HERITAGE CITATION 476

Heritage Overlay number: HO527

HERMES No: XXXXX Place Name: North Esk Address: 3251 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento Place Type: House Construction dates: 1880 Architectural style: Late Victorian Level of Significance: LOCAL Recommendation: To be included on HO schedule

Photo:

Photo by heritage ALLIANCE 2017

Statement of Significance:

What is significant? 3251 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento, known as North Esk, is a Late Victorian all-limestone, two storey mansion in its original garden setting, dating to circa 1880-1882. It was built as a holiday home for Hon. , and was later occupied by the Halfey and Carnegie families.

The limestone mansion appears to retain most of its Late Victorian fabric. Two storey at the front, facing the Bay, three storeys at the rear, it has double verandahs, a projecting wing on the east side and is sited on a prominent rise with a clear view across the Bay. The verandah has ornate lacework on both levels, decorative iron posts and decorative timber eave brackets. The slate roof and limestone chimneys have been restored. The garden setting and prominent site adds to its significance.

How is it significant? 3251 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento is of local historical and representative (architectural) significance to the Mornington Peninsula Shire.

Why is it significant? 3251 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento, known as North Esk, is historically significant for its association with the Hon. James Service, John Halfey and the Carnegie families. The property was constructed circa 1880-1882 and is a good example of a Late Victorian Italianate mansion. It was built by a well-known and influential businessman who was Premier at the time of its construction. Later it was occupied by the Halfey family who were associated with The Herald, and for 30 years by the well-known Carnegie family of piano makers. The property appears to be very intact. (Criterion A)

The house retains most of its original features of a Late Victorian Italianate mansion, including limestone walls, slate roof, chimneys, timber doors and windows, lacework to verandah and decorative eave brackets. The retention of the prominent setting facing the Bay enhances its significance. (Criterion D)

History:

Sorrento The land of which Sorrento is a part is Boon wurrung/Bunurong country. The Boon wurrung/Bunurong are a predominantly coastal people whose traditional lands encompass some 7,800 square kilometres of territory around Western Port Bay and the Mornington Peninsula. The Boon wurrung/Bunurong are members of the Kulin nation who have lived in and managed their country for thousands of years. The Boon wurrung/Bunurong traditional way of life was interrupted at the turn of the nineteenth century when they made contact with sealers from Van Diemens Land and then in 1802, British sailors on board the Lady Nelson who were exploring Port Phillip Bay. [Butler & Context, 2012:14-19]

In September 1836, under pressure from the number of illegal occupations and squatting which had occurred, the Port Phillip land district was proclaimed open for settlement, allowing for the sale of Boon wurrung/Bunurong lands, claimed by the Crown, to be sold at auction to Europeans. Sorrento was occupied by European settlers quarrying and burning lime, fishing and practising limited agriculture. The lime burning industry of the Nepean Peninsula was vital to the development of the Peninsula and Melbourne. In 1803 the settlers of Sullivan Bay used local lime to construct chimneys and were the first to recognise its potential. In June 1839, John Fawkner who had been at Sullivan Bay, was advertising Nepean lime for sale in Melbourne. [Port Phillip Patriot and Advertiser 22 July 1839.] Lime was transported on small lighters to boats moored out in the channel between Sorrento Pier and the Baths. Later it became common to build kilns on the foreshore where bagged processed lime could be run out on small jetties to lime craft. [Hollinshed, 1982:51]

Limestone was not only an important industry on the Nepean Peninsula it has also had a lasting impact on the heritage of the area with small cottages, large public buildings, schools, hotels and mansions built from local limestone. Nepean limestone is a vernacular tradition on the Nepean Peninsula with two distinct styles of limestone construction; all-limestone and limestone with red brick quoining. Local builders developed great skills and techniques in designing and building with the local limestone.

