Gothic Mansion
A Gothic mansion named 'Essington' (well, actually, a Victorian Italianate mansion) - circa, 1889. Located in Sydney's Gothic precinct - 34-36 Gordon Crescent, Stanmore, right beside the main railway line, and a world away from Sydney's more modern suburbs. A walk in Stanmore is like going back in time. It would be perfect for Halloween!!
Photographed with my Canon 5D Mk IV with a 16-35mm lens.
“High Victorian Italianate” describes one of the most fashionable architectural styles of the 1880s, when grand mansions were built along the new rail line. Unlike Georgian or Grecian Revival styles, these homes favoured irregular floor plans with tall, narrow windows, decorative ironwork and deep overhanging eaves reminiscent of Tuscan villas in the Middle Ages.
At the time, Stanmore was a fledgling suburb viewed by wealthy residents as a desirable alternative to the slums and smog-filled industrial areas closer to the town. As farms were subdivided and farmhouses demolished, blocks near the station became a magnet for cashed-up merchants and professionals wanting a picturesque escape from the city.
For the wealthy pastoralist Benjamin Eves, building an enormous home was more than just a status symbol; it was something of a necessity to house his 14 (yes, 14) children.
Completed in 1889, Essington was designed with two rear bedroom wings: one for the girls and one for the boys. Cedar staircases led to these two wings, with an interconnecting morning room at the top of the stairs.
The house was ornately decorated with pressed metal ceilings, wallpaper friezes, stained glass and 10 marble fireplaces. Two stone lions stood guard at the marble entrance stairs, inlaid with patterned Italian tiles.
Many of these early villas were later converted into manor houses. In this case, the Eves family bequeathed the estate to the Presbyterian Church in 1956. It was used as a boys’ home until the early 1980s, when it was converted back into a family residence.
It is now up for sale - November 2020.
www.domain.com.au/news/medieval-italy-meets-stanmore-in-a...
Gothic Mansion
A Gothic mansion named 'Essington' (well, actually, a Victorian Italianate mansion) - circa, 1889. Located in Sydney's Gothic precinct - 34-36 Gordon Crescent, Stanmore, right beside the main railway line, and a world away from Sydney's more modern suburbs. A walk in Stanmore is like going back in time. It would be perfect for Halloween!!
Photographed with my Canon 5D Mk IV with a 16-35mm lens.
“High Victorian Italianate” describes one of the most fashionable architectural styles of the 1880s, when grand mansions were built along the new rail line. Unlike Georgian or Grecian Revival styles, these homes favoured irregular floor plans with tall, narrow windows, decorative ironwork and deep overhanging eaves reminiscent of Tuscan villas in the Middle Ages.
At the time, Stanmore was a fledgling suburb viewed by wealthy residents as a desirable alternative to the slums and smog-filled industrial areas closer to the town. As farms were subdivided and farmhouses demolished, blocks near the station became a magnet for cashed-up merchants and professionals wanting a picturesque escape from the city.
For the wealthy pastoralist Benjamin Eves, building an enormous home was more than just a status symbol; it was something of a necessity to house his 14 (yes, 14) children.
Completed in 1889, Essington was designed with two rear bedroom wings: one for the girls and one for the boys. Cedar staircases led to these two wings, with an interconnecting morning room at the top of the stairs.
The house was ornately decorated with pressed metal ceilings, wallpaper friezes, stained glass and 10 marble fireplaces. Two stone lions stood guard at the marble entrance stairs, inlaid with patterned Italian tiles.
Many of these early villas were later converted into manor houses. In this case, the Eves family bequeathed the estate to the Presbyterian Church in 1956. It was used as a boys’ home until the early 1980s, when it was converted back into a family residence.
It is now up for sale - November 2020.
www.domain.com.au/news/medieval-italy-meets-stanmore-in-a...