PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

OF THE

LARK ELLEN AGED CARE, 133 JANNALI AVENUE, SUTHERLAND

HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT

Prepared by:

John Oultram Heritage & Design Level 2, 386 New South Head Road, Double Bay, NSW 2028

T: (02) 9327 2748 E: [email protected]

Prepared for:

Lark Ellen Aged Care

May 2017

© John Oultram Heritage & Design LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE BRIEF

The following report has been prepared to accompany a development application for the development of the Lark Ellen Aged Care facility at 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland, NSW. The report has been prepared on behalf of Lark Ellen Aged Care, the owners and operators of the facility.

1.2 THE STUDY AREA

The study area is Lots 24, 25 & 28 in DP 9306 (Lark Ellen Aged Care) and three residential properties to the south in Lots 14, 20 and 21 in DP 9306 (Figure 1.1).

LARK ELLEN AGED CARE

Figure 1.1 The Study Area - 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Source: Google Maps

1.3 LIMITATIONS AND TERMS

The report only addresses the European significance of the place. The terms fabric, conservation, maintenance, preservation, restoration, reconstruction, adaptation, compatible use and cultural significance used in this report are as defined in the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 2 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

1.4 METHODOLOGY

This report was prepared in accordance with the NSW Heritage Manual “Statements of Heritage Impact”, “Assessing Heritage Significance Guidelines” and the Sutherland Shire Council guidelines for the preparation of heritage impact statements.. The philosophy adopted is that guided by the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter 1999.

1.5 AUTHORS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report, including all diagrams and photographs, was prepared by John Oultram of John Oultram Heritage & Design, unless otherwise noted. Historical research was prepared by Nicholas Jackson. John Oultram Heritage & Design was established in 1998 and is on the NSW Heritage Office list of heritage consultants.

1.6 PRE DA CONSULTATION

The development has been discussed with Council’s planning department partly in regard to the heritage significance of the property.

The property was the subject of a heritage assessment prepared by this office in May 2014 that concluded that the original house on the property had been very heavily altered and extended and that the remnant section of the house was not of heritage significance due to its limited intactness.

Council indicated that its retention was preferred. The current proposals retain the original house and its later extensions dating from its conversion to aged care and the proposal is for development to the rear and side of the building on the three lots to the south identified above.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 3 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

2.0 HISTORICAL SUMMARY

2.1 SUMMARY

The property is located within part of Holt's Sutherland township (Deposited plan 802) that was subdivided and released for sale in 1882. The allotment and surrounding area did not sell until 1918 when it was purchased by the local real estate agent Arthur Cooper. Cooper re-subdivided in Deposited Plan 9306. The former dwelling was erected in 1929 for George Malcolm Greenwell (1873-1938). The building has been attributed to Greenwell's cousin, architect Carlyle Greenwell (1884-1961). In later years the house was named Laanecorri (or Laonecourie). The house would seem to have been converted in 1965 to a convalescent home named Lark Ellen Hospital.

2.2 HOLT ESTATE

While Sutherland Shire has the distinction of being the birthplace of Australia because of the land of Captain Cook on the southern shore of Botany Bay in April 1770 permanent non-indigenous settlement commenced in the last decades of the nineteenth century.

For most of the nineteenth century the area we consider as Sutherland Shire was in the ownership of a handful of people. The most numerous of these pioneers were the Connell/Laycock family who made a living running horses and cattle. In August 1861 the family sold their properties to Thomas Holt (1811-1888) who subsequently went on to purchase most of the remaining un-alienated crown land; most of the area of present day Sutherland township being sold to him in December 1862 by a land sale of 61 acres. The enterprising Holt attempted to run sheep, but found a little more success in timber and cattle, and he dabbled in oyster farming. Holt’s principal residence was The Warren (now demolished), overlooking Cooks River at present day Marrickville, but at Gwawley Bay he built Sutherland House (now demolished) in the late 1870s.

Holt, who had migrated to New South Wales in 1842, returned to England in 1881 where he died in 1888. On leaving the colony in 1881, Holt leased his Sutherland estate, then comprising 12,000 acres between Botany Bay and Port Hacking, to the newly formed Holt-Sutherland Estate Land Co.

2.3 SUTHERLAND TOWNSHIP

With the development of Sutherland township the impetus for closer settlement was the building of the government railway line connecting Sydney with the Illawarra region in 1885.

The railway station at Sutherland, which was officially opened in December 1885, was sited within a pocket of land outside Holt’s and within land owned by Samuel William Gray, the local MLA prior to 1880. The area immediately around the station, bounded by Linden Street, The Grand Parade, Eton Street and Park Street, was subdivided and sold with freehold title from January 1885 by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company, which had purchased the land from Gray.

For the first twenty years following its foundation Sutherland township was a very sparsely populated settlement. Local government did not arrive until 1906 when it was forced on the local populace by the Shire Act of 1906 that brought the bulk of the rural towns and districts in the state into line with the suburban municipalities. At the time of incorporation Sutherland township had 90 houses and about ten businesses.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 4 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

It has been stated that the earliest developments in Sutherland township occurred on the western side of the railway line adjacent to Woronora Cemetery (opened in 1895), but from the 1900s the focus of activity had shifted to the east side.1 Here, along the Princess Highway, a number of commercial premises were established inclusive of Boyle’s Railway Hotel. The local shire erected their offices in Eton Street in 1915 (demolished in 1965). The public school opened in 1887 on the site fronting Eton Street. While the Catholics opened their first church in the area west of the railway line in 1891, they relocated to Belmont Street and erected St Patrick’s Church in 1928. The Anglicans had decided on the east side from the beginning and had opened St John’s Church in 1894 in Boyle Street and relocated it to Belmont Street in 1932 (site purchased in 1929). The Methodists erected their first chapel in Flora Street in 1905.

