact, Heritage New Zealand will bend over backwards to make sure the house can be used for the 21st century. We are still finding out things about Kate Sheppard, and that’s a great thing.”
Julia is now moving to her beach house near Nelson. She is delighted to time the sale of this historic house to coincide with the 125th anniversary of Kate Sheppard’s achievement.
83 CLYDE RD, FENDALTON, CHRISTCHURCH
4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2* car parks
SIZE (more or less ): House 310sq m, Land 4321sq m.
AUCTION: Oct 17, 10am (unless sold prior).
INSPECT: by appointment.
SCHOOLS: Ilam school, Christchurch Boys and Christchurch Girls.
CONTACT: Martin Sutton, Harcourts, 027 325 1221; Laurie Sutton 027 260 7782.
*Plenty of OSP.
