Belltrees Country House

Belltrees Federation Grand Country House

Gundy Road, Scone Hunter Valley New South Wales 2337

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This photo shows Belltrees homestead in the Hunter Valley.

The Belltrees Homestead

In 1907 at the peak of the wool production era, H.L. White built the 52 room Homestead.

• The house was designed for the White family, one of New England's pastoral dynasties, by J W Pender, one of three generations of the family firm of Maitland architects who left such an impression on the New England built landscape.
• It is heritage listed.
• It is now the family home of Dr Judy White, author, historian, archivist and grandmother of 19 grandchildren.
• The house features an imposing internal staircase and a cast-iron balcony verandah on both floors.
  
• Still standing in its grounds is a part of the original house, a chapel, a slab cottage, and a massive shearing shed.
  

Monochrome Images from the National Library of Australia by Wes Stacey:

Lower stair-hall at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Lower stair-hall to hallway at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Stair case viewed from side entrance at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Hall with a view to the side entrance at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970
	Verandah at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Verandah at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Balustrade of the upper balcony at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970
Bay window viewed from the garden of Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Dining room at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Side entrance on lower verandah at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Upper balcony at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970
Staircase at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Upper stair landing and hall at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Side entrance hallway at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970	Billiard room at Belltrees Homestead, Scone, New South Wales, ca. 1970

The Hunter River through Belltrees Station

Belltrees has been the home of the White family since 1831 and one of Australia’s most famous rural properties.

• It is approximately 9000 ha (22,000 acres) in size and located along the Hunter River, upstream of Lake Glenbawn in the rich and fertile Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales , Australia.
• At the heart of the Belltrees property and the centre piece to the valley, stands proud, the main Belltrees Homestead (1908), in company with other fine buildings of the past;
• St James Chapel (1887),
• original colonial homestead (1836) (now museum),
• Trading Store (1837)(now office), Shearing Shed (©1880),
• Primary School,
• Country House and a selection of Cottages located along the Hunter River.

History

In 1831 Hamilton Collins Sempill received a primary grant of 2,560 acres at the junction of the Hunter River and Woolooma Gully and named it Belltrees. That same year James White took possession of his primary grant of 1,280 acres at the Junction of the Isis and Pages Rivers, just five miles away, naming it Broomfield after his Somerset home (White, 1981).

Belltrees then passed into the hands of William Charles Wentworth. Wentworth did not reside at Belltrees and in the late forties the estate was leased by James White Junior

In 1853, realising the wool producing potential of the vast Upper Hunter area, the White family took ownership of Belltrees, combining it with holdings at Broomfield, Ellerston and Waverley, and other positions in between. For the next 41 years, James White Junior and his brothers, Francis, George and Henry Charles managed Belltrees (White, 1981).

• By 1912, the station was a self-contained community, with a public school, a store, a community hall and its own post office. All in all the station took in 240,000 acres, surrounded by 2,000 miles of fencing, and 64 houses (White, 2008).

• Up until 1920, there were 100 people working in the woolshed where up to 180,000 sheep were shorn and 3,000 bales of wool exported to England. The sheep enterprise eased in 1960 and was replaced by the Angus Beef cattle breading venture. Today around 5,000 head of cattle are grazed on Belltrees (White, 2008).

• Brothers Antony and Peter White now manage the property with their children, who are the seventh generation of Whites to grow up on Belltrees. The late Michael White, Anthony and Peter's father and husband to Judy White, instilled in the family a strong
  

  Interview: Philip Ashley-Brown "River Stories" - Belltrees Station

  commitment to the preservation of the rural heritage of Belltrees.
• This commitment continues through the family's care and upkeep of the historic buildings on the property, including the Woolshed, the Post Office, the Chapel, the old stables and the magnificent Homestead. There is also a Belltrees museum, containing some fine relics of agricultural history.
• In an interview from the ABC River Stories program Judy White gives reporter Phil Ashley-Brown a tour of the historic homestead. (interview)

• Patrick White, the celebrated Australian author tells of his return to Belltrees after four years of school overseas.

