Eryldene, Gordon

Eryldene
General information
Type House
Architectural style Georgian Revival
Location 17 McIntosh Street, Gordon, New South Wales 2072
Coordinates 33°45′28″S 151°09′27″E / 33.7579°S 151.1575°ECoordinates: 33°45′28″S 151°09′27″E / 33.7579°S 151.1575°E
Completed 1913
Governing body The Eryldene Trust
Design and construction
Architect William Hardy Wilson
Website
www.eryldene.org.au
Interior
Garden study

Eryldene is a historic house in the Sydney North Shore suburb of Gordon, designed by the Australian architect William Hardy Wilson. The house and its garden, which is noted for its camellias, are listed on the Australian Register of the National Estate as well as the New South Wales heritage register.[1][2][3]

The house

Eryldene was built by Professor Eben Gowrie Waterhouse OBE CMG (1881 – 1977) and his wife Janet. It was the family home of entomologist Dr Doug Waterhouse CMG AO (1916 – 2000). Eryldene was designed by William Hardy Wilson, Australia's leading advocate of the Old Colonial Georgian Revival movement, with major input from Prof. Waterhouse. It is a single storey cement rendered brick bungalow of conventional domestic construction with a hipped roof of terracotta roof shingle. Its symmetrical facade faces the formal garden frontage from which a central sandstone path and steps lead to an entrance verandah beneath the roof line. The verandah terminates at a loggia at each end and is broken up into five bays with wooden Doric columns placed at regular intervals, four of which are paired to mark the entrance at the centre. At the rear, the building wraps around a central courtyard framed by columns and open to the garden. Internally, a central hall separates two main rooms on either side. A hall at the rear echoes in plan the verandah and opens to the courtyard and the remaining rooms. The interior spaces are modest in scale and proportion. They are enriched by detailed elements inspired by colonial architecture researched by Wilson, including windows, doors and fanlights, architraves, skirtings, picture rails and mantelpieces.

The garden

The house was designed to link with its formal garden setting, which was laid out by Wilson and Professor Waterhouse and is testimony to their shared interest in the Orient. There are garden structures designed by Wilson and others including a temple in the front garden (Wilson 1913); garden study, fountain and pigeon house (Wilson and his partner John L Berry 1921-22), garden shed (Berry 1924), tea house (Wilson 1927) and garage and moon gate (1936).

Museum

In 1993, the house opened as a museum and operates under the administration of a Trust. It is open to the public at set times from April to September.[4]

References

  1. ↑ The Heritage of Australia, p. 2/33
  2. ↑ "The Eryldene Trust". Collections Australia Network. Commonwealth of Australia. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  3. ↑ State Heritage Register
  4. ↑ Eryldene Website
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External links