Sheppard villa a ‘labour of love’

some discussions but I don’t want to go too far on that as it is a negotiation, but yes of course we have an interest in preserving our history.’’

The agent marketing the house in Christchurch said there had already been ‘‘phenomenal’’ interest in the property, but he believed the Government should buy it.

‘‘Why don’t they buy it? Well you tell me,’’ said Martin Sutton from Harcourts Ilam 2, ‘‘I think it’d be a very good use of public funds.’’

The house was where Sheppard and her fellow suffragists wrote pamphlets, prepared speeches and collected thousands of signatures for their petition – the largest ever presented to Parliament.

The petition signatures were posted on rolls of wallpaper in the dining room and glued together.

Later they were famously rolled out across the chamber of the House to convince politicians to change the law.

Burbury and her husband at the time raised their two children there and were unaware of its historic significance until the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage in 1993.

‘‘It was pretty amazing. ‘‘Prior to that it had been just our home, but after that it felt like a real privilege to be here,’’ Burbury said.

Sheppard’s villa has a category one protection order heritage listing.

The original villa is still visible from the front of the property but it has been extended and modernised to become a 310-square-metre home.

It has four bedrooms, three lounges and three bathrooms.