The Christchurch Club was founded in 1856 by a group of wealthy landholders. This building, their clubroom, was erected in 1860-1862. It was the centre of social and political life for the Canterbury elite. Designed by Benjamin Mountfort, the pre-eminent Victorian Canterbury architect, it is built in timber and is very different from anything Mountfort had previously designed.
Mountfort's design was based on the Italian Villa style, which had been introduced to England in the early nineteenth century and which, by the 1850s, had become an accepted style for middle-class housing. Ian Lochhead, in his monograph on Mountfort, points out that this style was probably chosen for the Christchurch Club as a compromise between the Italian Palazzo style associated with the two London gentlemen's clubs, the Travellers' and the Reform, (which the members of the club preferred) and Mountfort's predilection for Gothic. The Italian villa style was seen as comparatively informal and as both elegant yet rural, a suitable combination for a club basing itself on English upper-class institutions but establishing itself in the middle of what was still a swamp. The use of timber rather than stone also reflects Mountfort's adaptation of European styles to the vernacular building materials of colonial New Zealand. The building erected for the Christchurch Club has a central tower around which the two main wings are arranged. The arcades on the ground floor are notable and were later referred to by Samuel Hurst Seager in his design for the addition to his house in Armagh Street.
Some of the prominent members of the Christchurch Club included J.B.A. Acland (1823-1904), the owner of Mount Peel Station; Samuel Butler (1835-1902), runholder, explorer and author; Sir Charles Bowen (1836-1917), resident magistrate and politician who introduced the 1877 Education Act; Sir Julius von Haast (1822-1887), explorer, geologist and driving force behind the development of the Canterbury Museum; Sir John Hall (1824-1907), runholder, politician and premier; and Sir Edward Stafford (1819-1901), another runholder and twice Premier, from 1856 to 1861 and 1865 to 1869. While the Christchurch Club attracted many runholders, the members of the Canterbury Club (established in 1872) were, by comparison, predominantly businessmen or professionals.
Following the Second World War the government notified its intention to take the club's land for further government buildings. Consequently the club let the maintenance of the building slip. The government abandoned its plans some years later but by then the building was in such a state of disrepair that the club decided to demolish it. It was, however, reprieved and the building was eventually refurbished and extended.
The Christchurch Club is significant as an example of the transplanting of British institutions to New Zealand, and as one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in the country. Its membership ensured that the Club was an informal seat of power in nineteenth century Canterbury. Architecturally it is significant as an unusual example of Mountfort's work, who is more commonly known for his use of the Gothic Revival style. This commission was also important to Mountfort personally, as it put him in touch with many prominent and influential men, who, no doubt, influenced his subsequent career as the leading architect of public buildings in Canterbury.
Mountfort's design was based on the Italian Villa style, which had been introduced to England in the early nineteenth century and which, by the 1850s, had become an accepted style for middle-class housing. Ian Lochhead, in his monograph on Mountfort, points out that this style was probably chosen for the Christchurch Club as a compromise between the Italian Palazzo style associated with the two London gentlemen's clubs, the Travellers' and the Reform, (which the members of the club preferred) and Mountfort's predilection for Gothic. The Italian villa style was seen as comparatively informal and as both elegant yet rural, a suitable combination for a club basing itself on English upper-class institutions but establishing itself in the middle of what was still a swamp. The use of timber rather than stone also reflects Mountfort's adaptation of European styles to the vernacular building materials of colonial New Zealand. The building erected for the Christchurch Club has a central tower around which the two main wings are arranged. The arcades on the ground floor are notable and were later referred to by Samuel Hurst Seager in his design for the addition to his house in Armagh Street.
Some of the prominent members of the Christchurch Club included J.B.A. Acland (1823-1904), the owner of Mount Peel Station; Samuel Butler (1835-1902), runholder, explorer and author; Sir Charles Bowen (1836-1917), resident magistrate and politician who introduced the 1877 Education Act; Sir Julius von Haast (1822-1887), explorer, geologist and driving force behind the development of the Canterbury Museum; Sir John Hall (1824-1907), runholder, politician and premier; and Sir Edward Stafford (1819-1901), another runholder and twice Premier, from 1856 to 1861 and 1865 to 1869. While the Christchurch Club attracted many runholders, the members of the Canterbury Club (established in 1872) were, by comparison, predominantly businessmen or professionals.
Following the Second World War the government notified its intention to take the club's land for further government buildings. Consequently the club let the maintenance of the building slip. The government abandoned its plans some years later but by then the building was in such a state of disrepair that the club decided to demolish it. It was, however, reprieved and the building was eventually refurbished and extended.
The Christchurch Club is significant as an example of the transplanting of British institutions to New Zealand, and as one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in the country. Its membership ensured that the Club was an informal seat of power in nineteenth century Canterbury. Architecturally it is significant as an unusual example of Mountfort's work, who is more commonly known for his use of the Gothic Revival style. This commission was also important to Mountfort personally, as it put him in touch with many prominent and influential men, who, no doubt, influenced his subsequent career as the leading architect of public buildings in Canterbury.
