Radius Elloughton Gardens

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Our meals are nutritious and home-cooked, to provide maximum enjoyment and nutritional value.

Individual tastes are catered for, and our dietician plans nutritional requirements for all new admissions

'Elloughton Grange' is the aged residential care facility known as 'the big house'. It has a long and interesting history:

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Two-storey building with rectangular footprint and gabled roof forms. Principal elevations face
east and south, both having balanced facades with gabled bays. East façade has an entrance
tower with pavilion roof and portico with first floor balustrading. Decorative plasterwork,
finials and tower cresting. Leadlight windows light stair hall. Plaster inscribed to resemble
masonry construction. Foundation ventilator grilles feature the architect’s name. Diamond shaped windows with decorative plaster surrounds set in to the gable ends. Stringcourses and quoins. South elevation features double height bay window.
MATERIALS/STRUCTURE
Brick, plaster and corrugated metal.
ADDITIONS/ALTERATIONS
Accommodation wings added to north (1959 and 1972). Large-scale redevelopment of the
site and additions to the building (1990+). Renovated (2016).
SETTING
The former dwelling stands on the north side of Pages Road, immediately adjacent to its
intersection with Old North Road and Selwyn Street. It is centrally located within a retirement
village that fully occupies the site. The extent of setting is limited to the building’s footprint in
view of the loss of landscape setting brought about by the site’s modern redevelopment.

HISTORY
‘Elloughton Grange’ was built by William Grant in 1893 some 12 years after he had acquired
the property from TW Hall. Hall was the one who had named it after his family home in
England. Grant (1843-1910), who emigrated from Scotland in 1865 and started his working
life in New Zealand as a shepherd, also farmed sheep in the Mackenzie high country and was
a major exporter of frozen lamb, as well as a successful stock dealer. He married Elizabeth
Allan in 1884 and the couple had five children. Grant’s estate was worth over £200,000 when
he died. The house remained in the Grant family until it was bought by the South Canterbury
Hospital Board for use as a home for the elderly in 1954. Since 1992 the property has been
developed as a commercial rest home and retirement village.
HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has historical significance for its association with William
Grant and as a demonstration of the wealth that was achieved by some of the district’s early
settlers.
CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
The former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has cultural value as a demonstration of the way of life of the
Grant family from 1893 until the mid-20th century.
ARCHITECTURAL AND AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE
The former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has architectural significance as a design by Maurice de
Harven Duval, a French or Belgian architect who practised in Timaru between c.1877 and
1895. Duval undertook a considerable amount of work for the Catholic church in Canterbury,
including St Mary’s Church at Pleasant Point (1889), was the architect to the South
Canterbury Education Board, and also designed residential and commercial buildings.
TECHNOLOGICAL AND CRAFTSMANSHIP SIGNIFICANCE
The former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has technological and craftsmanship significance for its brick
masonry construction and ornamental detailing. Timaru builder and contractor Frank Palliser
was born in Yorkshire and learnt his trade in England before emigrating to New Zealand. He
also built Timaru’s Salvation Army Barracks and hotels in Timaru, Temuka, Fairlie, Winchester
and Pleasant Point.
CONTEXTUAL SIGNIFICANCE
The former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has contextual value as a historic feature within a modern
retirement village development. The former house has lost its garden setting but retains
some prominence within the site due to its height and architectural style.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE
As the building pre-dates 1900 its site has potential archaeological value relating to the
structure’s construction and the development of suburban Timaru. Earthworks associated
with the retirement village and rest home development may have damaged or destroyed
archaeological evidence on the site.
SUMMARY OF HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
The former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has overall heritage significance to Timaru and Timaru district
as a whole. The former house has historical significance for its association with William Grant
and cultural value as a demonstration of the way of life of a successful early settler. The
former ‘Elloughton Grange’ has architectural significance as the work of local architect Maurice de H Duval.

More information about William Grant:
William Grant travelled with his brother Andrew from Scotland to New Zealand in 1864 on the Eastern Empire, arriving in Lyttelton in January 1865. On the day they arrived Charles Tripp of Orari Gorge station was at the port looking for shepherds for his run in South Canterbury. Observing a fine-looking sheep-dog with the Grant brothers, he hired both men. In addition to wages, William was allowed to run some cattle of his own. This gave him a start in stock dealing, at which he became extremely successful.
During the 1870s William made Temuka his headquarters for a stock dealing business which expanded outside of Canterbury.
His success led to land transactions which included purchase of the 1010-acre Elloughton Grange farm, which lay on the outskirts of Timaru and lived there for the rest of his life.
Grant married Elizabeth Helen Allan, the daughter of a Timaru contractor, near Timaru in 1884. They went on to have three sons and two daughters and in 1893 he built The Grange, a two-storeyed, 17-room mansion, on Elloughton Grange. It was designed by the French-born Timaru architect Maurice Duval.
Grant had new opportunities with the beginning of the frozen meat trade in the early 1880s; he had a substantial shareholding in the SC Refrigerating Company which operated from its Smithfield freezing works, a short distance from Elloughton Grange.
In his later years, Grant attended to his land and financial interests. He was a very wealthy man. He died of a heart attack at Elloughton Grange in 1910. His wife, Elizabeth continued to live at The Grange until her death in 1942.
William Grant was a plain, unassuming, good-natured man who was respected and well-liked. His business acumen and remarkable knowledge of stock made him one of New Zealan'd most successful meat operators, and for a long time the country's leading buyer and shipper.

Stimulating and varied activities programme to reduce loneliness and boredom, these activities include : Art, BBQ, Big Print Books, Board Games, Bowls, Bridge, Pet Therapy Dogs, Cards, Craft, Children Visiting, Church Services, Concerts, Dancing, Email, Entertainers, Exercises, Games, Garden, Happy Hour, Housie, Indoor Games, Jigsaws, Minibus, Movies, Music, Outings, Pianist, Picnic Facilities, Quizzes, Reading, Sing-a-longs, Sky TV on our wide-screen, Theater, Videos, Park., Arthritis society