Property Description
Year of Construction: 1905
Westende House was built on the south-west corner of John Bealey’s 1852 four-acre garden. The design complimented the neighbouring Hall of Agriculture & Industry.
The original occupant was the Christchurch branch of the Wellington based brothers Hugh and Thomas Inglis, motor and cycle manufacturers and local agents for the Star Engineering Company of England. By 1908 they had been replaced by the Wholesale Ironmongery of Briscoe & Company Ltd, who in turn gave way to Guthrie Bowron & Co.
By 1949 the buiding had been remodeled as three separate shops, which had numerous tenancies, including a Mexican restaurant on the upper floor for at least 19 years.
More recently, the building housed many iconic Christchurch businesses, such as Penrose Shoes, Westende Jewellers and Alvarados Restaurant.
On the morning of 4 September 2010, the first of the Canterbury earthquakes badly damaged the original building.
KPI Rothschild rebuilt Westende House in 2012. The Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) has since acquired the new building to make way for a bus lane.
