Oberon History Booklet

Oberon #68 2 LAMBETH PLACE, ST KILDA ABPL90020 Measured Drawings and Digital Heritage

Keely Bengtson // Sophie Tuck // Zhiming Xu

1

Group Members KEELY BENGTSON // 910359 SOPHIE TUCK // 913370 ZHIMING XU // 1199095

2

Contents

history 4-10

3

Oberon Arrival Two advertisements found in the Argus, (see fig.1 & 2) dated May and June 1856, are believed to reference Oberon. Both advertise a two-storey wooden house clad in one and a halfinch groove boards from Genoa, Italy.

Unfortunately, neither of the listed dimensions align with Oberon today, perhaps alluding to several significant additions and alterations over the years. The ship Goffredo Mameli, arrived in Melbourne on the 28th of March 1856 from Genoa1.

St Kilda Giving Oberon a specific date has been somewhat challenging, as many sources have conflicting dates. An estate sale map of St Kilda from 1857 (fig.4) either omits Lambeth Place completely or perhaps the street was not even realised at that point in time.

Oberon is perhaps not mapped until the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) map in 1897.

Possessing a similar form to today, however on a much larger parcel of land. (fig.5)

H I S T O R Y

Figure One, The Argus, For Sale, 1856

Figure Two, The Argus, For Sale, 1856

Oberon and Style A Port Philip Heritage Study notes Henry Jennings, a solicitor, as the first owner of Oberon2. However, Oberon perhaps has mainly been used as a rental property due to numerous advertisements for its lease3. One advertisement, in particular, refers to Oberon as a “Swiss chalet,”4 which does raise questions about the architectural style. Looking through common pattern books at the time, a Swiss-style does appear to be somewhat prominent, and similarities between Oberon and these pattern books can be drawn.

Figure Three, Passenger List, For Sale, 1856 1. Passengers List, January – May 1856, Inward Overseas Passenger Lists, VPRS 947/P0000, 43.

2. Andrew Ward, Port Phillip Heritage Review (Melbourne: City of Port Phillip, January 2020), 227 – 228, https://www.portphillip. vic.gov.au/media/htwky305/12-1-att-4.pdf 3. “Comfortable Board,” The Age, June 12th 1893, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/193425346?searchTerm=%22Oberon%20lambeth%22 4. “At St Kilda,” The Age, September 28th 1889, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197499680?searchTerm=%22Oberon%20lambeth%22 4

Figure Four. Fergusson and Mitchell, Plan of building allotments at St. Kilda, 1856

Figure Five. Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan. 1363, City of St. Kilda, 1897.

5

H I S T O R Y

Pattern Books Pattern books were incredibly prevalent throughout Europe and the colonies, serving as a tool to aid in architectural design. From the research conducted, a Swiss style appears prevalent throughout a range of books, and there’s a clear lineage between these designs and Oberon.

Although the design in figure six is far more elaborate than Oberon, there are a plethora of similarities in the roof pitch, wide eaves, decorative brackets, and verticality in the cladding. The ‘criss cross’ decorative elements used in the balustrading are also perhaps echoed in the windows of Oberon. Much closer to Oberon perhaps is the less ornate Swiss farm cottage by Marriott. (Fig.7) Featuring wide eaves, verticality in the cladding and the prominently exposed rafters under the eaves are all present in Oberon.

Figure Six. Samuel H Brooks, Perspective View, 1839

Figure Seven. Marriot Field, Design VI, 1857

Louden’s Encyclopedia also includes a design for a Swiss style villa. (Fig.8) Although in stone, similarities exist between the bracketed awnings, wide eaves and the asymmetric roofline.

Floor Plans Another element of similarity can be observed within the floor H perhaps plans for the designs in these pattern

I S T O R Y

Figure Eight. John Claudius Loudon, 2146, 1846

6

books. Many questions were raised during our site visits in the semester, especially in regards to somewhat unusual openings, the placement of the front door and stair configuration.

However, the research conducted has perhaps provided some clarity.

Brook’s floor plans (see fig.9 & 10) have a strong resemblance to the floor plan at Oberon. Elements such as the central corridor with a staircase to the side, symmetrical front rooms which are adjoined through a large opening, two smaller entrances into these rooms and fireplace positioning.

