▶️ Two-story historic Riccarton house destroyed by fire
Photo: Joy Kochakkan
A derelict two-story homestead in Riccarton has been destroyed by fire.
Video: Nick de Lautour
Crews responded to the fire at an abandoned homestead on Kirkwood Ave, just before 9PM.
Video: Nick de Lautour
The house is believed to have historical and social significance as a grand early twentieth-century suburban residence.
Photo: Joy Kochakkan
A Fire Command Unit was required due to the scale of the blaze.
Video: Video: Daisy Lafaele
An orange glow from the fire was seen from across Christchurch city.
Photo: Joy Kochakkan
Six fire appliances from multiple city stations were called to the blaze and an aerial unit was used to battle the flames.
The house was well ablaze by the time fire crews arrived.
No one was injured.
In a council report it said “14 Kirkwood Avenue has cultural significance as a very large home of more than twenty rooms, representing the privileged way of life enjoyed by Christchurch's elite in the early twentieth century.
The house also illustrates the cultural shift which took place in the mid-twentieth century when the city's large and ornate Victorian and Edwardian homes became unpopular and were redeveloped as flats. For almost 80 years, 14 Kirkwood Avenue has thus also demonstrated the way of life of its tenants.”
