23-05-2025
Disgraced arts patron James Wallace ditches restoration plan for McLean's Mansion in Christchurch
Wallace said McLean's Mansion Charitable Trust could not realise its 'original vision without broad-based institutional backing and sustained public investment'.
'We have now established that there is no viable prospect of our securing that funding.'
He said the Trust could not allow the mansion - which has a CV of $4.68 million - to remain unoccupied, unfurnished and vulnerable to deterioration, so the decision was made to put the massive home on the market.
He said the Trust was trying to find a buyer who appreciated the 'heritage value of the building and is prepared to carry forward and fund the work which has to be done'.
'The sale process will be conducted with care, and proposals aligned with the spirit and original purpose of the project will be strongly preferred.'
The sprawling house, built in 1900 for wealthy Scottish immigrant Allan McLean, was devastated in the Canterbury earthquakes.
The Trust board was formed to buy it and safeguard it when the building was threatened with demolition.
The mansion is reputed to be the largest wooden residence in New Zealand and the second-largest wooden building in the country.
Listed as a Category 1 heritage building by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) the mansion was occupied by classrooms before the earthquakes.
After it was built, the mansion was used as a private home for only 13 years. McLean was one of the major runholders and was one of the wealthiest men in Canterbury in his day.
The mansion is one of New Zealand's largest homes at 2100 sq m and boasts 53 rooms. It is considered internationally significant as one of the world's largest surviving Victorian timber houses.
Former Trust chairman Chris Kissling told the Press he was not pleased with Wallace selling the historic site, saying Wallace assured the Trust he had enough money to finish the project when the arts patron first took his position on the board.
'He assured us and he gave us his word,' Kissling said.
'Obviously he has changed his mind and he wants his money back out. I am not well pleased with him.'
