Stunning historic home just too much for one family
Historic Invercargill home Lennel House has deep foundations. So deep, they reach right back to the early 1880s, when New Zealand’s surveyorgGeneral John Turnbull Thomson chose to clear a slice of Waihopai forest to build his family home.
Thomson needed room for nine daughters, and a garden fit for a country gentleman. His home would have stables, and an orchard. There would be a plant nursery to keep up with the size of the garden, and a cottage for the gardener to live in (his name was Albert Newman and he worked at the home until the 1920s).
And so Lennel, a late Victorian Gothicstyle mansion with park-like gardens, was created. Today, Lennel is a category 1 listed historic place and family home, surrounded by Invercargill’s city suburbs, a short walk from Queens Park. From the air, its garden stretches out like a small park of its own, complete with mature trees and a large pond.
It is likely some of those trees were planted by Thomson and Newman.
A stand of rhododendrons is listed in the district plan. A weeping ash may also be original to Thomson’s planting.
One tree has significant historic importance: a copper beech that was imported from the UK and planted at Lennel to celebrate the 1897 diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
Returning the 1.2 hectares of gardens to their former glory has been the work of Laura Thompson and her partner Will Finlayson ever since the couple bought the property from Will’s father in 2021.
Denys Finlayson bought the property in 1998, and together with his wife Jocelyn, spent more than 20 years renovating the building. When Jocelyn died, he sold the property to his son to continue the work.
“[When we bought the home] we thought we’ll have a go and see how we go," says Thompson. "So it was always just a trial kind of thing."
At this stage of the family’s life, however, when the couple both has full time jobs, and three young children, Patrick, 6, Arthur, 4, and Forbes, 3, they have found they, "just don't have the resources to do it justice".
They have nonetheless achieved a lot, particularly in the garden, taking it back to basics, removing all the invasive plants to let the established trees thrive again. It’s been hard work, but rewarding to preserve a property that’s so integral to the history of the area, Thompson says.
According to Heritage NZ, the couple removed more than 800 tonnes of green waste, and planted almost 2000 trees, shrubs and plants, and more than 1000 bulbs.
"There hadn't been much gardening done there in a long, long time. Originally it had pretty special grounds to go with the home, so we just tried to bring that back a little bit,“Thompson says.
"It's definitely a very conflicting decision [to sell]. But feels like the right thing for our family at the moment."
For Thompson, the history of the home has been “the coolest thing”.
"You get a real feel for that when you are there as well. Some of the features within the house are pretty amazing. You go look at a regular house, and they're a bit low key."
There are high coffered ceilings throughout the home, as well as ornate cornices and ceiling roses. Marble fireplaces warm the bedrooms, and a sweeping bay window graces the main reception room.
Outside a graceful, ornate verandah provides the perfect spot in which to sit and contemplate the garden.
The couple had wanted to turn the property into a heritage site, opening the home to the public and school groups to learn more about local European history. Thompson envisaged school groups getting "more of a hands on experience, play croquet, that kind of thing". The home would also have been a venue for weddings and other events, such as popup restaurants.
Whoever takes it on now will need to be “someone that really understands looking after heritage and why it's important”.
"I think having some kind of commercial viability would be really good for the property. Just as a home, it probably doesn't fit the needs of the average family any more."
Parenting in the home has been the best and the worst experience. Thompson will miss the best parts of it, “the freedom they have to explore, be really creative, to climb trees and find bugs”, and yet be close enough to town so they can walk to school.
But there are some things she won’t miss. “If I'm in the kitchen, I don't have any idea what they're doing, so it's really hard to parent them."
Estate agent Kylie Young, of Bayley’s, says it’s almost impossible to put a price on the 13,000m² property, as there is nothing else like it in the city. She and colleague Hannah Mason have chosen to highlight the home’s history, by appearing in Victorian dress in the marketing.
Lennel is for sale by negotiation.