Figure 2.1 The Holt township of Sutherland (Deposited Plan 802). Waterford Road changed to Jannali Avenue in 1930

Source: State Library of New South Wales (Sydney Suburbs Subdivision S18-5)

1 Toohey, Casimir (comp.), Sutherland Saga, privately printed, 1988, p.1

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 5 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

2.4 LAANECORRIE, 133 JANNALI AVENUE

The property is located within part of Holt's Sutherland township (Deposited plan 802) that was subdivided and released for sale in 1882. It that subdivision the property was within Lot 12 of Section 29. The allotment and surrounding area did not sell until 1918 when it was purchased by the local real estate agent Arthur Cooper.2 Cooper re-subdivided in Deposited Plan 9306.

Figure 2.2 Cooper’ re-subdivision of his landholding dated 1918

The aged care centre site is edged in red with the three house sites edged in blue. Note that all of the surrounding street names have since been changed

Source: Land and Property Information DP 9306

2 Torrens Certificate of Title Vol. 2867 Fol.165

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 6 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Over the following three decades the allotments of the property (Lots 24, 25 & 28) of Cooper's subdivision changed ownership frequently with no apparent development resulting. Between May and July 1928 George Malcolm Greenwell bought the three allotments to form the existing property.3 These three allotments have never been consolidated into the one title.

The existing inter-war building at the property was built for George Malcolm Greenwell in 1929. The probable architect was Greenwell's cousin, Carlyle Greenwell, who accepted the tender of AP Pringle in July 1929 for the erection of a residence at Sutherland.4

George Malcolm Greenwell (1873-1938) was the son of George Smith Greenwell (1843-1913) who had come to Australia with his parents in the Gold Rush of the early 1850s. GS Greenwell settled in Windsor in his adult years and owned an ironmongers in George Street of that town.5 GM Greenwell married Roseclaire Annis-Brown, in Manilla, northern NSW, in 1908.6 The couple moved to Pitt Town and owned the property Mulgrave Place and developed a commercial orchard there. Mrs GM Greenwell died in 1923.7 Shortly after George M moved to Sydney and married Harriet Mabel Churchill Gibson in 1924 at the Methodist Church, Sutherland.8

George M Greenwell died in 1938 in Sutherland. His widow retained the house until March 1943 when it was sold to Mrs Mabel Sydney Baldock Attwater.9 Mrs Attwater was the wife of Clyde Milton Attwater, the chemist at Thirroul since 1916. Shortly after moving to their new home, Mr Attwater died in September 1943 at the age of 52.10 The house name at the time was Laanecorrie.

Mrs Attwater sold the property in November 1944 to John Albert Langford and wife Gertrude Ada Maria.11 By a strange co-incidence, Mr Langford died 'suddenly' at his new residence in 1946.12 The house name at the time continued to be Laanecorrie. Mrs Langford continued to own the property until her death in Sutherland in April 1965.13 An unpublished account of the early days of the house noted that:

The very beautiful garden featured over two hundred rose bushes and a large variety of fruit trees. ….A red pebble driveway circled the house14.

2.5 LARK ELLEN HOSPITAL

Following the death of Mrs Langford, the executors of her estate sold the property in late 1965 to Ardrossran Pty Ltd.15 The house would seem to have been converted in that year to a convalescent home named Lark Ellen Hospital for September 1965 a development application was lodged to undertake extensions.16

3 Torrens Title Dealings B658216, B658217, and B699490 4 'Architects' Work - Tenders Accepted', Construction and Local Government Journal, 2//7/1929, p.5 5 'Obituary', 25/10/1913, Windsor and Richmond Gazette p.4 6 Marriages, Sydney Morning Herald, 25/4/1908, p.12 7 'Obituary', Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 9/3/1923, p.3 8 Marriages, Sydney Morning Herald, 21/6/1924, p.14 9 Torrens Title Dealing D200573 10 Deaths, Sydney Morning Herald, 16/9/1943, p.8 11 Torrens Title Dealing D33470 12 Deaths, Sydney Morning Herald, 6/6/1946, p.16 13 Deaths, Sydney Morning Herald, 2/4/1965 14 Notes on the Greenwell family held by the Hospital 15 Torrens Title Dealing K224593 16 Sutherland Shire Council Development Committee Minute No. 757 of 13/10/1969

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 7 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Consent for further extension was refused in 1969 resulting from objections from adjoining landowners.17 Following changes to the proposed work, Council conditionally approved the application in October 1970.18 These extensions were completed and officially opened in April 1972.19 By that date the proprietor was Jay McAllister Pty Ltd.20

Figure 2.3 Looking down on the property in 1951

Source: Land and Property Information (Port Hacking Run 22)

The convalescent home was apparently the sister hospital to the Lark Ellen hospital in West Covina, Los Angles that had been visited by Jay McAllister. The American hospital was named after Ellen Beach Yaw, a well-known opera singer who was nicknamed Lark Ellen21 who lived at Covina for the last thirty years of her life.

