December 2018
Labassa, Caulfield, what we see dates from c1890, designed by German born architect #JABKoch for #CobbandCo magnate Alexander Robertson in a full-on #HighVictorian, with lots of delicate, rich detailing on an otherwise fairly typical #VictorianMansion form, a couple of bay windows joined by a #returnverandah, which is arcaded on both floors- there is a tower but you can’t see it from here.
The sources have been debated, including German #gründerzeit, but all the bits were around in Melbourne, it’s just nobody put them all together quite like Koch did ! The swags on the columns are pretty rare though.
#oneofmyfavouritethings; a pair of #caryatids frame the entry of #Labassa – imagine coming home to that each day ! Hmm they’re sort of bracket/caryatids, not sure if there’s a name for that.
Discovery ! The pale pink #marble all over #Labassa was originally deep rich red; I wetted a bit that’s been revealed by this broken bit. #JABKoch 1890.
Fabulous #TessalatedTile floor of the #Labassa #verandah, and I noticed the rendered underside of the floor above, which must be solid, and tiled too, very unusual. Or maybe not, I just never noticed before.
The rest of from a visit in a May 2019:
Labassa has a very impressive (and gloomy) #stairhall, probably dating from the house’s first expansion from 8 rooms to 20 rooms in 1873, by #CrouchAndWilson, for barrister Richard Billing, when it was known as #Sylliott Hill.
The window is by #FergusonAndUrie (of course) depicting the four seasons – the bottom one looks like winter. The bronze lady lamp in the corner was one of the objects returned to the house by a previous tenant. If you look up on the stairs at #Labassa, there’s a #trompeloeil view of a classical atrium. Apparently there was a false ceiling under this which fell down, and #voila ! Why on earth someone would cover this up I don’t know, especially given everything else was carefully retained (update answer – because bits of the plaster were falling off).
The National Trust’s #Labassa in Caulfield is full of very grand heavily decorated rooms, and then there’s these, the #unrestored rooms upstairs, with occasional bits of antique furniture. Barely touched since the last tenants moved out in 1980. One of the partition walls that divided up all the grand rooms still there (note didn’t go to the ceiling). And the tearoom toilet.
Something for your bedroom ? Some random furniture at #Labassa, in an upstairs corridor. I don’t even know what it is, let alone how anyone got it up there. Neo Renaissance ? Neo Baroque ? A bit of each ? I assume 1890s.
Some of the extraordinary #wallpapers at #Labassa, in fact, most of them I think, mostly variations of a gold floral swirl on a pale background, and all except one heavily embossed (or actually made like #papiermache, with a slurry of sawdust and glue). I reckon then were all more brightly coloured originally, certainly the stairhall paper was bright gold foil on odd white, partly restored in the first pic. The second one is the boudoir paper, lots of colour, but faded now. Last one is the parlour ceiling, maybe partly in plaster.
My favourite room at #Labassa is the #drawingroom, done entirely in #rococo, which I suppose was meant to be light and feminine compared to the darker tones of the other rooms. It’s a double room, with two parts, carvings everywhere, which I suppose was originally glittering in gold, and pastel tones in the ceiling. I have an idea that this room was actually decorated in 1904 when purchased by John Watson, rather than an 1890 interior, but of course I can’t find confirmation of this. You’d think there’s be lots on line, but no, not really. Update : it’s 1890 according to the book published by the Trust in 2020.
The bathrooms at #Labassa, a combo of 1890 tiling, and 1950s/60s fittings. Restore or leave ? Can’t decide. I’m sure they’re not restored because A. $ and B. the trust can’t decide either.
This corner of the dining room almost has enough furniture to give some idea of how it might have looked in 1890. Great huge ornate #overmantle, elaborate panelled ceiling, and cream and gold wallpaper.
Fabulous #GothicRevival #grandfatherclock at #Labassa, no idea if original or not but could be. Great #squirrel detail !
21 May 2020
Repost 2020: I didn’t go on the tower tour at #Labassa, but I opened a door and found the stairs and went up the first stage anyway! Nice views of the roof. I think the tower is 1873, with the top stage added 1890. Tower restored and made safe for public access by @ivy.constructions.australia in 2016. It faces Orrong Road, so you don’t really see it coming in the front door. So many great interiors and stories here, for another day.
We’re so lucky to have it, and it’s only because the owners in 1920 liked it enough to not destroy the interiors when they turned it into flats, and subsequent owners kept it that way (though they sold off many bits until there was no front garden). Then the @nationaltrustvic bought it in 1980 (with an arty hippie crowd still in residence) and eventually demolished the front house in 1988, and turned it into a museum of itself – but ever since it’s been a question of what to do with it exactly, and how to handle allow visitors, since the nearby residents are a bit antsy about too many people. Perhaps some pandemic finding to create a proper entrance on orrong road ?
Storey of Melbourne 