Welcome from Sutton Heritage House and Garden Charitable Trust
We are a Christchurch based charitable Trust. At the heart of this Trust is the house, including a studio, built in 1962 for the renowned Canterbury artist and educator William Alexander Sutton, (1917 – 2000) – usually known as Bill Sutton – at 20 Templar Street, Richmond, Christchurch. He lived there for thirty eight years. Most of his celebrated work created during this period – both landscapes and portraiture – was painted here. Sutton’s house was designed by Tom Taylor, (1925 – 1995), a friend and teaching colleague and a sculptor who had studied architecture for two years; it is the only remaining Tom Taylor designed house in Christchurch which has retained its original design. The luxuriant garden around the house was designed and planted by Bill Sutton himself.
Then came the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010/11.
The Sutton House sits in the Red Zone, a large area of Christchurch which suffered severe damage both to land and buildings. Because of a unique set of circumstances, Sutton House is the only heritage residence in the whole of the Red Zone to survive. Now owned by the city, the Trust leases the building from the council and administers the house, garden and surrounding park.
The Sutton House was officially opened by the Mayor of Christchurch, the Honourable Lianne Dalziel, on the 7th of March 2021.
