The Sign of the Takahe is a neo-Gothic style historic building in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is currently leased from

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...

and run as a cafe, bar, and function centre.

History

Construction began on the building in 1918, spearheaded by Christchurch City councillor and New Zealand

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, Henry George (Harry) Ell. Ell envisioned the building as the entrance rest house of Summit Road, one of four planned rest houses in the area for those walking the reserves of

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

that overlook Christchurch and

Lyttelton harbour Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a pred ...

. The other rest houses are

Sign of the Kiwi The Sign of the Kiwi, originally called Toll House, is a small café and shop at Dyers Pass on the road between Christchurch and Governors Bay. It was built in 1916–17 by Harry Ell as a staging post and opened as a tearoom and rest house. It has ...

, Sign of the Bellbird, and Sign of the Packhorse. While part of the building opened to the public as the Tram Terminus Rest House in 1920, which featured a tram terminus and tearoom, it would take decades for construction of the Sign of the Takahe to be completed. Ell died suddenly in 1934, having never seen the building completed. Construction of the building continued under the direction of architect J. G. Collins. The

bought the building in 1942 and it was finally completed in 1948. Like many structures in the area, the building was damaged in the February

2011 Canterbury earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

. A NZ$2.8 million council restoration was completed prior to the building's centennial in May 2017.

Notable features

The building is named after the endemic New Zealand flightless bird, the

Takahē The South Island takahē (''Porphyrio hochstetteri'') is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently ...

. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, a great deal of improvisation was required to minimise cost. For example, the stone was quarried locally and hand chiseled into blocks using primitive tools, the heavy

Kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

beams in the entrance hall were salvaged from a former bridge over the Hurunui River. The ceilings in the inner-most dining room were painted on timber cut from packing cases. The building's dining room fireplace is an exact replica of the historic

Haddon Hall Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, a former seat of the Dukes of Rutland. It is the home of Lord Edward Manners (brother of the incumbent Duke) and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. The building has a Category I listing with

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. It is located adjacent to

Cracroft Reserve Cracroft Reserve is a public reserve on Cracroft Hill in the Cashmere, New Zealand, Cashmere suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated next to the Sign of the Takahe. Cracroft Reserve is a popular stop for tourists, and residents, wit ...

References

* Harry Ell and His Summit Road : a Biography of Henry George Ell by Lenore Oakley, published by Caxton Press 1960 {{Christchurch City Council Buildings and structures in Christchurch Tourist attractions in Christchurch NZHPT Category I listings in Canterbury, New Zealand 1940s architecture in New Zealand