11 August
2006 - One of Australia’s most outstanding 19th
century urban estates, Rippon Lea in Melbourne,
has been added to the National Heritage List.
The listing was announced today
by the Australian Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell.
“Rippon Lea, a 15-room mansion
built in 1869, shows us the social impact of Victoria’s
19th century gold rush era,” Senator Campbell
said.
“The estate was designed at
a time when Victoria’s considerable wealth and
prosperity from the gold boom led to the development
of numerous ornate mansions in Melbourne and in
rural areas, known as ‘Boom’ or ‘Victorian Italianate’
style.
“Rippon Lea was the home of
Frederick Sargood, a prosperous merchant in the
1860s who served as the Colony of Victoria’s first
Defence Minister and in 1901was elected to Australia’s
first Senate.”
Senator Campbell said the house
showed the features valued by 19th century high-society,
including pavilions and impressive gardens and
grounds.
“Frederick Sargood was ahead
of his time in devising a sophisticated system
for water self-sufficiency for the house and garden.
An underground water collection, irrigation and
drainage system, with water pumped by a windmill,
ensured that the garden flourished,” Senator Campbell
said.
“Even after the property passed
out of the Sargood family it continued to be a
grand estate, later additions including a 1930s
ballroom and Hollywood-inspired swimming pool
complex.
“Today the public can visit
this magnificent home, now owned by the Victorian
National Trust.”
Rippon Lea joins other important places on the
National Heritage List, such as the Royal Exhibition
Building in Melbourne, Kurnell Peninsula in Botany
Bay where Captain Cook first landed on Australian
soil, and Port Arthur convict site in Tasmania.
Rob Broadfield
