The section on which the stone cottage at 471 Ferry Rd is sited was part of a block first granted to businessman and Provincial Council member Charles Blakiston in 1859. Blakiston called his property Ashbourne. In 1863 he subdivided, selling a section to Irishman James Courtenay for £63. Courtenay, a stonemason, had migrated to Australia and worked in Melbourne for a period before his arrival in Canterbury where he was part of the construction team for the Christchurch/Lyttelton railway tunnel project. Following his purchase of the Ferry Road property he proceeded to build a cottage for himself and his family from stone quarried from the Port Hills. He also built a house for Enys at Castle Hill Station during the 1860s, and may have cut stone for the Cathedral there. He was awarded the contract for the Cathedral foundations, but for some reason was unable to take it up. (The family believe it was because he was declared bankrupt at this time.) After Courtenay's death in 1879, the cottage was transmitted to his widow Mary Ann Courtenay. Mrs Courtenay died in 1914, and the cottage was transmitted to her daughters Rebecca Jane McManus and Mary Francis Courtenay. After a family ownership of 53 years the cottage changed hands in 1916, when the sisters transferred it to blacksmith Albert Watson, who may once have driven the Riccarton coach. This was the first of many changes of ownership over the next 50 years. In 1971 the property was sold to nurseryman Bruce Currie and his wife Maureen who gave the cottage the name "Portstone". They also acquired surrounding land, and subsequently opened the Portstone Nursery, and a pet shop in a house to the east of the cottage. In 1980 substantial alterations were undertaken to adapt the building for use as a restaurant. At the rear of the house a new main guest entrance and a women's toilet block were added, and the scullery was converted to accommodate men's toilets. The modern front door was replaced with something more in keeping with the age of the house. Both chimneys were taken down, and the western one replaced with a smaller replica. The cottage reopened as the Portstone Restaurant later that year. By the late 1980s the restaurant was purchased by the present owner, Elizabeth Thompson, who renamed it 'Dizzy Lizzy's'. Today the cottage is a private restaurant for functions, and provides a base for out-catering. The cottage, framed by a traditional colonial style garden, remains as a visible historic feature fronting Ferry Road.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
1915
Date Entered
6th June 2005
Date of Effect
6th June 2005
City/District Council
Christchurch City
Region
Canterbury Region
Extent of List Entry
Registration includes the house, its fittings and fixtures, and the land on RT CB24A/744
Legal description
Lot 2 DP 44230 (RT CB24A/744), Canterbury Land District