Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
RELATED: The trail of W.C. Vahland
It was only a few years ago that we came to know and fall in love with our home. Yes, fall in love. I remember the first inspection. I was with my brother (my husband was at work) and when I first stepped inside I felt as though I had been there before.
I hadn’t.
A quick call to my husband and somewhere in the conversation he gathered that he had to look at the home.
Fast forward some weeks and we signed the contract. She was ours. Then the fun part of digging into her history - and renovating - started.
We discovered we had purchased a Vahland designed home, not a grand home like some built in that era, but still it is a part of Bendigo history.
This year City of Greater Bendigo is celebrating the 100th anniversary of W.C. Vahland's death with a series of events that will culminate in the restoration of a drinking fountain the architect designed in the late-19th Century. Vahland was responsible for the design of more than 100 buildings across Central Victoria and lower New South Wales. He was commissioned to design and build private homes, churches, council buildings, hotels and community halls. Historians and council records state that he believed every person should have the right to purchase their own home. Across Bendigo he designed houses with four-pillar verandahs that became known as Vahland Villas. While they weren't as grand as some of his other designs for the more wealthy Bendigo residents they gave lower income workers the chance of home ownership.
As for our Vahland home, she has good bones, soaring ceilings, deep cornices and thick walls. The arches in the hallway are simply stunning - a Vahland signature replicated in many of his other buildings, and she has the allure of being a family home - not too big, not too small; just right.
She was initially built in 1869 - a modest stone cottage that the history books say was built by Henry Carter, a miner. We think this was what is now the washhouse and tack room. A couple of years later an engineer at the nearby foundry, William Ruddock, purchased the property. After a failed business venture he sold his cottage in 1874 to William J. Brown. It was the Golden Square draper who transformed the house in 1876 to its present form. The hillside was excavated, four rooms added to the front of the property and a stone and brick two-storey section added, as well as an unusual cantilever balcony.
These are distinctive characteristics and noteworthy features of renowned gold rush architects Robert Getzschmann and Wilhelm (William) C.Vahland, historians say. Vahland, in particular, designed more than 100 buildings, notably Bendigo’s Town Hall, Fortuna Villa and Capital Theatre.
The proportions of the rooms remain similar, although the dining room and kitchen were long ago opened up from four to two rooms, with the latter remodelled two years ago.
An early owner of our home was Bessie McAuley who named the property Bessbrook Villa sometime in the 1890s. A trawl through council archives has revealed some past owners or rate payers, and Trove has unearthed several Bendigo Advertiser advertisements noting the property was for sale and auction during Bessie’s ownership. We think her husband died and left her to manage the property. During the last decade of the 19th century, Bessie advertised for a cook, housemaid and general servant. In November 27, 1889 Mrs McAuley put the house up for auction, including some of her possessions, such as grand bedroom suite, sideboards and dining and living room essentials. We wonder what happened to her.
My, how times have changed. There are no servants or maids doing the rounds of Bessbrook Villa circa 2015. While we do have a couple of JRTs that like to wander and nap in a couple of rooms - notably close to the heaters during the cooler seasons - when we are home it’s a simple family home.
The proportions of the rooms remain similar, although the dining room and kitchen were long ago opened up from four to two rooms, with the latter remodelled two years ago.
We sometimes receive snippets of information about the home and its history from passersby, especially the elderly who may have lived there or visited as a child. We do know the house was converted into units decades ago; some door furnishings were removed and ghastly paint colours slapped on to some walls and trims.
Thankfully, society’s love for old homes was soon to change; and in the late 1990s the first step in restoring Bessbrook Villa was undertaken.
In the years since, layers of paint have been stripped from doors, window frames and skirtings. Cornices have been repaired, dodgy floors replaced, wiring and plumbing upgraded and heritage fittings, switches and grand roses returned to frame period light fittings.
Fireplace surrounds and mantelpieces remain a mix of marble and timber, reflecting each room’s use years ago. Some are working, some capped as they have served their use. We added modern amenities, welcoming and comfortable touches.
Central heating was installed to part of the home after our first winter was spent ducking from room to room with doors kept closed to hold the warmth from heaters and open fires; built-in storage added sympathetically to a bedroom, flyscreen doors for security and comfort; but mostly we continue to respect Vahland’s vision and the home’s thoughtful floorplan and foundations.
Repairing and replacing the old and rotting timbers has revitalised the front verandah. The garden is mapped and blooming. His stained-glass windows have survived the years with some original plain glass still filtering light into the dining room.
Vahland’s unusual cantilever balcony with beautiful lacework is still a work in progress, but we will get there.
He was clever in how he sited the main building - the west-facing side has minimal windows to ease the heat from blistering summer afternoons.
A full-length window leading to the balcony from the living room, which no doubt was previously a grand sitting room, allows the late afternoon breeze to drift through and cool the home. The high ceilings and thick walls are the ideal “green” cooling and heating system.
As you walk down the staircase the temperature naturally drops. Downstairs housed the original kitchen - perfect in hot summers; a cellar dug into the side of the hill remains and makes for useful indoor storage, and there’s a bathroom and another bedroom.
He (Vahland) was clever in how he sited the main building - the west-facing side has minimal windows to ease the heat from blistering summer afternoons.
A small entry hall and external door leads to the driveway, which no doubt served its purpose when the horse and cart drew up under the balcony, letting the owners alight protected from the elements. Modern cars now ferry guests and owners to the door.
I often wonder how many people have wandered through and lived in the house: stopping to admire themselves in the massive old mirror that adorns the upstairs hallway wall. What stories it could tell.
Outside, Vahland mapped out a sweeping drive, back verandah, room for horses in an old brick double-story stable/coach house, a wood shed, wash house and tack room. Some of the original buildings nestle beside modern additions of carport, pool, decking and lawned garden areas.
As the latest custodian of one of Vahland's houses we still have many projects to bring her back to full glory, but we are enjoying the journey.
This year is 100 years since W.C. Vahland died. As an architect he left a large legacy across Bendigo and district’s landscape. For more on W.C. Vahland, his work and personal achievements visit celebratevahland.com.