Blairholme

Honouring Lauriston’s history and welcoming future generations

A short walk from the main campus, Blairholme has had a long connection to Lauriston, reaching further back than when the School acquired it in 1975 from the Mildred family.

Twin sisters Elizabeth Cunningham (nee Mildred) and Patricia Lowe (nee Mildred) graduated from Lauriston in 1951 and would regularly return to the area throughout their lives, sharing fond memories of their upbringing with Lauriston staff.

Blairholme’s significance extends beyond the Mildred family’s connection to Lauriston – Stonnington City considers the building a ‘fine representative example of a substantial architect-designed Victorian Italianate villa residence’ of the 1880’s. In addition to numerous architectural features, the property boasts one of the largest examples of a mature Camphor Laurel tree in the National Trust Significant Tree Register, likely being planted around the 1890s.

HAVE A LOOK

View the architectural renders of the transformed Blairholme Early Learning Centre.

Lauriston is proud to honour this long-standing heritage significance as it undertakes a comprehensive development project, beginning a new chapter in the Blairholme story.

The project will result in a new consolidated Early Learning Centre (ELC) precinct, meaning that children and families will be able to move seamlessly from sixweek-old infants through to 4-Year-Old Kindergarten. Preserving the heritage features on Malvern Road, the ELC will feature a refurbished and extended building with updated interiors, new kitchens, bathrooms and carpet, and contemporary purpose-built facilities for Kindergarten students.

The ELC will also feature a large natural outdoor play area, which will be an experiential ‘mini-Howqua’ for our early learners.

Lauriston is excitedly planning for this transformed early learning precinct to be open in 2024.