Hidden family treasures uncovered
When Chris Wraight and his wife Jenny left their Rocks Rd home at 5am on August 20, 2022, they had no inkling that they would never spend another night sleeping there again.
The atmospheric river that turned hillsides to mush and sent rivers running through suburban streets had caused their house to twist on its foundations.
The night before, the Wraights listened to the sound of interior gib board “going off like a shotgun”, the sound of it cracking and breaking.
“We scarpered, never to return,” Chris told the Nelson Mail. The property was red-stickered the following day.
The family’s home is currently being deconstructed. At the beginning of this process, a folder of photos and letters was found by council contractors.
It had fallen behind fixed cabinetry in the study, and had the home not been deconstructed it would never have been found.
The folder included a birth certificate from 1932, letters written by Chris’ father Jim as a teenager at Trentham Military Camp in 1918, and his paternal grandfather’s wedding photo.
There was also a photo of Andrew Swanson, Chris’ uncle, who went to El-Alamein in Egypt and was in the NZ Army as a gunner.
The house had been renovated during the 27 years that the Wraights lived there, and the folder misplaced and forgotten completely.
Isaac Construction Nelson branch manager Toby O’Sullivan met Chris for a coffee and reunited him with the folder.
“He was just so thankful that he was able to be reconnected with these precious family records,” O’Sullivan said.
The company is deconstructing two properties on Rocks Rd, including the little red house, and another in The Brook, all of which were affected in the storm event in August 2022.
O’Sullivan said they had aimed to recycle approximately 80% of those properties through organisations such as Habitat for Humanity to prevent as much material going to landfill as possible.
Taking the house apart to salvage materials took twice as long, but the project was a sensitive in that household possessions were inside in some cases.
“We’re just trying to do right by the previous owners and just take care and responsibility with the works,” he said.
For Chris, despite the abrupt end to their residency, the good memories spent living there remain, as it was where they raised their two, now adult, children.
The couple now live in Princes Drive.
“We moved from having our feet in the sand to having out head in the clouds,” as Chris puts it.
“We’re not far away, but we’re far enough to be safe.”
The impacts, like many of those who lost their places to live in the event, linger. A few weeks ago, he was startled by very heavy rain falling on the roof.
“Psychologically, there’s still gremlins here with weather and what have you,” he said.
“It’s just a matter of time.”
Nelson City Council group manager infrastructure, Alec Louverdis said deconstruction allowed materials to be salvaged, waste to be minimised, and, on occasion, unexpected discoveries to be made.
Had the building been demolished in the traditional way, Wraight’s treasures would likely have been lost forever, he said.
Louverdis said the council was “absolutely thrilled” that the mementos had been recovered and returned.
He thanked the contractor for their careful work, and said the council remained committed to “sustainable, thoughtful practices that serve both our community and the environment”.
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
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