Sign of the Takahe

Harry Ell was a Christchurch politician who wanted a chain of rest houses along a scenic road over the Port Hills, and the Sign of the Takahe was the grandest of them - a stone building in English neo-Gothic style with heraldic carving, leadlight windows and a great hall, begun in 1918 and not completed until 1948, long after Ell's death in 1934. He kept redesigning and extending it, ran out of money repeatedly, and the project became notorious in its time. Two other rest houses, the Sign of the Kiwi and the Sign of the Bellbird, survive on the same road. The building was damaged in the 2010-11 earthquakes and closed for years for strengthening; its use has changed several times since. What is reliably available is the exterior, the grounds and the view over the city and out to the Alps, plus the Port Hills walking tracks that pass it.

History

Construction began in 1918 under Harry Ell, city councillor and MP, as one of four planned rest houses on the Summit Road, and part of it opened in 1920 as the Tram Terminus Rest House. Ell died in June 1934, the city council bought the building in 1942, and it was finally completed in 1948 and opened to the public in 1949 (Wikipedia, Sign of the Takahe).

What you'll find

• The neo-Gothic stone - heraldry, leadlights and a great hall, from outside.
• The thirty-year build - 1918 to 1948, through one man's obsession.
• The Port Hills view - Christchurch below and the Alps beyond.
• The other rest houses - Kiwi and Bellbird, on the same road.

When to go

Any season; clear days for the Alps. Check whether the interior is open before planning around it - its use has changed repeatedly since the earthquakes.

What to expect

Interior access is not guaranteed and has been closed or restricted for long periods. Dyers Pass Road is winding. It is exposed and windy on the hills.

Nearby

The Port Hills tracks run past it; Lyttelton is over the hill and Christchurch below.

Key facts