The Cornicing and Original Wallpaper Frieze of Mrs. Weatherly's Dressing Room at Billilla Mansion - Halifax Street, Brighton, Melbourne
Accessed through a door off her bedroom, Mrs. Weatherly's dressing room along with her bathroom is perhaps her most intimate space. Used to store the large wardrobe afforded to a wealthy lady of social standing in the Edwardian era, this room, papered with feminine wallpaper, it would once have featured wardrobes, a screen, a dressing table and a comfortable chair or settee for Mrs. Weatherly to sit in.
The floral wallpaper featuring fern fronds is matched in colour by a fine late Victorian frieze that runs the perimeter of the room beneath the ornate Art Nouveau plaster cornicing.
Like many rooms in the house, Mrs. Weatherly's dressing room still features its original gasoliers of brass with frosted glass shades. The example in her dressing room still has all four of its chains used to increase, decrease or extinguish the gas flame.
Built in High Victorian style in 1878 for successful gold miner Robert Wright, Billilla mansion was originally a thirteen room mansion erected on seven and a half acres of land.
When economic boom turned to bust in the 1880s, the property was purchased in 1888 by wealthy New South Wales pastoralist William Weatherly who named it Billilla after his land holdings and established a home there for his wife Jeannie and their children Violet, Gladys and Lionel.
The house was substantially altered by architect Walter Richmond Butler in 1907, extending the house beyond its original thirteen rooms and adding the Art Nouveau façade seen today.
After William Weatherly's death in 1914, his wife, who was much younger, remained living there until her own death in 1933. She bequeathed the property to her daughter, Violet, who maintained the home with reduced staff until her own death in 1972.
The property was purchased in 1973 by the Bayside Council who subsequently used Billilla as a historical house with guided tours, a wedding and events venue, a school and finally in 2009 as an artist's precinct in the property's outbuildings. Billilla is a beautiful heritage property retaining many of its original features thanks to its long private ownership still incorporating a stately formal garden and the magnificent historic house.
Billilla, at 26 Halifax Street, Brighton, is one of Melbourne’s few remaining significant homesteads, built on land which had originally been owned by Nicholas Were. The house has a mixture of architectural styles, featuring a Victorian design with Art Nouveau features and has exquisite formal gardens, which retain much of their original Nineteenth Century layout.
Billilla retains many original Victorian elements and a number of outbuildings still stand to the rear of the property including the butler’s quarters, dairy, meat house, stable garden store and coach house.
Billilla was opened to the general public as part of the Melbourne Open House weekend 2022.
Billilla was used as a backdrop in the 1980 Australian Channel 10 miniseries adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott's "Water Under the Bridge". It was used at the Sydney harbourside home of Luigi, Honor and Carrie Mazzini.
The Cornicing and Original Wallpaper Frieze of Mrs. Weatherly's Dressing Room at Billilla Mansion - Halifax Street, Brighton, Melbourne
Accessed through a door off her bedroom, Mrs. Weatherly's dressing room along with her bathroom is perhaps her most intimate space. Used to store the large wardrobe afforded to a wealthy lady of social standing in the Edwardian era, this room, papered with feminine wallpaper, it would once have featured wardrobes, a screen, a dressing table and a comfortable chair or settee for Mrs. Weatherly to sit in.
The floral wallpaper featuring fern fronds is matched in colour by a fine late Victorian frieze that runs the perimeter of the room beneath the ornate Art Nouveau plaster cornicing.
Like many rooms in the house, Mrs. Weatherly's dressing room still features its original gasoliers of brass with frosted glass shades. The example in her dressing room still has all four of its chains used to increase, decrease or extinguish the gas flame.
Built in High Victorian style in 1878 for successful gold miner Robert Wright, Billilla mansion was originally a thirteen room mansion erected on seven and a half acres of land.
When economic boom turned to bust in the 1880s, the property was purchased in 1888 by wealthy New South Wales pastoralist William Weatherly who named it Billilla after his land holdings and established a home there for his wife Jeannie and their children Violet, Gladys and Lionel.
The house was substantially altered by architect Walter Richmond Butler in 1907, extending the house beyond its original thirteen rooms and adding the Art Nouveau façade seen today.
After William Weatherly's death in 1914, his wife, who was much younger, remained living there until her own death in 1933. She bequeathed the property to her daughter, Violet, who maintained the home with reduced staff until her own death in 1972.
The property was purchased in 1973 by the Bayside Council who subsequently used Billilla as a historical house with guided tours, a wedding and events venue, a school and finally in 2009 as an artist's precinct in the property's outbuildings. Billilla is a beautiful heritage property retaining many of its original features thanks to its long private ownership still incorporating a stately formal garden and the magnificent historic house.
Billilla, at 26 Halifax Street, Brighton, is one of Melbourne’s few remaining significant homesteads, built on land which had originally been owned by Nicholas Were. The house has a mixture of architectural styles, featuring a Victorian design with Art Nouveau features and has exquisite formal gardens, which retain much of their original Nineteenth Century layout.
Billilla retains many original Victorian elements and a number of outbuildings still stand to the rear of the property including the butler’s quarters, dairy, meat house, stable garden store and coach house.
Billilla was opened to the general public as part of the Melbourne Open House weekend 2022.
Billilla was used as a backdrop in the 1980 Australian Channel 10 miniseries adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott's "Water Under the Bridge". It was used at the Sydney harbourside home of Luigi, Honor and Carrie Mazzini.