Clifton Villa Birchgrove Cox Tannerp/L Architects
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HISTORICAL ANALYSIS CLIFTON VILLA ./ I I I HISTORICAL ANALYSIS I I CLIFTON VILLA I I 73 BALLAST POINT ROAD BALMAIN I I I I I I I I I I I March 2003 I Cultural Resources Management I I I I I CONTENTS OF THE REPORT I I 1.0 PRECIS OF THE REPORT 01 Location Plan 02 I 2.0 INTRODUCTION 03 2.1 THE SiTE 03 2.2 THE WORK 03 I 2.3 METHODOLOGY AND TASKS 03 2.4 AUTHORSHIP, CLIENT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 03 3.0 HISTORICAL ANALYSIS 04 I 3.1 THE PRE-SETTLEMENT ENViRONMENT 05 3.2 GILCHRIST PLACE 06 Early Land Grants 1788-1828 07 I 3.3 SMITH'S SUBDIVISION 08 Plan of the Balmain Estate 1852 09 3.4 GEORGE ELSWORTHY: BUILDING CLlFTON VILLA 10 I 3.5 A GIRL'S SCHOOL 12 Site survey 1887 3.6 RESIDENTIAL YEARS 13 I Site survey 1889 Site survey 1907 Site survey 1927 I Site survey c.1930s-40s 3.7 Chiron College 15 Plan of classrooms 3.8 A HOME AGAIN 16 I Plan of gates 1978 Plans of works to bUildings 1987 Preliminary drawings of works 1987 I Interior fittings 1987 4.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 17 I 4.1 BOOKS AND REPORTS 17 4.2 MONOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANY 17 4.3 NEWS ARTICLES 17 I 4.4 PROPERTY RECORDS 17 4.5 MAPS AND PLANS 18 I I I I I -I I Historical Report: Clifton Villa, Balmain I SECTION 1.0 PRECIS OF THE REPORT I I This report was prepared to identify the historical development of "Clifton Villa" a mid nineteenth century house on Ballast Point Road in Balmain. The house is poorly I documented in primary sources. Despite this relatively small resource of contemporary documentation the following sequence may be determined: I • The site was part of the original grant of 550 acres made to Surgeon William Balmain in 1800. I • This portion of that estate was subdivided in 1852. • The Clifton Villa land and its environs to the bay were sold in April 1853 to I Charles Smith and Didier Jubert. Jubert sold his rights to Smith. • In October 1853 lots 40 and 42 of Section 31 (the present-day Clifton Villa I land) and two more lots to the south were sold to Rose Adcock. I • In May 1857 Miss Adcock sold lots 40 and 42 to George Elsworthy, a tailor. • Elsworthy took out mortgages in 1857, 1858 and 1859. It seems most likely that the first and possibly the later mortgages were intended to construct and I complete the house and other improvements to the property. • It is unclear if Elsworthy lived in the house for any length of time although he retained ownership until his death in 1878. Certainly by 1871 he had rented the I house to John Manning, a steam-boat proprietor. • Even though he did not live there at the time Elsworthy appears to have funded I the extension of the house to the south with the construction of the ball-room in the mid-1870s. In doing so he grafted the building on to what is likely to have I been the original sandstone kitchen behind. • By the mid-1880s and possibly before a similar sandstone out-building to the kitchen on the north-western corner of the house had also been extended with I a wooden structure possibly as part of a stables and coach-house. A large timber building had been built in front of this structure by this date. I • After Elsworthy died his son inherited the house and continued to lease it until its sale in 1881. I • From 1879 Mrs Helen Chilcott used the house as a private boarding school for girls. This closed in 1884. • From 1881 to the end of the nineteenth century the house was owned by three I different men and was leased to several tenants. I Cultural Resources Management Page 1 I I I Historical Report: Clifton Villa, Balmain • From 1896 to 1916 only two tenants occupied the place. It was sold again in I 1914. • From 1917 to 1926 Clifton Villa was home to branches of the Cooper family, well-known Balmain residents. The ball-room was used to give dance lessons I and the house was a feature of local activities and entertainments. • In this period the land to the south, formerly part of the grounds for Clifton Villa, I began to be sub-divided. • From the mid-1920s to 1973 Clifton Villa was sold four times with the residents I mostly being the owners. • From 1973 to 1977 Clifton Villa became the premises of Chiron College a I progressive late secondary school. It was heavily supported by the arts community and had strong associations with writers, artists, entertainers and I politicians. • From 1977 the house has again reverted to residential purposes and several changes and additions have been made including the addition