Last call at Dransfield House
It’s been the scene of fires, photo shoots, zombie attacks, fine dining and wild parties but now one of Wellington’s most iconic buildings is closing its doors to the public.
Dransfield House, opposite the entrance to Aro Valley at the top of Willis St, will no longer operate as a venue for hire, says lease-holder Kevin Smith.
It gets bookings only once every six to eight weeks and is ‘‘no longer costeffective’’. Letting go of the lease is a purely ‘‘commercial decision’’.
‘‘We’re off the beaten track to a certain degree, we weren’t making much money, and we decided just to give it away,’’ says Smith, a solicitor.
‘‘By the time you’ve got casual staff on, sorted out your liquor licence, got all your supplies in, your alcohol, and counted out the change, it just isn’t profitable.’’
Originally built in about 1876, Dransfield House was all but destroyed by fire in the mid-1990s. Smith bought the wreck from Wellington City Council in 1996 and set about restoring it.
After adding classical balustrades to the balcony outside, and replacing fireplaces and more than 40 doors inside, he then sold the building to its current owner and leased it back to use as offices and a venue.
Despite the fire gutting the upper floor, many of the building’s period features survived, including spectacular leadlight and stained-glass windows in the entrance way, and mouldings in the ‘‘ballroom’’.
The exterior of the two-storey, Italianate villa – originally built by Wellington’s first mayor, Joseph Dransfield – was mostly left intact, including the wrap-around balcony.
‘‘We rebuilt it and it is what it is now. It’s a beautiful old mansion, for sure.’’
Many Wellingtonians will know the building as a venue for weddings, events, balls and extravagant costume parties, including ‘‘hundreds’’ of weekly wine clubs, Venetian balls and Halloween parties hosted by local identity Eddy Kennedy.
‘‘Dransfield was a wonderful venue. Just so beautiful, so easy. A beautiful space,’’ Kennedy says.
‘‘Working with Kevin was very good, because he was just so enthusiastic about it being utilised and promoted. I was able to have free rein to do whatever I wanted.’’
While Kennedy won’t miss the parties (and all the organisation), there had been ‘‘a lot of really good times’’.
‘‘One Halloween party there, some guy showed up as a zombie. He was so authentic and scary, and I still to this day have no idea who it was.
‘‘He spent the whole evening stumbling around and everyone was like, ‘who is that?’ No-one knew, because he never spoke ... Imagine what he heard. He was terrifying.’’
With separate rooms for different atmospheres during events, the home has a ‘‘nice, easy flow’’ for functions; and being so beautiful, much of the ‘‘set dressing’’ was already done, too.
Photographer Matt Barnes used Dransfield as a backdrop for several glamour and cosplay shoots, as ‘‘it was like stepping set’’.
‘‘I loved shooting there . . . The detail in every angle made it easy to get great images.’’
Kennedy agrees. You ‘‘never had to do any decorating at all, really’’.
‘‘At Halloween, we got spider’s webs and threw them about. The back room with the bar was really cool, too, because you could just put little tables in and keep it quite intimate.’’
With a full commercial kitchen on site, catering was also ‘‘extremely easy’’ – at one point, the home was a restaurant.
‘‘I think the good thing about Wellington is there are plenty of places to have a beautiful wedding. We’re very lucky having so many different venue options; however, Dransfield was special,’’ Kennedy says.
As a wedding and events venue, ‘‘it ticked all the boxes’’, although being so central meant outdoor photos for weddings ‘‘had to get just the right angle’’ so you didn’t have construction peering over the building in the background.
‘‘It was central, that was definitely a plus. It was easy to get to, lots of accommodation, and it was gorgeous, absolutely beautiful.’’
Smith says he thinks the owners plan to live in the grand old dame of upper Willis St, returning it to its original purpose as a family home. on to
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