• Henry White, known as 'H.L.', was Patrick White's wealthy uncle who lived at 'Belltrees', Gundy Road, Scone - part of one of Australia's most-famous pastoral holdings. 'Belltrees' homestead is a two-storey brick house built in 1907-8 on land purchased in 1853 by James White, Patrick's great-uncle.
• Henry White's collection of birds' eggs and skins was sufficient for him to engage a full-time ornithologist for twenty years. These items ('a grand total of 11,863 eggs' and their extensive display cabinets) were bequeathed to the Melbourne National Museum. His Australian stamps collection included some pre-Federation New South Wales ones valued in the 1930s at twenty thousand pounds.

• In his Old Books, Old Friends, Old Sydney Jim Tyrrell recalled:
  The H.L. White collection had also in it some nice items of literary Australiana, especially on the ornithological and natural history side. I particularly remember his very fine complete set of Gould's The Birds of Australia [valued at the end of the twentieth century at around $350,000, although in late 1980s boom considerably greater prices were achieved].

• In his acclaimed biography, Patrick White - A Life , David Marr backgrounded H.L. White:
  'a small, reclusive and forthright man, with a strong and original intelligence. He ran Belltrees on a fuedal scale and in his hands it grew to 140,000 acres. For the 250 people on the place he built a school, post office, hall, store and church. The village celebrated Empire Day with bonfires, fielded a cricket team and sent detachments off to war.
  
  "Who made the world?" asked a clergyman visiting Belltrees public school.
  'Please sir,' answered a boy, 'Mr H.L. White.'

The Belltrees Cottages, Mountain Retreat and Country House

The White family invite you to experience the rugged, colonial elegance of an Australian, country lifestyle on a working rural property.
Come and stay in your own self contained cottage, situated on the banks of the Hunter River, so you can be totally independent yet close enough to the day to day workings of the property.... Read more:

Belltrees country guest house	The Country House Whole House rental only, 4 x Double (Queen or King) bedrooms all with ensuite.	Suitable For: Family / friends wanting a relaxing stay with all the conveniences or small conferences. more details
Belltrees - The White Cottage	The White Cottage Up to six guests, self-contained or catered. 2 x Double bedrooms each with en suite plus an extra Double bedroom.	Suitable For: Families, Groups and Team Building Seminars / Workshops. more details
Belltrees- Munro Cottage	Munro Cottage Up to eight guests, self-contained or catered. 2 x Double, 2 x Twin bedrooms, One bathroom. Hunter River and Mountain views.	Suitable For: Families, Groups and Team Building Seminars / Workshops. Unavailable: Under permanent rental more details
Belltrees - Mitchell Cottage	Mitchell Cottage 3 x Double (Queen) bedrooms, One bathroom, self contained or catered. Hunter River and Mountain views.	Suitable For: Families, Groups and Team Building Seminars / Workshops. more details
Belltrees - Mountain Retreat	Mountain Retreat Self contained. 2 x Double bedrooms. One bathroom. Fireplace. Spectacular views. 4WD access only.	Suitable For: Honeymoon, special occasion, romantic escape. Subject to weather conditions more details

References:

• History of Belltrees - http://www.babs.com.au/belltrees/history.htm
• The Belltrees Cottages, Mountain Retreat and Country House - http://www.belltrees.com/hunter_valley_accommodation.html
• Welcome to Belltrees - http://www.belltrees.com/
• A.H.'Bert' Spencer & 'Hill of Content' - http://www.bookorphanage.com/Spencer.html
• The Belltrees Homestead - http://www.belltrees.com/statione.html
• Belltrees Station - http://www.hunterriverexplorer.com.au/articles/belltrees-station.html
• Belltrees Country House - http://www.accommodationsearch.com.au/listing/belltrees-country-house.1685
• Interview from the ABC River Stories program Judy White gives reporter Phil Ashley-Brown a tour of the historic homestead. (interview) - http://www.hunterriverexplorer.com.au/popup-video.html?sequence=clipsequence1&startvid=2
• Patrick White, the celebrated Australian author tells of his return to Belltrees -http://www.abc.net.au/arts/white/life/life2/life_B01.html

Heritage Homes a Headache?

