Constructed in 1878, the two storeyed timber cottage at 402 Montreal Street has architectural, historical and social significance as an important example of a relatively large colonial cottage in inner city Christchurch. It illustrates the pattern of early residential development in the north-east of the central city, and now forms a rare surviving heritage element in the historically densely settled residential area south of Bealey Avenue.

The dwelling was built in 1878 when carpenter Henry Haggarty leased the property from the Reverend John Aldred (1818-1894), a Wesleyan minister who owned much of the land in the area from the mid 1850s. Henry Haggarty, and his wife and three children were government immigrants who arrived in New Zealand aboard the ship Merope in August 1871.

Fronting the east side of Montreal Street, the cottage is a two-storeyed weatherboard building with a slightly concave verandah extending the length of the façade. It has a rusticated façade with timber quoins, a central door flanked by sash windows and a set of three sash windows at first floor level and decorative brackets beneath the eaves. A boxed bay window is located on the south elevation. The pitched roof is replacement corrugated steel. The cottage has a high degree of external integrity but the interior has been altered.

Haggarty operated his carpentry business from the house at Montreal Street north, ‘the second house past Conference Street’. However, in 1882 he had to sell the property due to financial difficulties. The mortgagee auction notice of 31 March 1882 described the building as being a ‘Comfortable 7-Roomed Family Residence, with offices ...’ and it appears Haggarty was no longer living there at that time as it was ‘... in the occupation of Mr S D Nathan’. The new owner was Dan Griffiths, who owned the cottage from 1882 until 1892, when he, too, struck financial problems. Mortgagee John Edward Hanson took over the property in December 1892 and immediately sold the house at 402 Montreal Street to German-born Clara Hauck, spinster. In 1900 ownership was transferred to Hauck’s trustee, Gertrude Colborne Veel, daughter of the owner of the adjacent cottage, the well-known editor and educator, Joseph Veel Colborne Veel. From 1913 the cottage has variously been owned/occupied by a retired farmer, several single women, a storekeeper, a plumber and an electrical engineer. For over 17 years the property was owned by Lesley Collingwood (later Beaven), who lived there with her husband, noted architect Peter Beaven. Internal modifications have been made to the building over time and in 1989 an extension was added to the rear. The cottage’s two chimneys were damaged in the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes but have since been reinstated.