Harry Ell's neo-Gothic gateway to the Port Hills
The Sign of the Takahē sits on the corner of Hackthorne Road and Dyers Pass Road in the Christchurch suburb of Cashmere on the Port Hills, partway up the hills toward Pukeatua / Dyers Pass. For visitors arriving via this route, it is the first of the Harry Ell four stone rest-houses and, in many ways, the most surprising. Christchurch has its share of Gothic Victorian architecture, but coming across this ornate, crenellated two-storey building in a quiet suburban setting is a genuine surprise. Nothing quite prepares you for it.
Built against the odds
Construction began in 1918, driven by Harry Ell's vision of a grand gateway and rest-house at the entrance to the Summit Road network. Working within extreme financial constraints during and after the First World War, then through the Depression, the project took three decades to complete. Ell's workers, known locally as "Ell's Angels," improvised throughout: stone was quarried from nearby Hillmorton and hand-chiselled on site, heavy kauri beams were salvaged from a former bridge over the Hurunui River, and ornate ceiling panels were carved from packing cases. Sadly, Ell died in June 1934, having never seen the building finished. Construction continued under architect J.G. Collins, and the Christchurch City Council and was finally completed in 1949.
The style is neo-Gothic, what the Summit Road Society describes as "baronial late-Gothic", and the interior is packed with heraldic detail. Coats of arms of Canterbury settler families, governors-general, and prime ministers line the walls alongside English shields, and the dining room has a fireplace modelled on one in Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. Remarkably, Ell had never visited Europe and drew entirely on his reading and imagination. The building was damaged in the 2011 earthquake and underwent a $2.8 million restoration, reopening in 2019.
The Garden and Cracroft Reserve
Today, the Sign of the Takahē operates as a café and a function and wedding venue, with the café downstairs and the more ornate bar and function spaces upstairs. The café extends into a lovely garden, sheltered by large trees and bright with flowers. From the garden, a path continues through into Cracroft Reserve, climbing to a high point with outstanding views westward over Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains. It is a short, worthwhile wall. Parking is available on the surrounding Cashmere side streets.
How to Get There
From Central Christchurch, head south on Colombo Street and continue into Cashmere, crossing Cashmere Street onto Dyer Pass Road. Continue up this road until you see the Sign of the Takahē on the left. The drive is 6.2 km and takes 13 minutes.
Continuing up Dyers Pass Road takes you to Victoria Park, and then to Pukeatua / Dyers Pass and Summit Road at the Sign of the Kiwi.