Heritage homes a headache or a duty?

• by: Rodney Jensen
• From: The Australian
• May 05, 2012 12:00AM

[Previous page: Toowoomba Federation Heritage Next page: ]

Vesna and Alex Mastoris with son Anthony at their renovated house in inner-Sydney Annandale. Picture: James Croucher Source: The Australian

COMMUNITIES are often outraged by plans to redevelop popular public heritage buildings, but shy away if a council decides to put private homes on the heritage list. 

And that's because listed property owners are not only expected to maintain heritage status, but they must also forgo the development rights enjoyed by owners of ordinary buildings - obligations that can result in deliberate neglect or destruction, says heritage adviser Garry Stanley.

"I think if people are forced into being heritage-listed, they might do things deliberately to harm the property and there is some evidence of that occurring," he says.

Federal and state governments have failed to take a consistent national approach to conservation, contributing to losses of heritage stock, according to a 2006 Productivity Commission report, Conservation of Australia's Historic Places.

Another 15 per cent of listed heritage buildings and places - 90 per cent of which are privately owned - could be lost by 2030 if present trends continue, the report says.

Heritage places in rural areas and urban redevelopment zones are at the greatest risk, and when private owners are faced with heritage listing and the associated costs the reactions are frequently negative. It may explain mysterious building collapses, fires deliberately lit and brazen holiday-weekend building demolitions.

Under the present system, places and buildings can be identified as having heritage significance at any time as the result of a formal heritage study or via an individual submission to government. The government decision as to whether to list takes no account of the financial status of the owner, but focuses on the merits of the case for heritage status according to accepted criteria.

Once the listing process has been formalised on the council plan, that decision remains final, applying to the building in perpetuity irrespective of who owns it.

The community is divided over heritage listings.

Gregg & Kaufmann Real Estate director Zsuzsanna Kaufmann says the community fought "tooth and nail" to protect Nutcote, the former home of author May Gibbs on Sydney's lower north shore, from redevelopment in the early 1980s.
"People went on the streets with banners ... so it could not be redeveloped and it remains what it is.

"I'll bet my bottom dollar that at least two-thirds of the people who were carrying banners would have absolutely bombarded council with objections if their home was put on to a heritage list.

"In the 22 years that we've been involved in the north shore, including Cammeray, Mosman, Willoughby and Artarmon, I've only met less than a handful of people who have said, 'We are the proud owners of a heritage-listed building and we want to do our utmost to keep it that way and we wouldn't sell it for our life because we feel distinctive by being able to own it.' "

Heritage experts such as Mary-Lynne Taylor, a consultant lawyer at Bartier Perry in Sydney and former member of the NSW Heritage Council, argue listing processes should be subject to formal appeal.

Under NSW law, there is no process for appealing a heritage listing.

"The only thing to do is to apply for a development that would allow it to be demolished," she says.
"And if it's your own house and you don't want to demolish it that's a pretty stupid procedure. But they probably wouldn't take it off the list unless you did."

Rappoport Heritage Consultants principal Paul Rappoport says under the present system of listing private owners are faced with the obligation and cost of maintaining their heritage properties, but it's the community that gets much of the benefit.
"A heritage listing immediately imposes limitations on development, and maintenance," Rappoport says.

"It can become quite problematic because the owner will be unhappy or disgruntled when they see that you have an obligation to maintain the property, the community gets the benefit of the listing, but doesn't pay any direct cost, so it all falls to you."
The case for greater flexibility in listing is supported by Stanley.