Lark Ellen opened with 14 beds and was sold to Mr Gabor and Mrs Judith Handley in 1981. In 1984 the facility was expanded with a rehabilitation wing, dining room, physiotherapy section, nurses station and utility room giving accommodation for 50 residents22.

Major renovations were carried out around 2000 when the large addition to the north was added and the roof converted to accommodation.

2.6 ARCHITECT CARLYLE GREENWELL

The former dwelling within the Lark Ellen Hospital has been attributed to architect Carlyle Greenwell on the basis of the family association and the tender of 1929.

17 Sutherland Shire Council Development Committee Minute No. 902 of 15/12/1969 18 Sutherland Shire Council Development Committee Minute No. 687 of 6/10/1970 19 St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, 26/4/1972, p.9 20 Torrens Title Dealing M665219 21 Newspaper advertisement held by the Hospital 22 From notes held by the Hospital

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 8 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Carlyle (1884-1961) was the son of Smith Thomas Greenwell.23 ST Greenwell (1844- 1926) who had come to Australia with his brother, GS Greenwell, and in the company of their parents in the Gold Rush of the early 1850s. In the 1860s he opened a drapery business in Windsor where, a brief time in New Zealand, continued to trade and reside until 1901.24

Carlyle was born in Windsor in 1884. He was educated at Newington College, attended Sydney Technical Collage and the Engineering Faculty at University of Sydney. He then left Australia for America where he undertook a bachelor of science degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1909 to 1911, which was highly unusual for an Australian to do to at the time. His practical training in Sydney was gained in the office of (Harry C) Kent and (Henry Ebenezer) Budden, and on his return to Sydney in 1912 he was a partner in that office until 1923 (as Kent & Budden and Greenwell, and then Budden and Greenwell). He enlisted in the AIF in 1916 and was discharged in late 1919. By 1923 he was a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

He entered into partnership with John Keith Shirley in 1927 under the name Greenwell and Shirley and in offices in Sirius House, Macquarie Place.

Greenwell is believed to have largely undertaken domestic work, some of which was for family members and friends as discussed above. Surviving designs include 65 Woodside Avenue in Strathfield and Terhyn Worthle in Killara. Terhyn Worthle was included by William Hardy Wilson in his Domestic Architecture in Australia published in 1919. The colonnade was described as being Californian Mission. This house, (believed to have been designed around 1914) survives and is one of the earliest examples of motifs drawn from Californian missions in NSW.25

2.7 RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS -137-139 JANNALI AVENUE

The three residential sites to the south of the aged care facility were formed in Cooper’s subdivision and were sold and developed in the 1920s.

2.7.1 135 Jannali Avenue

135 Jannali Avenue was Lot 21of the subdivision. It was first purchased in 1928 by Eunice Sarah Ward, a widow of Hazelbrook. It was likely that the current house was built at this time. Mrs Ward owned the property till 1946 when it was sold to Cecil Wilfred Arkinstall26.

2.7.2 137 Jannali Avenue

137 Jannali Avenue was Lot 20 of the subdivision. It was first purchased in 1925 by William James Abbott, a speciality salesman of Alexandria. It was likely that the current house was built at this time. Abbott owned the property till 1944 when it was sold to Thomas George Kavanagh.27

2.8 139 JANNALI AVENUE

139 Jannali Avenue was Lot 14 of the subdivision. It was first purchased in 1929 by Alice Adelaide Ramsay, wife of Fred Ramsay of Sutherland. It was likely that the current house was built at this time. Mrs Ramsay owned the property till 1932 when it was sold to Annie Georgina Rands.28

23 National Archives of Australia Item 4705289 24 'Mr Smith T Greenwell', Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 6/4/1901, p.8 25 Notes provided by the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) and gratefully acknowledged 26 Land and Property Information Vol. 4185, Fol. 52 27 Land and Property Information Vol. 3814, Fol. 29 28 Land and Property Information Vol. 4254, Fol. 134

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 9 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

3.0 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

An inspection of the property was carried out by John Oultram in May 2014 and June 2015 to ascertain its layout, condition and intactness from its original construction. The current plan of Lark Ellen is shown in Figure 3.1.

Lark Ellen Nursing home is a single storey, aged care complex built on a large site to the west side of Jannali Avenue, Sutherland. The complex is relatively modern but retains a small portion of the original brick house to the front.

3.1 ORIGINAL HOUSE

To the front of the complex is a small section of the original house comprising a central, gabled bay with wings each side. This section is in face brick with tile creasing to the bay piers and a hipped, terracotta roof. The front gable roof is original in form though has been altered at the barges and the major roof beyond raised to cover the later alterations to the north. There are two, modern dormers to the roof.

The gable has a large, arched, window (originally a door) with a leadlight upper panel with the family motto with two windows each side, all with rendered architraves and heads. To the south is an inset entrance porch with a multi-paned, timber door and sidelights and beyond a former verandah with brick piers and spandrel now infilled with timber framed glazing. The side of the verandah has been infilled with brickwork. The porch has been partly infilled with brickwork and has a ramp to the front. To the north is a similar verandah that has also been infilled.

