johnnorton

Newly built large house, Federation style

from Powerhouse Museum

• 12 older comments, and then…
• Terrific Lake said:

  excellent shot

• Cor said:

  Wonderful image and great detail...well done.

• "Maybe I'm amazed" said:

  Statement of significance This collection of glass plate negatives was acquired by the Museum in the 1980s and appears to have been made by a Sydney based photographic studio from around 1890 through to 1920. The images are on both whole and half plate negatives and many of the larger images are of a high quality. The subjects covered by the images relate strongly to a number of the Museum's collecting fields. Leisure and the performing arts are represented by a group of unusual boxing and fencing photographs, as well as sailing and portrait photos. One of these is a rare composite negative intended for producing Christmas greeting cards. The numerous images of locations and buildings around Sydney and New South Wales depict the social and economic enterprise of the period. While some are of more commonly photographed subjects, such as the Botanical Gardens and Sydney Town Hall, others are of subjects such as logging and the foundations for the Queen Victoria Building. There is another less formal set of negatives included in this collection that show community history in regional New South Wales. At some time around 1918 the photographer either lived in, or visited, Walcha and Crookwell where they took photographs of the shops and streets of these rural towns. They also captured local events and activities such as wood chopping at the Crookwell Spring Show, rare images of Peace Day celebrations 1918, snow falling in 1912 and children dressed as birds. The Museum has a significant collection of glass plates, such as those held in the Tyrrell and Clyde Engineering collections. This group of negatives complements and strengthens the Museum's holdings of this particular photographic resource. Description Glass plate negative (1 of 193), newly built large house, Federation style, glass, photographer unknown, Australia, c. 1900 Glass plate negative, landscape view, black and white, view of a large, newly built house, with attic rooms, tower and widow's walk. Wide verandas on two sides, French doors. Narrow winding road leads up to the front door. The garden is bare. Production Notes include information about the design, manufacture and marketing of an object. Production notes The photographic glass plate negative was photographed and produced in Australia, c. 1900. History Notes include facts about what has happened to an object since manufacture. This could include who owned it and how it was used (provenance). It may also describe any cultural meanings with which it may have become associated. History notes The donor Raymond Phillips was a rotograver and for many years was responsible for the Australian Women's Weekly cover. His father, Arthur Phillips, was a gold and silver merchant and was possibly the photographer of the glass plate negatives. In 1920, the family moved from Willoughby to Latimer Road, Bellevue Hill. A bachelor, Raymond Phillips remained in the house after his parents' death. The slides were found in a deal box in the garage. Acquisition credit line Gift of the Estate of Raymond W Phillips, 2008

• Mala Gabrielle said:

  I think this could be a photo of the notorious newspaper editor John Norton's house; The house was called 'St Helena' and was situated in Torrington Road, Maroubra. I work in the Local Studies department at Randwick City Council Library Service and have been looking for a good image of this house for ages! Images of the house in it's declining years can be seen here. How exciting!

• BobMeade said:

  The house in this photograph is a very close match to the pics of St. Helena in a dilapidated state. The only significant difference are the dormers visitble on each side of the tower in the St. Helena pic. These could easily have been added after the initial construction phase. The steep fall of ground shown on both sides of the house in this photograph is consistent with the ground at the rear view of St. Helena.