Mona Vale Kitchen & Events is a historic homestead and garden venue at 40 Mona Vale Avenue, Riccarton, Christchurch, entered via Kilmarnock Street. Set among 5.5 hectares of gardens on the banks of the Avon River, it operates as a restaurant, wedding and function venue.
As the business describes it, there's always a reason to linger at Mona Vale — whether that's a quick coffee and something from the cabinet, a long lunch that turns into afternoon wine, or High Tea done properly. The restaurant is open daily, with walk-ins welcome and bookings recommended on busier days.
The gracious Victorian Homestead reopened in December 2016 after a two-year, $3.2 million rebuild and strengthening project undertaken by Christchurch City Council, following damage sustained in the Canterbury earthquakes. Today it operates once more as a place for brunch, lunch, High Tea, weddings, milestone celebrations and corporate gatherings, alongside its riverside gardens.
Mona Vale Kitchen & Events sits on 5.5 hectares of gardens beside the Avon River in Riccarton, Christchurch — a restaurant, wedding and function venue built around a genuinely historic Homestead.
The land was originally owned by Christchurch's Deans brothers, whose own homestead was Riccarton House nearby. William Derisley Wood later leased the property and built Wood's Mill, and the 19th-century weir he built on the Avon still forms the Mona Vale mill pond today. In 1899–1900, Frederick and Alice Waymouth purchased four acres of the land and had the Homestead built, designed by architect Joseph Clarkson Maddison.
In 1905, Annie Quayle Townend acquired the property, renaming it Mona Vale after her mother's house in Tasmania and expanding the grounds by a further nine acres, adding a gate house. In 1907, following the New Zealand International Exhibition, she purchased the Exhibition's fernery — plants included — and had it reassembled at Mona Vale, later adding a bathhouse before passing away in 1914.
In 1939, Tracy Gough purchased Mona Vale and engaged landscape architect Alfred Buxton to design the gardens, adding a lily pond, a swimming pool at the Bath House, and plantings of rhododendrons, azaleas and exotic trees. In 1962, the Church of Latter Day Saints acquired the property, and when subdivision and demolition of the Homestead were threatened, public outcry and community fundraising saved it. Local councils purchased Mona Vale in 1969 to turn it into a public park, and by 1978 it had become a restaurant, café and function venue operated by Continental Catering.
The Canterbury earthquakes of 2011 caused significant damage to the Homestead, forcing its doors closed. It took a two-year, $3.2 million rebuild and strengthening project by Christchurch City Council before Mona Vale could reopen in December 2016, once again welcoming the public for events and dining — brunch, lunch and, famously, High Tea.
As Mona Vale puts it, there's always a reason to linger — whether that's a quick coffee and something from the cabinet, a long lunch that turns into afternoon wine, or High Tea done properly. In winter, a Sunday Roast is on the menu, giving way each spring to a lighter, fresher regular Sunday menu as the gardens come back into bloom. Walk-ins are always welcome at the restaurant, with bookings recommended on busier days.
Mona Vale hosts weddings on the Iris Lawn, functions and corporate events in the Homestead, and more intimate weddings at the Bath House, tucked within the gardens and surrounded by glass and greenery. For anyone planning a celebration, the events team can also add extras such as a champagne tower for a touch of theatre. Tour groups and international visitors are welcomed too, with group dining options and venue information available through Mona Vale's Tourism Trade offering.
Mona Vale is open daily from 9am to 4pm, closed on Christmas Day, and entered via Kilmarnock Street. Gift cards are available and delivered instantly by email, and the team can be reached by phone or by email for restaurant or event enquiries.
Between its Victorian architecture, riverside gardens, and a history running from the Deans brothers through to a post-earthquake rebuild, Mona Vale offers something rare: a genuinely historic setting that's still an everyday place to visit — for coffee, a long lunch, High Tea, or a wedding among the gardens it's spent well over a century growing into.