To the north is a modern addition in face brick that has a second gable to the street with a modern porte-cochere. As noted, the roof to the original house has been extended and raised to carry across the later extensions.

Internally, only the four rooms to the front of the complex signal the original layout and all have been extended into the former verandah or divided with new partitions. All original finishes have been replaced along with all joinery and ceilings. The later complex beyond is to a modern detail.

To the front of the complex is a small car park and drive with angled parking spaces in concrete with brick edgings. There is a small planter bed to the street. There are several trees on the property but no plantings of note.

3.2 LATER EXTENSIONS

There is a large complex of buildings to the rear of the original section that are in face brick with hipped, terracotta tile roofs and timber and aluminium glazing. The additions are built close to the site boundaries but there is a service access drive to the north and a central courtyard with a raised deck and ramps. The additions contain residents’ rooms and a central dining and recreation room with service rooms throughout.

3.3 ENVIRONS

The complex is in a residential area mainly of single storey, Inter War dwellings of varying types many altered with later extensions and with some modern, infill buildings. Jannali Avenue is a busy thoroughfare to the town centre and is lined with residential properties to the west and the rail line to the east. There is informal car parking at the street opposite the aged care facility and a fenced parking area for the train line further south.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 10 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

There is a line of Ironbarks to the east side of the street but only one street tree to the west, a large Gum tree in front of the facility. There are single storey houses in the immediate vicinity and to the rear of the subject site. The interiors of the three houses to the south were not inspected.

Figures 3.2 to 3.11

Figure 3.1 Lark Ellen Nursing Home, Sutherland - Plans as existing

The conjectured footprint of the original house has been dotted

Source: Architect

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 11 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Figure 3.2 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Front Elevation

Figure 3.3 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Front Elevation

Figure 3.4 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Front Entry

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 12 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Figure 3.5 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Car park

Figure 3.6 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Northern boundary

Figure 3.7 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Internal court

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 13 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Figure 3.8 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

South boundary and view to adjoining property

Figure 3.9 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Entry foyer

Figure 3.10 133 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

Entry Hallway

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 14 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

There are a number of single storey residential properties close to the subject site.

3.3.1 125 Jannali – Whitby

125 Jannalli Avenue is a single storey, Inter War house set on corner block at the junction of Glenelg Street. The house is in tuck pointed, face brick with a hipped, terracotta tile roof. There is a projecting, faceted bay to the front (former verandah, now enclosed) with hipped roof and gablet faced in fibro and battens. There is a large garden to front laid to lawn with perimeter shrub planting and low brick wall to the street. There are later extensions at rear in a large rear garden

Glenelg Street is lined with a mix of single storey, Inter War houses in face brick and weatherboard with hipped roofs.

3.3.2 127 Jannali Avenue

To the north of the facility is a single storey, Post War house in face brick with hipped and gabled, terracotta tile roof. There is a timber clad infill to the front extending to form carport with flat roof. There is a small garden to front with a low brick wall to street with a side drive to a large, modern garage at the rear.

3.3.3 135 Jannali Avenue

To the south of the facility is a single storey, Inter War house overclad in metal weatherboards (that appear to have been placed over brick walls) with a hipped, terracotta tile roof with a brick chimney to the side. There is a projecting bay to the front with curved wall to porch and hipped roof. There is a modern, flanking verandah to the side with a projecting bay with a curved wall to the entrance door with a metal roof on timber posts with a raised base on a low, brick wall. There is a small garden to front with two Cypress trees and a side drive to metal carport with a large pine tree to the side boundary. There is a skillion section and large garden at rear. The windows have been replaced in aluminium

3.3.4 137 Jannali Avenue

137 Jannali Avenue is a single storey, timber weatherboard house with a hipped, terracotta tiled roof. There is a projecting bay to the front with hipped roof and flanking porch with flat, curved roof. There is a small garden to front with brick drive to side.

3.3.5 139 Jannali Avenue

139 Jannali Avenue is a single storey, Inter War house in dark, face brick with hipped, terracotta roof. The house has a symmetrical front elevation with a central projecting porch with a gabled roof over faced in fibro and battens and supported on turned concrete, stub columns on brick piers with brick balustrade. The original windows have been replaced in aluminium. There is a large addition to first floor in weatherboards with hipped, terracotta roof. There is a small garden to front with a concrete path and side drive and a skillion section to the rear and single storey fibro garage.

3.3.6 141B Jannali Avenue

To the corner of Leonay Street is a modern single and two storey duplex in face brick house with hipped colorbond roof.

Figures 3.11 – 3.16

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 15 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Figure 3.11 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

125 Jannali Avenue

Figure 3.12 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

View to the subject site from Glenelg Avenue

Figure 3.13 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

127 Jannali Avenue

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 16 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Figure 3.14 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

135 Jannali Avenue

Figure 3.15 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

137 Jannali Avenue

Figure 3.16 Jannali Avenue, Sutherland

139 Jannali Avenue

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 17 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

4.0 HERITAGE CONTROLS

4.1 NATIONAL TRUST

The property is not classified on the Register of the National Trust of Australia (NSW).

4.2 HERITAGE DIVISION OF THE NSW OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE

4.2.1 State Heritage Register

Under the Heritage Act 1977 the NSW Heritage Council, administered by the Heritage Division of the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, maintains the State Heritage Register (SHR), a register of items and places that are considered to have heritage significance at a state level. The subject property is not listed on the Register.