of a swimming I pool in 1978. I PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF LAND I TU 1/. .y I I I I I I I I Clifton Villa on Lots 42 and 40 (Source: LTO, eT 12196 Folio 201) I Cultural Resources Management Page 2 I I I Historical Report: Clifton Villa, Balmain I SECTION 2.0 I INTRODUCTION I 2.1 The Site I The subject of this report is the property and improvements at 73 Ballast Point Road, Balmain, known as "Clifton Villa". This residential property is located on a ridge above the waterfront of Snails Bay at the northern end of the Balmain peninsula. It is within the Municipality of Leichhardt, Parish of Petersham and County of I Cumberland. It may be identified as Lot 2 DP 212892. I 2.2 The Work The purpose of this work is to provide an historical narrative of the development of I this site and its associations to inform its current owners. 2.3 Methodology and Tasks I Clifton Villa is very poorly resourced with respect to primary documentation. An extensive investigation has been made of the principal archival resources including I records in • The Land Titles Office of NSW I • Sydney Water Archives 'I • Lands Department • Mitchell Library plans, images, folio and printed material catalogues I • State Archives As well, enquires have been made to the Balmain Association, Or Peter Reynolds (principal historian for Balmain) and Mr Howard Tanner who carried out architectural I work on the house in the 1980s. The work did not extend to lengthy investigations of contemporary newspapers and journals that might reveal more details of the house I and its occupants. 2.4 Authorship, Client and Acknowledgements I This report was researched and written by Wendy Thorp (Cultural Resources Management) at the request of the owners of Clifton Villa, Mr and Mrs Ainsworth. The author would like to thank the following for their assistance: I Or Peter Reynolds The Balmain Association I Mr Howard Tanner I Cultural Resources Management Page 3 I ~I I Historical Report: Clifton Villa, Balmain I SECTION 3.0 HISTORICAL ANALYSIS I Clifton Villa is not well documented. At best the available resources provide only a I broad outline of its long history of both private and public use. These resources have been used to develop a history of the place that reflects the principal phases of its i use as well as the context of its development. These phases are: I • The Pre-Settlement Environment • Gilchrist Place I • Smith's Subdivision I • George Elsworthy: Building Clifton Villa • A Girls' School I • Residential Years I • Chiron College • A Home Again I I I I I I I I I Cultural Resources Management Page 4 I I Historical Report: Clifton Villa, Balmain I 3.1 Pre-Settlement Environment The geology of Hawkesbury Sandstone that underlies the Balmain Peninsula gives I rise to its distinctive topography of stepped ridges down to the bays and waterways that surround it. This topography would have a major influence on later settlement; the higher ground with its better drainage and waterfront areas with views and I access to transport would be devoted to more exclusive occupation while the swampier and lower ground would be left for less affluent settlers. I Before Europeans settled in the area and began to impact on its environment the ridges like that on which Clifton Villa has been built are likely to have been covered in an open forest. Trees that could have been found in this forest would have included I the Smooth-Barked Apple (Angophora Costata), Sydney Peppermint (Eucalyptus Piperita), Lomandira longifolia, blackwattles and occasional Red Bloodwoods. Black She-Oak could form dense thickets. The appearance of the place would have been similar to that seen on the remnant forest on the northern side of the harbour at I 1 places such as Balls Head . The soils in a landscape of this type typically are poor and ill suited to agriculture. I Balmain was never exploited for significant agricultural purposes for this reason although pockets were capable of farming. A number of the earliest houses in the I district created flourishing gardens and orchards. Its picturesque qualities and its bays and coves were its most appreciated features. In 1823 it was said that the area had "scenery of the most varied and interesting I description with an abundant supply of excellent water and in many places the soil is eminently adapted for horticultural purposes...and there is good landing for boats in I every situation where the water touches". In the early years of the new settlement the Balmain peninsula was the scene of kangaroo and other game hunting.