Photo Hunt October: George LeBrun up ladder at McLean’s Mansion

Entries in the 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo hunt, Kete Christchurch PH14-SaSeGeorge_LeBrun_up_ladder_at_McLean_Institute_building_Manchester_St_ChCh CC-BY-NC-SA NZ3.0

These two images from the 1920s were entered in the 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo hunt by Sandra Serra with this wonderful commentary –

“George LeBrun, plumber, working on the roof of the McLean’s Mansion. Note the ropes on either side of the ladders to keep it steady, the only visible sign of health and safety requirements in those days. No hard hat, no Hi Vis vest, no cones, no harness. I am told that when transporting these long ladders 2 apprentices would carry it, each on his own bicycle with the ladder on his shoulder along with tool bags. Must have been interesting negotiating corners!”

Christchurch City Libraries has been running an annual Photo Hunt in conjunction with the city’s Heritage Week since 2008.  The 2016 Photo Hunt is running again from 1 – 31 October. During the month of October we will be posting a series of images from earlier Photo Hunts.

Enter the 2016 hunt online or at your local library.

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch & Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.

George LeBrun up ladder at McLean’s Mansion: Picturing Canterbury

George_LeBrun_up_ladder_at_McLean_Institute_building_Manchester_St_ChCh, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NZ. Kete Christchurch. Entry in the 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt by Sandra Serra.

George LeBrun, plumber, working on the roof of the McLean’s Mansion. Note the ropes on either side of the ladders to keep it steady, the only visible sign of health and safety requirements in those days. No hard hat, no Hi Viz vest, no cones, no harness. I am told that when transporting these long ladders 2 apprentices would carry it, each on his own bicycle with the ladder on his shoulder along with tool bags. Must have been interesting negotiating corners!

McLeans Mansion, 387 Manchester St, was completed in September 1900, but in recent years has been threatened with demolition. Recently plans were released to turn the building into an art gallery.

Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch & Canterbury, past and present.   Anyone can join and contribute.

• Visit Kete Christchurch
• View more Picturing Canterbury posts
• View more images  or  information on McLean’s Mansion

McLeans Mansion

McLeans Mansion is front page news in today’s copy of The Press (7 July 2016). This slightly spooky architectural jewel (also known as Holly Lea) has an interesting history:

The Mansion was a departure from the accustomed work of the architects, England Brothers, and it was an unusual design among Christchurch’s large homes — when built it was reputed to be the largest wooden residence in New Zealand. The most remarkable thing about the Mansion is surely that it was built for a 78 year-old bachelor and that it was used as a private residence for only 13 years.

McLeans Mansion, 387 Manchester Street, Christchurch ca. 1900 CCL Photo Collection 22, Img02343

In 1899, 78-year old bachelor and former Waikakahi runholder, Allan McLean (1822-1907), employed Robert West England (1863-1908) as architect for a Jacobean-style, three-storeyed wooden house of 53 rooms. It was completed in 1900 and McLean named it Holly Lea. At 23,000 square feet, it was probably the largest wooden residence in New Zealand. It was used as a private home for only 13 years. Over the years it has been a home (until 1955) for genteel women down on their luck, unable to be accommodated with women of a lower socio-economic background as it was felt the two groups would not get on; a dental nurses’ hostel; a Salvation Army rest home; leased for a time by the St Vincent de Paul Society. In 2005 it became the home of Academy New Zealand, Christchurch, a private training establishment offering entry level vocational training.

• Read more about its past in McLeans Mansion: The architectural heritage of Christchurch.
• Browse some articles and images in this DigitalNZ set McLeans Mansion aka Holly Lea

George LeBrun up ladder at McLean’s Mansion. Kete Christchurch PH14-SaSe-George_LeBrun_up_ladder_at_McLean_Institute_building_Manchester_St_ChCh.jpg

More McLeans reading

• McLean’s Mansion saved from demolition Cate Broughton, The Press, 6 July 2016
• Eerie photographs from inside Christchurch’s McLean’s Mansion Myles Hume, The Press, 8 December 2015
• There is a fascinating and well-illustrated blog post Holly Lea – a Rich Man’s Folly? on Lost Christchurch.

McLeans Mansion

Historic mansion to be bulldozed reports The Press today.

This slightly spooky architectural jewel McLeans Mansion (also know as Holly Lea) has an interesting history:

The Mansion was a departure from the accustomed work of the architects, England Brothers, and it was an unusual design among Christchurch’s large homes — when built it was reputed to be the largest wooden residence in New Zealand. The most remarkable thing about the Mansion is surely that it was built for a 78 year-old bachelor and that it was used as a private residence for only 13 years.

McLeans Mansion, 387 Manchester Street, Christchurch ca. 1900

• Read more about its past in McLeans Mansion: The architectural heritage of Christchurch.
• There is a fascinating and well-illustrated blog post Holly Lea – a Rich Man’s Folly? on Lost Christchurch.
• Browse some articles and images in this DigitalNZ set McLeans Mansion aka Holly Lea
• McLeans Mansion listing on the NZ Historic Places Trust register