4.2.2 State Heritage Inventory

The Heritage Branch also compiles the State Heritage Inventory (SHI), a collated database of all places listed on statutory heritage lists, including Local Environmental Plans. The subject property is listed on the Inventory (SHI 2440231). The listing sheet from the Inventory contains no pertinent information but is attached as Appendix B.

Listing on the Inventory has no statutory implications for development at the place but reflects the listing of the property on the LEP (see below).

4.3 LOCAL AUTHORITY

The local authority for the area is Sutherland Shire Council. The property is listed as a heritage item in Schedule 5 Part 1 of the Sutherland Shire Local Environmental Plan 2015 (LEP):

REF ADDRESS ITEM RANKING 3625 133 Jannali Avenue Lark Ellen Nursing Home Local

The property is not within a conservation area but is in the vicinity of heritage items at:

REF ADDRESS ITEM RANKING 3623 123 Jannali Avenue (rear frontage to House Local Vesta Street) 3624 125 Jannali Avenue (corner Glenelg Street House Local

Development at the place will be the subject of the heritage provisions of the LEP regarding development of a heritage item and in the vicinity of a heritage item.

Council may also take into consideration any heritage provisions in the Sutherland Shire Draft Development Control Plan 201529.

29 Council’s website indicates that development applications submitted under the new LEP (in force from the 23 June 2015) will be considered against the Draft DCP

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 18 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

LARK ELLEN

Figure 4.1 Sutherland Shire Local Environmental Plan 2015 Heritage Map HER_005A

Source: Sutherland Shire Council

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 19 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

5.0 DISCUSSION OF SIGNIFICANCE

5.1 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME – HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

5.1.1 Historical Development

The Lark Ellen Nursing Home is an example of a Post War aged care facility that was built over and around an Inter War style house that was constructed c.1929 by George Greenwell, possibly to the design of his cousin, architect Carlyle Greenwell.

The house was sold in 1956 to Ardrossan Pty Limited and converted to a nursing home. Since that time it has had numerous alterations and additions (some that have later been demolished and replaced). The majority of the original house has been demolished.

The house was built on three lots of a re-subdivision of the Holt Sutherland Estate that was established over a large area in 1882. The first subdivision did not sell well and the subject area was not sold till 1918 when Lot 12 was purchased by estate agent Arthur Cooper who re-subdivided to form the current lot pattern.

5.1.2 Historical Associations

Little is known of Greenwell (1873-1938) and he does not appear to have been a figure of note. The place has some associations with Thomas Holt (1811-1888) who was instrumental in establishing the township of Sutherland and who held vast landholdings in the area, but the association with the subject site is tenuous.

The house may have been designed by architect Carlyle Greenwell (1884-1961) perhaps chosen for his family connections. He was trained in Australia and America and appears to have been influenced by the Californian Mission style. This is not the style of the house at Jannali that is in a hybrid version of the Inter War, Classical Revival style. The remnant sections of the house express little of the original style and detail and the association is a tenuous one.

5.2 AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE

Laanecorrie was built in the Inter War Classical Revival style and was a symmetrical composition with two, two bay verandahs each side of a central, gabled wing. The house appears to have had a simple footprint with a hipped roof with brick chimneys. The interior detail is unclear though an early photograph appears to show dark painted joinery with deep plaquet rails at the door head height.

The house has been altered beyond recognition and only a small portion of the front brickwork remains. Of this, the open verandahs have been enclosed with brick balustrades and timber windows and the French Doors to the centre gable replaced.

The extent of original fabric and later changes is shown on Figure 5.1.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 20 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

LATER OR MODERN ALTERATIONS & ADDITIONS

LATER ALTERATIONS TO THE ORIGINAL FACADE

Figure 5.1 Lark Ellen Nursing Home, Sutherland – Plan of remnant section of the original house. Original walls are hatched (Internal walls conjectured)

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 21 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

There are very large extensions to the north and west that have overwhelmed the house. The chimneys have been removed and the roof reconfigured to a larger footprint. All of the interior detail has been removed. The only details of note are the tile creasing to the brick piers and the leadlight arched window with the motto MOLTO FORTIS IN ARDAIS (Bravery In Hardship).

The site has been heavily developed and the extensive gardens to the house removed including those to the front including the original front fence. The later alterations are reasonably sympathetic in style and materials but have largely obscured the original house.

By 1929 the Inter War style were well established and the house is not a seminal work and, from the level of alteration, clearly does not express the original design intent or represent a readable example of Greenwell’s work

Figure 5.2 Early photographs of Loanecourie, undated but pre extensions

Note the open verandah to the front (no balustrade), the French doors to the central, arched opening, the low roof form with brick chimneys and the verandah doors behind the two nurses

Source: Client

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 22 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Figure 5.3 Early and current photographs of Loanecourie, undated but following conversion to an aged care facility

Note the addition to the north that has now been replaced with the gabled extension

Source: Client

Figure 5.4 Junction of the original and later wings to the front elevation

5.3 SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE

The domestic origins of the house would not lead to any significance for any particular group. The place has been used as a nursing home for over 50 years and may have some significance to staff, residents and their families but this would apply to any facility of this type.