Some NSW and Victorian councils give the property owner an option whether their houses are listed, but this system does not apply in every case.
However, in some established conservation areas homeowners take the initiative to upgrade their properties without the need for council intervention.

"People are going to great expense to remove 1960s aluminium windows and replace them with traditional timber ones, because they see that their house is losing value," Stanley says.
On the flip side, Stanley points to one of the most problematic reasons for loss of heritage arising from unthinking neglect by owners in rural areas.

Hidden from view in larger properties are many significant heritage buildings. Because of various factors such as climate change, changing agricultural technology - who uses a stable these days? - or changing family circumstances properties with significant heritage value are rotting away with no effort to save them.
"For such hidden heritage there is little prospect of government fronting up the cash to save it," Stanley says.

Read more:

Toowoomba Federation Heritage

The Toowoomba House

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The Grange, 105 Jellicoe Street, North Toowoomba, Qld circa 1890

This material is a summary of published work by the Heritage Advisory Group of the Toowoomba City Council

• The Toowoomba House - Part 1
  Styles and History Introduction to the styles Style 1 The Colonial House Style 2 The Cottage Style 3 The Early Gabled House Style 4 T...(more info)
• The Toowoomba House - Part 2
  Styles and History Style 6 The Queensland Bungalow Style 7 The Custom Queensland Bungalow Style 8 The Bungalow along Southern Lines Da... (more info)

More Information: Toowoomba’s Heritage Treasures 2008

---

Introduction

To identify Toowoomba city’s main heritage styles, eight typical Toowoomba house styles are considered and some good examples mentioned.

The Eight Styles

• 
  In Queensland the variety of architectural styles is less than in the older, richer and more populous southern States.
• In consequence, it works well to talk of Toowoomba’s heritage houses as belonging to one or other of just eight styles.

These styles fall into the following two main groups:

1. The Early Toowoomba House, 1890 to 1918
2. The Bungalow, 1920s and 1930s

The Early Toowoomba House, 1890 to 1918

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1. The Colonial House

The quintessential early Queensland house,

• usually symmetrical and with generous, Georgian-derived proportions,
• spacious verandas,
• pyramidal roof
• and central hall.

Good examples include:

• 15 Boulton Terrace, 1896
• 86 Campbell Street, (east veranda, 1995)
• 181 Geddes Street
• 10 Hampshire Street, 1907 (side verandas, 1991)
• Bonnie Doon, 74 Herries Street, 1893
• 104 Herries Street, 1879
• 107 Herries Street
• 14 Sir Street, c.1890, renovated 1996
• Te Hoa, 84 Campbell Street, c.1900

2. The Cottage

Similar to the Colonial House—

• pyramidal roof and front veranda,
• symmetrical and with a central hall—but smaller.
• It was the typical, modest, early house of our towns.

Good examples include:

• 10 Burns Street, 1910, restored 1983
• 11 Eleanor Street
• 21 French Street, 1900s
• 67 Herries Street, 1897 or 1898
• 12 Kenneth Street
• 184 Perth Street, 1900, (side veranda is recent)
• 203 South Street
• 210 South Street
• Chelsea, 1 Warren Street
• 7 Warren Street, 1907

3. The Early Gabled House

Often quite similar to the Cottage but

• more elaborate and larger, sometimes much more so,
• and with one projecting front room with a decorated gable.

Good examples include:

• 16 Argyle Street
• Bronnington, 52 Bridge Street, 1910, restored 1987-92
• Kanowna, 174 Bridge Street, 1905 or ’06, restored 1996
• 12 Burns Street, 1910, restored 1997
• 53 Campbell Street
• 7 Cooper Street
• 6 Garget Street, 1913
• 8 Godfrey Street
• 1 Joffre Street
• 11 Kenneth Street, 1911
• Cronulla, 135 Mary Street
• Braidwood, 61 Phillip Street
• 3 Shipley Street
• 18 Stephen Street
• 9 Warren Street

4. The Larger Early House

• Greater area, more features,
• decoration and veranda, and
• sometimes architect-designed.
• No two houses are likely to be the same. This division is not really a style as such houses tended to follow one of several.

