page_title: Linwood House
section_title: Architectural and building history
hierarchical_section_title: Linwood House / Architectural and building history
caption_attribution_description: English: Bracing installed at Linwood House after the September 2010 earthquake.
context_page_description: 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 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 of land belonged to Linwood House, of which only 2,013 square metres remain. For some years, Linwood House was used as a private day and boarding school for girls. The house declined during the mid 20ths 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.
context_section_description: The 1857 house is in Regency architectural style. It was oriented so that its long side, facing north-east, was roughly parallel to Linwood Avenue. Rectangular in floor plan, the Linwood Avenue frontage had five bays, with the central bay pedimented, which gave the house a symmetrical look. An 1871 photo by Alfred Charles Barker, held by the Canterbury Museum, shows a verandah on the north-west side of the building only. This verandah was later extended to cover the front as well, and it mirrors the pedimented central bay. A hipped roof was hidden behind a balustrade.
  The house was constructed in double brick, and it is this unreinforced masonry construction that was unable to cope with the earthquake forces. Upstairs, windows were round-headed. Downstairs, many of the openings were French doors.
  Heritage New Zealand (NZHPT) was for a time uncertain who the architect was. In about 1995, the last owner's daughter, when undertaking research for a school assignment, came across the architect's sketch of Linwood House in the Anglican Church archives, and this proved that Charles Fooks, the brother-in-law of Joseph Brittan, designed the house.
  A significant extension was designed in 1889 by John Whitelaw. The south-west wing, 'behind' the original house, used the different architectural style of a Victorian villa for the two-storey addition. The NZHPT assumes that at the same time, a single storey extension was built onto the south-east side.
  The last significant extension was added in 1920, which was designed by the Luttrell Brothers. The south-east wing was much more in keeping with the original design. It is possible that the architects designed a second storey for the service wing that had been built in 1889. This extension connected the original house with the original washhouse.
  In 1972, a kitchen and small toilet were added as a lean-to. These were removed again in ca 1990.
caption: The 1920s Luttrell Brothers' extension and the washhouse, with bracing after the 2010 Canterbury earthquake
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