5.4 TECHNICAL/SCIENTIFIC

There do not appear to have been any previous buildings on the site and the place has no archaeological potential. The buildings are of no technical merit.

5.5 125 – 129 JANNALI AVENUE

The three houses to the south are all examples of heavily modified Inter War houses of no historic or aesthetic merit that were built on Cooper’s 1918 subdivision.

We consider that none of the houses would meet any of the Heritage Division criteria for identification as places of local significance.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 23 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

6.0 ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

6.1 CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT

The Heritage Office of New South Wales has issued guidelines as part of the NSW Heritage Manual regarding the assessment of heritage significance.

An item will be considered to be of State (or) local significance if, in the opinion of the Heritage Council of NSW, it meets one or more of the following criteria.

Criterion (a) An item is important in the course, or pattern, of NSW's cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area) The Lark Ellen Nursing Home is an example of a Post War aged care facility that was built over and around an Inter War style house constructed c.1929 by George Greenwell, possibly to the design of his cousin, architect Carlyle Greenwell Does not meet the criterion Criterion (b) An item has strong or special associations with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in NSW's cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area) The place has no associations of note or that are made tenuous by the extent of original fabric Does not meet the criterion Criterion (c) An item is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in NSW (or the local area) The original house has been very heavily altered and the later additions are of no architectural merit. Does not meet the criterion Criterion (d) The item has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in NSW (or the local area) for social or spiritual reasons The place has no associations with any particular group Does not meet the criterion Criterion (e) An item has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of NSW's cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area) The of the site has no archaeological potential Does not meet the criterion Criterion (f) An item possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of NSW's cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area) This building type is not rare Is not rare. Does not meet the criterion Criterion (g) An item is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of NSW's Cultural or natural places; or Cultural or natural environments The building is an example of a single storey, Post War aged care facility Does not meet the criterion at a State level (or a class of the local area's: Cultural or natural places; or Cultural or natural environments) The building is an example of a single storey, Post War aged care facility Does not meet the criterion at a local level

Based on the above we consider that the place would not meet any of the Heritage Division criteria for identification as a place of local significance due to the level of intactness of the original house.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 24 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

6.2 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Lark Ellen Nursing Home is an example of a Post War aged care facility that was built over and around an Inter War style house, Loanecourie, constructed c.1929 by George Greenwell, possibly to the design of his cousin, architect Carlyle Greenwell. The original house has been very heavily altered and has large extensions to the side and rear.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 25 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

7.0 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The aged care facility would like to update the existing facility and expand onto the sites to the south. The proposals are shown on Drawings Nos. 01.13 to 01.17 (inclusive, all revision B) dated March 2017 and prepared by Calder Flower Architects.

The project is to be staged to allow for the transfer of residents to the modern facility on the residential sites while the works to the existing facility are completed. The proposal include:

7.1 STAGE 1

• Demolition of the three houses on the sites to the south • Excavation for basement car parking • Basement service areas • Three storey, aged care facility

The new building is in face brick and rendered masonry with pitched roofs to the topmost level and the two storey sections. The new building is set around a central, west facing courtyard. The building is heavily articulated in plan and elevation with projecting bays and balconies to the bedrooms.

The upper floor in inset from the lower levels apart from to the internal courtyard. The building inset to all boundaries with a two storey section to the rear and south. The car park drive is set to the south and there are landscaped areas to the front and rear.

7.2 STAGE 2

• Demolition of the rear wings • Retention of the existing building to the front of the site including the porte cochere to the north • Internal reconfiguration of the existing building • New link to Stage 1 • New single storey addition to the rear • New two storey addition to the rear of the existing building • Retention of the front access drive, parking and landscaping • Re-landscaping to the rear

The front section of the existing facility will be left largely as is and the remnant elements of the original house retained. The two storey addition is set to the rear of the main ridge and well below it and has a skillion roof with solar panels.

The new extension to the rear is in face brick and render with a pitched roof in tiles to match the existing.

The link to Stage 1 is set back from the street with a courtyard to the front

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 26 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

8.0 IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

8.1 GENERALLY

The current aged care facility dates from the 1950’s with later additions to the rear and was built over what was likely a good example of an Inter War house. The original house has been very heavily altered and extended and only a portion of the front elevation and walls behind remain along with part of the roof structure.

The property is a heritage item and the front section of the aged care facility is to be retained including all of the extant portions of the original house. This will clearly maintain the significance of the place and the current setting to the street.

The development is set to the side and rear of the site. The Stage 1 works sensibly occupy the sites to the south and are set away from the existing facility. The new building is higher than the existing building and appropriately adopts a contemporary form and detail. The Stage 2 extension is more traditional in form and is set below the height of the roof to the existing facility to the front.

8.2 DEMOLITIONS

8.2.1 Existing Facility

The rear sections of the facility will be demolished. These appear to have been built in the 1970s and are nondescript modern buildings of no merit. The front section, that contains the remnant sections of the original house, will be retained. The demolitions will allow for greater landscaping and setbacks for the new additions.

The interior of the retained section will be partly reconfigured but the current interiors are to a modern detail and only the front hall has any material from the original house. This will be retained.

8.2.2 Residential Properties

The three houses to the south (135 -139 Jannali Avenue) are of no heritage significance being heavily modified examples of Inter War houses. Only 139 Jannali Avenue has some semblance of its original detail and style but has been altered with a large, first floor addition.