Good examples include:

• 24 Anzac Avenue, 1906
• Crana, 23 Arthur Street
• Hamilton, 50 Campbell Street, c. 1890
• Claremont, 91 Campbell Street, c. 1905
• Berwyn, 3 Cecil Street, c. 1902-6
• Endlich, now Edinglassie, 32 Crown Street, 1911 or 1912
• 89 Jellicoe Street, 1910
• The Grange, 105 Jellicoe Street, 1890s
• Apsley, 120 Mary Street, 1907
• Rothesay, 91 Lindsay Street, 1905
• 1 Moloney Street
• 74 Phillip Street
• Carningli, 67 West Street, 1914

5. The Federation House

In the years before the Great War, a new, more decorative style appeared with

• splendid carpenter’s flourishes and
• stained glass.
• Window proportions become more elongated and casements (windows hinged on the side) were favoured.

Good examples include:

• Cavell Cottage, 25 Cavell Street
• 3 Cox Street
• 255 Geddes Street
• Brentford, 97 Herries Street, 1913
• 13 and 15 Isabel Street
• Repertory Theatre, 94 Margaret Street
• Valetta, 96 Margaret Street, c.1910
• Pikedale, 60 Mary Street, 1916
• 149-151 Russell Street, corner of West Street

The Bungalow, 1920s and 1930s

---

6. The Queensland Bungalow

• The State’s own new Twentieth Century house, quite unlike the earlier styles,
• now without a central passage and
• with an asymmetrical gabled front.

Most followed similar patterns, often taken from State design booklets.

Good examples include:

• 307 Bridge Street, 1934, (a 1926 State Design)
• 15 Campbell Street, 1925
• 184 Campbell Street
• 12 Christmas Street
• 26 Crown Street
• 127 Hill Street
• 1 Kingston Street
• 1 Lydwin Crescent
• 35 Margaret Street
• 9 Somme Street, 1936
• 109 Taylor Street, c.1934
• 43 Wirra Wirra Street

7. The Custom Bungalow

• Bungalows individually designed in the Queensland style.
• They were usually a little larger,
• more ambitious in detail,
• with more decoration than the pattern book houses and
• sometimes architect-designed.

Good examples include:

• 54 Anzac Avenue, c. 1927
• 23A Arthur Street, 1936
• 13 Campbell Street
• 54 Campbell Street
• 32 Colvin Street, Drayton, 1935
• 46 Eleanor Street
• 15 Glennie Street, Drayton, 1929
• 117 Herries Street
• 73 Mary Street, 1917 and later
• 123 Jellicoe Street, 1930
• 29 Margaret Street, 1926
• 52 Phillip Street, c.1923
• 204 Spring Street, Middle Ridge

8. The Bungalow along Southern Lines

The bungalow was handled a little differently in the southern States and some people preferred to follow one of those styles.

• Melbourne’s widely-read monthly The Home Beautiful was probably quite influential.

Good examples include:

• Pine Lodge, 85 Campbell Street
• 93 Campbell Street
• Padauk, 104 Campbell Street
• Casa Mara, 77 Campbell Street
• 63 Cranley Street
• 237 Geddes Street, 1936
• 208 Herries Street, 1926
• Tombonda, 43 Jellicoe Street, corner of Mary Street, 1932
• Montrose, 49 Margaret Street, 1929-30
• 67 Margaret Street
• 260 Margaret Street, c. 1922

The Grange circa 1890 irreplaceable history!

105 Jellicoe Street, North Toowoomba, Qld 4350

For Sale - $595,000

The Grange circa 1890

An historic residence built circa 1890 by the sister in law of one of Toowoomba's most famous early residents (James Taylor), this landmark property has been admired by all who pass her by.

