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Linwood House

1850s architecture in New Zealand1857 establishments in New ZealandBuildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakeBuildings and structures demolished in 2011Buildings and structures in Christchurch
Georgian architectureHeritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in Canterbury, New ZealandUse New Zealand English from October 2012
Linwood House, 2003
Linwood House, 2003

Linwood House was built as the homestead for Joseph Brittan, who, as surgeon, newspaper editor and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb of Linwood was named after Brittan's farm and homestead. Brittan's daughter Mary married William Rolleston, and they lived at Linwood House following Joseph Brittan's death. During that time, Rolleston was the 4th (and last) Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, and Linwood House served for many important political and public functions. The property went through many changes in ownership. Land was successively subdivided; at its peak, 110 acres (450,000 m2) of land belonged to Linwood House, of which only 2,013 m2 (21,670 sq ft) remain. For some years, Linwood House was used as a private day and boarding school for girls. The house declined during the mid-20th century, was used for flats for several decades, and was in 1985 described by an historian as the "city's worst example of a house which should be preserved being left to decay". The house's fortunes improved when it was purchased in 1988 by people sympathetic to heritage. Gradually being restored, Linwood House suffered significant damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and partially collapsed in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Civil Defence ordered the building's demolition, which was carried out in the second half of 2011. Architecturally, Linwood House was a rare example of a late Georgian- / Regency-style house in Canterbury. It had historical importance as one of the oldest surviving houses in Christchurch. The building's association with Joseph Brittan and especially William Rolleston made it socially important.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Linwood House (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Linwood House
Brittan Street, Christchurch Linwood

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Wikipedia: Linwood HouseContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -43.526616666667 ° E 172.66145833333 °
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Address

Brittan Street 31
8011 Christchurch, Linwood
Canterbury, New Zealand
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Linwood House, 2003
Linwood House, 2003
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The Four Avenues
The Four Avenues

The Four Avenues are a group of four major arterial boulevards — Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue, and either Rolleston Ave or Deans Avenue — that surround the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. Serving as an inner ring road, they popularly form the limits of the city centre, separating it from the city's suburbs. Almost all of the city's commercial heart lies within the approximately rectangular 9.8-square-kilometre (3.8 sq mi) area formed by the four avenues. The term "within the Four Avenues" is widely used in Christchurch to refer to the central city. By extension, Christchurch as a whole is sometimes referred to as "The Four Avenues". Historically, Rolleston Avenue, rather than Deans Avenue, was regarded as the fourth of the four avenues, but reconstruction of Christchurch City Centre following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake has officially made Deans Avenue a boundary of the CBD. This has enlarged the central area to include Hagley Park, a green area which dominates the western end of the city's centre. Technically, this means there are five, not four, avenues, as Deans Avenue does not connect directly with Bealey Avenue, the two being connected by the shorter Harper Avenue, which skirts the northern edge of Hagley Park. The avenues were named for early Christchurch city founding fathers (Samuel Bealey, John and William Deans, James FitzGerald, William Sefton Moorhouse, and William Rolleston), with the exception of Harper Avenue (formerly Park Road) which was renamed in 1931 to honour retiring Christchurch Domains Board chairman Sir George Harper.