The properties are not at a level of significance that would preclude their demolition.

8.3 EXCAVATION

Part of the Stage 2 site will be excavated for car parking and service areas under the footprint of the building above. The place has no archaeological potential and the excavation will not impact on any known remains.

8.4 SITE AMALGAMATION

The sites will be amalgamated to a single use. The sites were formed in the subdivision of 1918 and the original house Laanecorri built on three lots (24, 25 and 28). The other houses to the south were built on single lots.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 27 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

The development will effectively amalgamate the six lots but this is an inevitable result of the works. The development of the new facility over three lots has an interesting historic synergy with the development of the existing facility and there are no heritage considerations that would preclude the amalgamation.

8.5 USE

The original house was built in 1929 and was converted to a convalescent home home in 1965. It has effectively served as an aged care home for 50 years and the house will never revert to a single dwelling. There is a growing demand for aged care facilities throughout Sydney due to an ageing demographic and it is common sense to extend the current facility on an adjoining site particularly as there are no heritage considerations from the demolition of the buildings there.

We consider that the ongoing use of the site as an aged care facility is appropriate in heritage terms.

8.6 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

8.6.1 Existing Facility

The original section of the aged facility that contains the remains of the original house is to be retained. It will be reconfigured internally at the rear to provide for additional facilities and to allow for the rear extension but the major portion will remain as is apart from the insertion of bathrooms in the current room footprints.

The majority of the internal fabric is modern and the works will have no impact on significant fabric of the original house and the remnant section of the elevation with its original joinery and detail will be retained along with the later sections that were built to a similar detail.

The front setting of the facility will be retained to its current configuration maintaining its presentation to the street.

8.7 STAGE 1 EXTENSION

The Stage 1 extension is a three storey building over a basement car park and service area. It is to a contemporary design as there are few design cues in the existing facility that would guide the design of a much larger building.

The building is set forward of the building line to the current facility but on a comparable line with the current houses on the sites. The original house was built on three lots that allowed a generous setback to the front where the single lot dwellings did not have this luxury. The setbacks in this instance is appropriate particularly as the new building is set away from the current facility with generous setbacks to the side

The building is well scaled and detailed and in appropriate materials with heavily articulated facades that will lessen the impact of its bulk and scale. The building is higher than the ridge of the current facility but the new link is single storey and is set well back from the front elevation.

The new drive is sensibly located to the south away from the current facility that also allows a wide setback to the modern houses to this side.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 28 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

8.7.1 Stage 2 Extension

The Stage 2 extension is to the rear of the current facility but to a much smaller footprint than the current rear wings. It is one and two storeys and set well below the height of the existing ridge with a pitched roof and brick walls that respond to the detail of the current building.

The two storey addition to the current building will connect to the existing attic rooms but these were created when the original house was extended and the current roof form is a very large extension of the original roof (see Figure 5.1).

The extension will largely not be seen from the street.

8.8 STREETSCAPE AND ENVIRONS

The proposal will maintain the street appearance of the current facility but introduce a higher element to the south in a streetscape of largely single storey dwellings. There is some higher scale development to the west of Leonay Street but the area immediate to the subject site is of one and two storeys.

Figure 7.1 View to the aged care facility from Glenelg Street. The new two storey addition to the rear of the current aged care facility will be barely seen from this viewpoint

The addition is only three storey and has a two storey house to the south and the what is effectively a two storey building in the current facility. It is well articulated and scaled and does not introduce a dramatic scale change into the immediate streetscape. There is a one storey section to the west of the original aged care building that will provide for a transitional scale to the surrounding residential area.

We consider that the development pays due regard to the issue of streetscape and will have a limited and acceptable impact on the setting of the existing aged acre facility.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 29 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

8.9 SUTHERLAND LOCAL ENVIRONMENT PLAN 2015 (LEP)

8.9.1 Impact on the Heritage Item

Lark Ellen is listed as a heritage item in the LEP. The proposals maintain the early aged care building on the site including the remnant sections of the original house. The front setting of the house including its brick detailing and joinery will be maintained and the rear addition well scaled and detailed and will largely not be seen from the street.

The new wing to the south is also well scaled and appropriately detailed with a setback to the earlier buildings and a single storey link set well back from the street,

We consider that the proposals will maintain the heritage significance of the property

8.9.2 Impact on Heritage Items in the Vicinity

The subject site is in the vicinity of two heritage items:

125 Jannali Avenue

The item is a single storey, Inter War house in an unusual arrangement of the styles prevalent in the period. It is set on a well-landscaped site and is separated from the subject site by a later house of no merit. Its curtilage is largely its own lot boundaries and its setting the adjoining, single storey houses.

Figure 7.2 125 Jannali Avenue. The roof to the aged care facility can just be seen in the background to the left but the development to the rear will not be visible from this viewpoint

Figure 7.3 Wider view with the heritage item to the right

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 30 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

The listing sheet for the property (SHI 24402390) contains no assessment or statement of significance.

The proposals maintain the current aged care facility to the north largely as is with a discrete addition at the rear that is single storey and set back from the northern boundary. The addition will largely not be seen from the street and has a lesser bulk than the current rear wings. The new wing to the southern section of the site is set some way from the item.

