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Antonio Hall
Jun. 1st, 2011 07:43 pmUpdate: Antonio Hall now has a website
I hear the question asked occasionally, what is that big overgrown building near the Riccarton/Clyde intersection. I've wondered myself, and finally got around to googling it.
Google led me to this this cathedral newsletter from 2009 (pdf) which contains a write up of the place's history.
Bullet point version from that document:
- commissioned in 1904 by a grocery merchant - original name "Kilmead"
- sold in 1929
- purchased in 1946 by the Catholic Church to become the Holy Name Seminary. Additional buildings was done throughout the 50's and early 60's to support the growing needs of the institution
- Declining numbers led to the closure of the seminary in 1979 and throughout the 80's the church ran it as the university hostel known as "Campion Hall"
- In 1981 it was sold and the new owner ran it as a boarding house. She also changed the name to Antiono Hall - as the sign out front still declares it - after her late (ie deceased) son.
- Sold again in 1993
- Indications are it is currently used as some form of warehouse (2009)
It must be staggering inside:
(Including a chapel with 16 huge stained glass windows - which I guess may not have survived recent events.)
- Another link from Google to a reference to a Press article tells us that the property was put up for mortgagee auction late in 2008 . I wonder if it sold?
I hear the question asked occasionally, what is that big overgrown building near the Riccarton/Clyde intersection. I've wondered myself, and finally got around to googling it.
Google led me to this this cathedral newsletter from 2009 (pdf) which contains a write up of the place's history.
Bullet point version from that document:
- commissioned in 1904 by a grocery merchant - original name "Kilmead"
- sold in 1929
- purchased in 1946 by the Catholic Church to become the Holy Name Seminary. Additional buildings was done throughout the 50's and early 60's to support the growing needs of the institution
- Declining numbers led to the closure of the seminary in 1979 and throughout the 80's the church ran it as the university hostel known as "Campion Hall"
- In 1981 it was sold and the new owner ran it as a boarding house. She also changed the name to Antiono Hall - as the sign out front still declares it - after her late (ie deceased) son.
- Sold again in 1993
- Indications are it is currently used as some form of warehouse (2009)
It must be staggering inside:
Today the property sits on three and a half acres of land, and the total floor space of the house is 4283 square metres. It has over one hundred bedrooms, seven lecture rooms, a library, a cool store, and dining and reception rooms - a total of two hundred and seventy nine rooms in all.
(Including a chapel with 16 huge stained glass windows - which I guess may not have survived recent events.)
- Another link from Google to a reference to a Press article tells us that the property was put up for mortgagee auction late in 2008 . I wonder if it sold?
