Overnewton, a Scottish Baronial Castle - Keilor, Melbourne
Overnewton was the residence of William Taylor (1818 – 1903). He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and arrived in Australia in 1840. Soon after his arrival he purchased a sheep station (a large farm) on the Moorabool River some twenty miles from Geelong and subsequently acquired extensive properties totalling 2,048,000 acres in Victoria and New South Wales. William Taylor married Helen Wilson Fisken in 1849 and established the Overnewton property the same year in Keilor, then a district outside of Melbourne.
Overnewton originally covered 13,000 acres of land and a single storey, six roomed homestead was built in the typical style of the period; a colonial cottage with large shuttered windows and wide verandahs. The homestead was positioned on a gentle slope overlooking Keilor and afforded extensive views of the surrounding countryside.
It was not until William Taylor returned from a trip to Scotland in 1859 that the grandeur of his dreams became apparent. He set about turning the functional colonial homestead into a miniature Scottish Baronial Castle. The stately two storeyed wing was added, along with the blue stone dairy and butchery and the private billiard room.
Overnewton is built in the Victorian Tudor style, inspired by 16th century English and Scottish architecture. The Scottish Baronial style is characterised by its rough textured masonry, steeped pitched roofs and overhanging battlement corner turrets. The candle snuffer roofs show the influence of the French architecture. The bluestone walls were quarried on the estate and rendered with a yellow gravel and stucco finish. Above the large windows of the master bedroom is the Taylor family crest - a mailed arm and fist enclosing a dagger and the motto "Semper Fidelis" (always faithful) and above several other windows are the carved initals of HT, T 1859 and WT.
After the completion of this wing the homestead consisted of over thirty-five rooms including seven bedrooms (the master room included a small circular room and a dressing room) schoolroom, library, drawing room, two kitchens, five servants rooms and the billiard room. There are still many original features such as tiles in the bathrooms, claw foot bath and the old IXL wood stove in the kitchen. Several out buildings on the estate include the bluestone butchery and dairy, lamp room, bootroom, coachhouse, stables, woolshed, shearing sheds and machine shed.
Overnewton, a Scottish Baronial Castle - Keilor, Melbourne
Overnewton was the residence of William Taylor (1818 – 1903). He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and arrived in Australia in 1840. Soon after his arrival he purchased a sheep station (a large farm) on the Moorabool River some twenty miles from Geelong and subsequently acquired extensive properties totalling 2,048,000 acres in Victoria and New South Wales. William Taylor married Helen Wilson Fisken in 1849 and established the Overnewton property the same year in Keilor, then a district outside of Melbourne.
Overnewton originally covered 13,000 acres of land and a single storey, six roomed homestead was built in the typical style of the period; a colonial cottage with large shuttered windows and wide verandahs. The homestead was positioned on a gentle slope overlooking Keilor and afforded extensive views of the surrounding countryside.
It was not until William Taylor returned from a trip to Scotland in 1859 that the grandeur of his dreams became apparent. He set about turning the functional colonial homestead into a miniature Scottish Baronial Castle. The stately two storeyed wing was added, along with the blue stone dairy and butchery and the private billiard room.
Overnewton is built in the Victorian Tudor style, inspired by 16th century English and Scottish architecture. The Scottish Baronial style is characterised by its rough textured masonry, steeped pitched roofs and overhanging battlement corner turrets. The candle snuffer roofs show the influence of the French architecture. The bluestone walls were quarried on the estate and rendered with a yellow gravel and stucco finish. Above the large windows of the master bedroom is the Taylor family crest - a mailed arm and fist enclosing a dagger and the motto "Semper Fidelis" (always faithful) and above several other windows are the carved initals of HT, T 1859 and WT.
After the completion of this wing the homestead consisted of over thirty-five rooms including seven bedrooms (the master room included a small circular room and a dressing room) schoolroom, library, drawing room, two kitchens, five servants rooms and the billiard room. There are still many original features such as tiles in the bathrooms, claw foot bath and the old IXL wood stove in the kitchen. Several out buildings on the estate include the bluestone butchery and dairy, lamp room, bootroom, coachhouse, stables, woolshed, shearing sheds and machine shed.