Originally located on acreage extending back to North Street and down to where the railway was later to run, this traditional Queensland early colonial is now perfectly perched on an elevated 1002m2 allotment overlooking the surrounding suburb and located within walking distance to the thriving central business district.

Wide verandahs and original character features create an appealing street frontage, while inside the endearing traditional era specific features, including 12 foot pressed metal ceilings, VJ walls, cedar doors and fireplaces blend tastefully and timelessly.

Over 120 years on, this picture perfect character home radiates a timeless elegance and will continue to provide an enchanting place to call home' for many generations to come. It is a privilege to present this iconic property for your consideration.

• Formal and informal living areas
  
• Floor length sash windows to verandah
  
• Large bay window, ornate ceiling roses
  
• Functional kitchen including island bench
  
• Office with access to large attic
  
• Wisteria covered northern pergola
  
• Restumped, rewired, new plumbing
• Well established gardens including mature walnut tree

Nebraska Bungalow, Gordon NSW

Nebraska, 17 Yarabah Avenue GORDON NSW

[Previous page: Ashgrove Queenslander Style Next page: Toowoomba Federation Heritage]

Nebraska, the much-renovated 1921 Alexander Stewart Jolly-designed Gordon bungalow
has been listed with $1.5 million hopes through McGrath agent Melissa Lynch-Hill. - Jonathan Chancellor, Tuesday, 01 May 2012

Nebraska, 17 Yarabah Avenue GORDON NSW

• The three-bedroom, three-bathroom Yarabah house has been again sympathetically renovated since the Green family bought it from the Uloth family in 2002 for $890,000.
  
• It’s now being marketed as having a floorplan suited to modern family living, and the family also might want a separate self-contained studio at the rear of the 1050-square-metre property.
  

  Gamble House exterior

  
  
• Title Tattle recalls it was in 1991 when architect Amanda Jean was commissioned to rebuild collapsing entry steps, design the children's bedrooms and a bathroom, and create that separate studio.
  
• It was sought by ASX surveillance head Jim Berry and wife Janet, who sold in 1999 for $850,000.
  
• The presumably very rustic Alexander Stewart Jolly-designed stone and timber bungalow had traded at $133,000 in 1981 as a two-bedroom, two-bathroom deceased estate.
  

  Gamble House Interior

• It was one of the last houses designed by the inter-war architect.
  
• Some say its low-pitched gable roof with dark-stained vertical timber boarding and superb interior timber joinery closely resembles the American West Coast stick style of Greene & Greene's Gamble House.
  
  (see illustrations at right)
  
• Beyond the unique façade of this Alexander Jolly residence 'Nebraska' c1920, lies a cleverly designed floorplan which is highly functional for modern family living.
  - Jonathan Chancellor, Tuesday, 01 May 2012
  

The home retains its original heritage appeal and is placed in a sought-after location close to amenities.

• Light filled interiors with separate lounge and dining
• New CaesarStone gas kitchen with quality Miele appliances
• Good sized bedrooms, two fitted with built-in wardrobes
• The master bedroom opens to the covered verandah room
  
• All bedrooms feature ensuites, the master with sunken bath
• To the rear is a separate studio and study/fourth bedroom
  
• 1,050sqm of beautiful gardens and private park-like grounds
• Original floors, high ceilings, picture rails, fireplaces
• Double off street parking, abundant storage, Killara High zone
• Walk to quality schools, parks, transport and shopping

---

• Veranda-room architecture was the first topic of the current Sydney lecture series that traces housing styles in Australia hosted by the Historic Houses Trust as part of the Sydney Open program.
• Last week author, historian and conservation consultant Dr James Broadbent and Scott Robertson, director of Robertson & Hindmarsh Architects, addressing bungalow homes. The Thursday evening talks run weekly until June 14 2012, held at The Mint on Macquarie Street, Sydney.