We consider that the development will have a very limited and acceptable impact on the item.

123 Jannali Avenue

The listing sheet for the property (SHI 2440229) contains no assessment or statement of significance.

Figure 7.4 123 Jannali Avenue

The house appears to be a single storey, late Victorian house (that appears to have been modified) in painted face brick, with a hipped and gabled, corrugated metal roof. The house is set on a triangular site to the west side of the street and has a well-planted garden to the south.

The house is to the other side of Glenelg Street and is some way from the development site. The same comments would apply on the impact of the new development as per the item at 125 Jannali Avenue and we consider that the development will have a very limited and acceptable impact on the item.

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 31 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

9.0 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION

9.1 SUMMARY

Overall we consider that the proposals are a very well considered expansion of the aged care facility that pay due regard to the heritage significance of the current Lark Ellen Aged Care building. The front section of the existing facility, including the remains of the original house, will be retained in full externally and modified internally in line with the previous level of alteration.

The place has been used for aged care for fifty years and the development will continue and expand this use.

The proposed additions are well scaled and detailed and will have a limited and acceptable impact on the item and the new southern wing will provide for an appropriate, contemporary form to the original facility.

The development will have an acceptable impact on the local streetscape and no detrimental impact on the two heritage items in the vicinity.

In heritage terms, we consider that the current proposals should be approved.

9.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

We would recommend the following:

9.2.1 Interpretation

The historical development of the place should be the subject of interpretation by the use of introduced devices (e.g. plaques, signage) that illustrate the history and development of the site.

JOHN OULTRAM

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 32 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

10.0 APPENDIX A – SUMMARY OF OWNERSHIP & OCCUPATION

Auto Folios 24-25 & 28/9306

Year Owner

1862 31st December CROWN GRANT 50 acres (Parish Portion 93) Thomas Holt Prior titles not searched

CERTIFICATE OF TITLE TITLE Vol. 1776 Fol.27 Holt Sutherland Company Ltd 1918 13th August CERTIFICATE OF TITLE Vol. 2867 Fol.165 Various lots in DP802 11 acres 2 roods 24 ¼ perches Arthur Cooper, Sutherland, estate agent Re-subdivision in DP9306 Lot 24 Lot 25 Lot 28 1918 3rd December Dealing A429518 Transfer Bertram Taylor and May Taylor 1918 23rd December CERTIFICATE OF TITLE TITLE Vol. 2900 Fol.200 Lot 25 in Deposited Plan 9306 36 perches Bertram Taylor, Balmain, salesman, and wife May Taylor 1920 1st September Dealing A623218 Transfer Lots 24 & 27 Thomas McGrath 1920 13th October CERTIFICATE OF TITLE Vol. 3108 Fol.246 Lots 24 & 27 in Deposited Plan 9306 Thomas McGrath, South Wagga, railway employee 1928 2nd May Dealing B658216 Transfer of Lot 24 George Malcolm Greenwell 1928 2nd May Dealing B658217 Transfer George Malcolm Greenwell

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 33 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

Year Owner

1928 15th May CERTIFICATE OF TITLE Vol. 4141 Fol.249 Lot 24 in Deposited Plan 9306 32¾ perches George Malcolm Greenwell, Ptt Town, gentleman 1928 21st May Dealing B667059 Transfer Elizabeth Margaret Hawkins 1928 7th June CERTIFICATE OF TITLE Vol. 4152 Fol. 13 Lot 28 in Deposited Plan 9306 39 perches Elizabeth Margaret Hawkins, wife of William Henry Hawkins, Wingham, cream carter 1928 30th July Dealing B699490 Transfer George Malcolm Greenwell Lots 24, 25 & 28 1941 17th July Dealing D38095 Transfer Harriet Mabel Churchill Greenwell, Woronora, widow Harold Geoffrey Waller, Cooma, solicitor 1943 26th March Dealing D200573 Transfer Mabel Sydney Baldock Attwater, wife of Clyde Milton Attwater, Thirroul, chemist 1944 23rd November Dealing D334709 Transfer John Albert Langford, Rose Bay, freeholder and wife Gertrude Ada Maria 1965 17th November Dealing K163195 Transfer Francis Les Brennan, Brooklyn Park, SA, railway employee, and wife Mona Jean Brennan 1965 14th December Dealing K224593 Transfer Ardrossran Pty Ltd 1972 10th April Dealing M665219 Transfer Jay McAllister Pty Ltd 1981 25th March Dealing S377346 Transfer Gabor Handley, Bellevue Hill, company director wife Judith Handley Dealings in Auto Folios 24-25 & 28/9306 not searched

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 34 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

11.0 APPENDIX B STATE HERITAGE INVENTORY LISTING

Heritage Division of the NSW office of Environment and Heritage

State Heritage Inventory Listing Sheet for Lark Ellen Nursing Home (SHI 2440231)

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 35 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

12.0 APPENDIX B – SUTHERAND HERITAGE INVENTORY

Sutherland Heritage Inventory listing sheet for the Lark Ellen Nursing Home (SHI 2440231)

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 36 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 37 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 38 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 39 LARK ELLEN NURSING HOME, SUTHERLAND HERITAGE IMPACT STATEMENT ______

JOHN OULTRAM HERITAGE & DESIGN 40