By the 1860s the Nepean Peninsula was recognised as not only a sublimely beautiful landscape with easy access to the Bay and the Ocean, but as a place for holidaying and respite from Melbourne. As early as 1868 George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) was planning to develop Sorrento township, foreshore and back beach as a place for tourists. He purchased 225 acres and subdivided it into small allotments for shops and houses. By 1874 he had established his own steamship company and later a steam tramway to transport visitors from Melbourne to his Ocean Amphitheatre at the back beach. Another influential developer of Sorrento was (1816-1903), who developed 600 acres with his neighbour W.Cockburn, for gentleman’s cliff-top villas, of which many still line the edge of the Bay. The Bella Vista Estate created the unusual alignment of Point Nepean Road and reserved Sorrento Park. [Butler & Context 2012:29-30]

By the 1890s Sorrento township and Ocean Beach Road had begun to develop with new facilities such as a Mechanics Institute and shops. On the west side of Ocean Beach Road, opposite the Continental Hotel was Stringers Stores, the Athenaeum Theatre, and the Oriental Coffee Palace. Between 1900 and 1910 a number of buildings were constructed on both sides of Ocean Beach Road, to provide accommodation and retail services. Along Melbourne Road, Hotham Road and in East Sorrento, a large number of permanent and holiday homes were constructed in this period, as were schools and businesses. [Lardner, 2015:21]

In the early 20th century, development of Sorrento was impacted by the closure of the steam tramway and steamer services and the rise of the motor car tourist. Construction of holiday homes and weekenders steadily increased in the Inter-war period and then again in the Post-World War Two years. A major building wave began in the Inter-War period, with the replication of suburban styles in the streets of Sorrento and Portsea. The later part of this period, after World War Two, saw some modernist designs for holiday homes resulting in a new trend of modernist beach houses by innovative designers for a wealthy clientele. [Butler & Context, 2012:109-110]

The influence of modernist architecture in the Post-War period was felt not only among architects but influenced the local tradition of beach shacks through the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Even small fibro beach shacks borrowed design elements from architectural Modernism, to achieve a simplicity of living and relaxed form. They allowed their owners to live in ‘place’; they generally sat on large blocks creating little disturbances to the surrounding topography or vegetation. [Butler & Context, 2012:111] By the 1980s and 1990s that had all changed and one of the marked elements of housing in the Peninsula since then is the development of very large suburban houses and apartments and battle-axe subdivisions which fit the entirety of the block and require the removal of most vegetation.

History of the Place:

The Thematic History states that relatively little survives from the pre-1880s period in these coastal townships. What remains, therefore, has great rarity value. The buildings which survive from this era tend to be the more substantial ones, solidly built in brick or local limestone, such as the Sorrento Hotel (1872), the Continental Hotel (1875) and the Mornington Hotel (1876), The Anchorage (Coppin's House) (1874), The Athenaeum (1875) and the Mechanics Institute (1876-7). The more modest early wattle and daub farmhouses and small fisherman's cottages in foreshore areas have all but gone. [Butler & Context, 2012: 89] North Esk which was located next door to The Anchorage, and was built only six years later, should be included in this list of extant large gentleman's holiday mansion. The Hon. James Service was typical of the type of gentleman who sought to establish themselves among the gentry who purchased waterfront property in Sorrento. Politicians, businessmen and lawyers' houses line the Bay and established Sorrento's reputation as a holiday destination for the well-heeled.

The Flinders Heritage Study states that North Esk was constructed between 1880 and 1882, North Esk was first owned by the Hon. James Service, businessman and politician. Later owners included John Halfey who purchased the property from Service in August 1886 and owned it with Annie Halfey until 1910. For the next 30 years it was owned by D. Carnegie of the family Carnegie and sons. [Context 1992, 1997:566]

James Service (1823-1899) was born in Scotland and migrated to in 1853 as a tea and coffee merchant for a Glasgow company. With other Scottish partners he started a tea company called James Service & Co who imported Robur tea and represented other well-known brands and companies. He became involved in local politics and then was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1857. He was a reformer and introduced legislation to reform the sale of lands and schools. He was active on the board of the Alfred Hospital and Commercial Bank of . Service resigned from the Ministry in 1881 and went to Europe to recover his health. He returned in 1882 and on his re-election, became in 1883. These dates coincide with the dates stated as the period that North Esk was built. This implies that the house was built entirely in his absence or that the house was built earlier or later. Service retired from parliament in 1885 due to ill health and left for Europe in 1886 which coincides with his sale of North Esk. He continued to serve a number of honorary and board positions and died in 1898. Why he built North Esk and what he intended it for is unknown as he would have visited the property but rarely. Possibly the long build dates reflect his absence from the State. His marriage had broken up in the early 1850s and he lived with Louisa Hoseason Forty for the rest of his life and had five daughters with her. [Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1972, entry for James Service]

The next owner, John Halfey (1825-1899) also had a chequered personal life having deserted his wife and daughter in before migrating to Victoria and making a fortune on the goldfields. His wife filed for divorce in 1862 and he then married Annie Lane in Geelong in 1863. He unsuccessfully stood for parliament a number of times and failed. His financial interests were mostly in mining and he was director of a number of financial companies. He became the manager of The Herald and he managed that newspaper during its time of growth as a daily newspaper. He died at The Herald offices in 1889. [Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1972, entry for John Halfey]

