Riccarton House & Bush: Tea Parties Are Not Just For Little Girls

Riccarton House
Photos by Erin Grigson

As you readers may have figured out by now, I like to really plan out our adventures. But I hadn't really thought about the adventures closer to home until recently.

My list of places to see and things to do in Christchurch is really long. Luckily, we have plenty of time to do it all since we live so close.

One of the places at the top of my list was Riccarton House and Bush. About a month ago, Josh's mom told me that we would be attending high tea there, along with 2 of her sisters, one of their daughters and Josh's sister.



Vanilla & Raspberry Cake with Yogurt and a Hot Chocolate
Photo by Erin Grigson

High tea sounds very upscale British, doesn't it? I had no idea what to expect.

The 6 of us sat down, a little after lunchtime and had our choice of hot beverage and cake. I don't like coffee or tea, but hot chocolate sounded delicious. After looking at the options, I had no problem choosing the vanilla and raspberry cake.

Something I found odd was that once I ordered the cake, they asked if I wanted cream or yogurt with it. Not knowing what to expect, I ordered yogurt.

I was confused, so I asked everyone at the table why the waiter asked that. I was informed that it's put on the side to add to the cake for some moisture or something. But it's really only a thing to fancy it up at high tea.

When my order came, I was more than impressed. My hot chocolate and cake with yogurt looked delicious. The cake was even topped off with a rose petal.

After the high tea, we had a tour of Riccarton House. I gained quite a bit of insight into the history of Christchurch in that one tour.

Riccarton House is a Victorian-Edwardian style house that's been restored to portray that time, inside and out. It's also one of the only historical structures still in (pretty much) one piece after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

Left: The clay bricks in between wooden planks kept the walls from crumbling in the earthquakes.
Center: The steel cross-beams were added to stabilize the structure in the restoration.
Right: Newspapers were used to insulate the walls.
Photos by Erin Grigson

The main reason it's still standing is the way the walls were built. There were layers of bricks, but wooden planks in between. The wood let the walls have some give, keeping them from crumbling when the earth started to shake.

The gloves given to Jane by John to let her
know he intended to marry her one day.
Photo by Erin Grigson

In the restoration, the walls were stabilized even more with steel beams, but for more than a century, the old framework sufficed. Before moving on to the next room, we also learned that the original builders used newspapers to insulate, which looks cool... and is cool. It didn't actually insulate it at all. It was cold.

The story of Riccarton House starts with William and John Deans, brothers who had a dream. They really wanted to farm, but in Scotland, where they were from, if you didn't have land, you weren't going to be a farmer.

So they decided to buy some land in New Zealand, sight unseen and went on their way. They named the area Riccarton and settled there in 1843.

John loved a woman named Jane, who was still back in Europe. He gave her a pair of gloves, which was supposed to signify that he loved her but wasn't ready to propose yet. Obviously it worked because Jane waited another (maybe if I remember correctly) 9 years before he finally proposed.

John married Jane and, shortly after, passed away. But before he died, they had a son, John II. In those days, Jane couldn't own the house or land, so it was put into a trust for John II that he could have on his 21st birthday. As the only heir, Jane put all her hopes on him. Fortunately for the family line, John II lived to see that birthday.

When that day finally arrived, John II wanted to make a great statement and added to the house with a grand dining room filled with ornate wood carvings. Above the dining room, he also added a master bedroom.

The master bedroom above the dining room added by John II to mark his
21st birthday. The escape hatch is in the floor of the bedroom.
Photos by Erin Grigson

That master bedroom actually had an escape hatch in the floor, installed in case of fire. Fortunately, it was never put to use.

As we moved through the house, I was struck by all the beautiful woodwork. Our guide told us that it looks so unique because oak trees are usually supposed to be allowed to grow for 120 years before being cut down. However, the trees used in the Riccarton House were only 50 years old, so they are a gorgeous, unique color.

And the woodwork was everywhere: walls, wardrobes, bannisters, even the ceiling. It really made the house fell like one-of-a-kind.

The beautiful wood everywhere
Photos by Erin Grigson

Inside the cabinet, you can see the original wallpaper and on
the right, you can see the modern version, which the
restoration team tried to match with the original.
Photo by Erin Grigson

One of the other things that really stood out to me in the house was that the restoration team tried really hard to match the original wallpaper. In some places, you could still see the original wallpaper and compare it to what the designers had put in. I thought that was really cool.

In the original kitchen, the stove is still in working order and looks pristine. It's also worth noting that the Deans family cared enough about their servants to give them their own dining room. Obviously it was not as big or as grand as the one John II added to the house, but it was still far more than what was afforded to most servants in the day.

In the attic, I learned 2 fun facts. First, when their mother was gone, the children were not allowed inside the house, which seemed odd in this day and age. But the kids would climb up the side of the house and come in through the door in the attic while she was away.

The door in the middle was used by the children to sneak back into the house
when their mother was away. The bathtub was used by the Deans
once upon a time.
Photo by Erin Grigson

Also, the phrase, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water," made so much more sense. There was a tub in the attic and our guide explained that the children were bathed oldest to youngest. As you might assumed, if it was a large family, by the time you got to the baby, the water was so dirty it was easy to see how the baby could get tossed out, too.

Out tour was very informative and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn about Christchurch's history.

I wish I could remember all the stories our guide told us, but I guess you'll just have to come take the tour for yourself.

And I definitely still have to go back and take a stroll through the Bush.