Figure Nine. Samuel H Brooks, Ground Plan, 1839

One area where these pattern book plans differ however, is through the positioning of the front door. The current Oberon plan appears to have omitted the porch, creating a longer central corridor. However, closer investigation of the Oberon entryway revealed remnants of internal door framing, (fig.11) in addition to external cladding being present in the interior, it can perhaps be deduced that the original floor plan in Oberon, was a closer resemblance to the pattern books than what it was today. This door placement however does appear unusual, raising questions about the practicality of the staircase due to the lack of depth. However, looking at the pattern book plans, a key feature of this design is how the stairs narrowly wrap around to miss the door.

Figure 10. Samuel H Brooks, Ground Plan, 1839

7

H I S T O R Y

Wall Paper Study A brief investigation was also conducted on some of the wallpaper remains at Oberon.

The most significant relic is located near the fireplace, in the front room of the ground floor, featuring a floral, blue and white motif, edged in red. (fig.12) It was somewhat difficult to ascertain information on these wallpapers, as we were unable to determine a specific era, and surviving pieces are either too small to determine a pattern or somewhat subject to fire damage or general weathering.

Unfortunately, the specific wallpaper had Oberon could not be found in the research conducted during the semester. However, similar wallpapers exist, and this style appears to be somewhat common.

W P M Relief Decorations, feature a similar design called Anaglypta No. 253, (fig.13) which bears similarities between the paper at Oberon.

Figure 11. Sophie Tuck, Oberon Entry, 2022

H I S T O R Y

Figure 13. W.M.P Relief Decorations, Anaglypta No. 253, 1937

8

Figure 12. Sophie Tuck, Oberon Wallpaper, 2022

9

H I S T O R Y

Bibliography The Argus. “For Sale.” May 24th 1856. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/4838599?searchTerm=portable%20genoa .

The Argus. “For Sale.”June 20th 1856. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/7131754?searchTerm=portable%20genoa .

Inward Overseas Passenger Lists. VPRS 947/P0000. Public Records Office of Victoria Ward, Andrew. Port Phillip Heritage Review (Melbourne: City of Port Phillip, January 2020), 227 – 228, https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/media/htwky305/12-1-att-4.pdf The Age. “Comfortable Board.” June 12th 1893. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/193425346?searchTerm=%22Oberon%20lambeth%22 .

The Age. “At St Kilda.” September 28th 1889. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/197499680?searchTerm=%22Oberon%20lambeth%22 List of Figures Figure One. The Argus. “For Sale.” May 24th 1856. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/4838599?searchTerm=portable%20genoa .

Figure Two. The Argus. “For Sale.”June 20th 1856. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/7131754?searchTerm=portable%20genoa .

Figure Three. Inward Overseas Passenger Lists. VPRS 947/P0000. Public Records Office of Victoria. Page 43.

Figure Four. Fergusson and Mitchell. Plan of building allotments at St. Kilda. 1856. Map, dimensions unknown. State Library of Victoria, Melbourne. https://viewer.slv.vic.gov. au/?entity=IE15480300&mode=browse Figure Five. Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan, 1363, City of St. Kilda. 1897. Map, 79 x 130 cm. State Library of Victoria, Melbourne. https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE7327678&mode=browse Figure Six. Brooks, Samuel H. Perspective View. In Samuel H Brooks. Designs for Cottage and Villa Architecture, 168. London: Thomas Kelly Paternoster Row, 1839.

Figure Seven. Field, Marriot. Design VI. In Marriot Field. Rural Architecture, or, Designs for Villas,Cottages, etc, page 84. New York: Miller and Co, 1857.

Figure Eight. Louden, John C. 2146. In John C Louden. An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture, page 1185. New York: London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1842.

Nine. Brooks, Samuel H. Ground Plan. In Samuel H Brooks. Designs for Cottage and Villa H Figure Architecture, page 168. London: Thomas Kelly Paternoster Row, 1839.

I Figure 10. Brooks, Samuel H. Ground Plan. In Samuel H Brooks. Designs for Cottage and Villa S Architecture, page 177. London: Thomas Kelly Paternoster Row, 1839.

T Figure 11. Tuck, Sophie. Oberon Entry. 2022. Image, dimensions unknown. Melbourne.

O Figure 12. Tuck, Sophie. Oberon Wallpaper. 2022. Image, dimensions unknown. Melbourne.

R Figure 13. W P M. Anaglypta No. 253. In WPM, Relief Decorations, page 34. Lancashire: W. P. M. Y Ltd, 1937.

10

11

E X T E R I O R

From Lambeth Place

Western Facade

Paint Samples Facade

Northern Facade

12

Front Room, Ground Floor

Front Room, Ground Floor

Fireplace, Front Room

Window, First Floor

13

I N T E R I O R

Scan Positioning

14

Scan Positioning

15

Scan Positioning

16

17