The Carnegie family who owned the property between 1910 and WW2 are well known in Victoria for their piano manufacturing business. Already around 1850 pianos were being made by John Williams in Tasmania and the brothers James and Jabez Carnegie of Melbourne. Around 1920, J. Carnegie and Son began building pianos in Richmond. They produced two models using family names before buying the rights to use a number of German names. They made uprights, player pianos and baby grands continuing to build until about 1955. [Robert Palmieri, The Piano; An Encyclopedia:29]

Thematic Context: (Graeme Butler, 2008 and Context Pty Ltd, 2012) Theme 7: Building Settlements and Towns Theme 7.8: Designing and building mansions, houses and holiday shacks Theme 2: Peopling the Mornington Peninsula Theme 2.6.2: Cliff-top villas

Sources:

Australian Dictionary of Biography Palmieri, R. and ed M. Palmieri, 2003, Piano: An Encyclopedia, Routledge New York. Shire of Flinders Rate Books Wills and Probate records Hollinshed, Charles, Goss, Noel and Bird, ECF, 1982, Lime, Land, Leisure; Peninsular History in the Shire of Flinders Graeme Butler & Associates, Context Pty Ltd (editors), 2012 Mornington Peninsula Shire Thematic History Context Pty Ltd, 1992, 1997, Flinders Heritage Study Helen Lardner Conservation Design Pty Ltd, 2015, Ocean Beach Road Commercial Precinct Sorrento Heritage Policy, Cultural Significance Report

Description:

On an elevated site with views of the Bay and a local landmark in Sorrento, North Esk is a large, two storey, all-limestone mansion. The sloping site allows for an extra storey with service areas at the rear. A projecting bay on the east side of the house steps down at the back to a garage and the service areas of the driveway and back yard. The front of the house is very hard to see but photos on the internet indicate that there is a central projecting bay window on the lower level and possibly the side door on Bowen Street was the front door. The very large sash windows on both levels and the timber door with sidelights and fanlight appear to be original.

The stonework of the front two storey section is of a high quality with stone quoins seamlessly integrated with the walls and careful coursing and pointing using regularly cut blocks. The stonework of the projecting Bay to the east side and the rear sections is not of the same quality, with irregular cut blocks and a lack of pointing. The windows are not original in this section, and the capping to the wall at the rear also appears to be later than the front section. It is possible that later owners extended the eastern side, retaining the all-limestone walls. The rear of the house now contains apartments and the block has been subdivided along Bowen Street.

North Esk is possibly the largest all-limestone private residence in Sorrento, built before 1900.

Comparative places:

House, 849-851 Melbourne Road, Sorrento (1895) This house was built by the well-known local builder William Joseph Croad for himself, and displays his skills in the use of the local limestone and an elegant design on a sloping site. it has the same eave brackets, all-limestone walls, and verandah and is a pared down, smaller version of a gentleman's mansion

Hindson House/Seacombe, 3440 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento (1873) is a two storey limestone and brick mansion built by John Farnsworth for another Premier, George Kerferd MP. It was sited in a similar dramatic position right on the Bay, has two storeys in Italianate style with a rear stone tower and ornate verandah to the front elevation.

The Anchorage, 3273 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento (1873) is an all limestone house for George Coppin, designed by Levi Powell, built by John Farnsworth, with a similar design resolution for a sloping site and a high quality limestone work. The projecting window bays and ornate verandah decoration, and slate roof are very similar to North Esk and might possibly have had the same designer or builder.

Cliff-Crest, 3500 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento (1890-1892) was built in limestone by William Joseph Croad for James Wright and extended several times. The house is of a later design but has the same all limestone walls bay windows and a similar siting on the cliff overlooking the Bay.

Recommendations: Recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay to the extent of the whole property as defined by the title boundaries.

Significant elements or design features: Limestone walls, verandahs, lacework, windows and door

Garden and landscape: A large area of garden should be maintained at front and side of house to preserve views to house.

Schedule: External Paint Controls No Internal Alteration Controls No Tree Controls No Fences and Outbuildings No Prohibited uses No Incorporated plan - Aboriginal Heritage Place No

Photo of Bowen Road aspect from www.Mapio.net, sourced November 2018.