Sackville Ward
Encyclopedia
The Sackville Ward is a large residential precinct in the suburb of Kew
in Melbourne
, Australia
.
to the north by Cotham Road (Maroondah Highway
) and to the south by Barkers Road, its western boundary is technically Glenferrie Road but more often deemed to be east of Edgevale or even Davis Streets. The Ward takes its name from the broad east-west avenue running through its centre.
and one-time Surveyor-General of New South Wales) subsequently named some of the streets in the area after his sons, Rowland, Edward, John, Alfred and Thomas.
In the resultant economic boom created by the Victorian gold rush
, many grand mansions were constructed in the ward, most of which remain to this day. Dumaresq himself lived in Alfred Street and helped develop St Hilary’s Church of England, opening in 1889 and rebuilt in 1939. A brick house at 34 Rowland Street was constructed in 1890 to serve as the vicarage.
There was further development when land adjacent to the Kew Reservoir (near the corner of Burke and Cotham Roads) was subdivided in the early twentieth century, and this area is home to some fine examples of Edwardian and Federation
architecture.
Originally created as a Ward of the City of Kew
on 27 August 1955, after the 1994 abolition of that entity, council functions are now administered by the City of Boroondara
.
(1923), Methodist Ladies' College
(1882), Ruyton Girls' School
(1879), Trinity Grammar School (1902), Genazzano FCJ College
(1889), Xavier College
(1878) and the alternative education school Preshil
.
In August 2008 an IT executive paid more than $12 million in an off-market sale for La Verna, a 120-year old mansion built in the Italianate style. The sale was the highest in value for Melbourne for the year to date and created at the time, a new record for Kew.
The La Verna sale was for a property much reduced in size. Controversially, what had previously been a Catholic monastery and retreat for Franciscan Friars with 1.2 hectare gardens and stables was sold by the Church in 2002 to developer Phillip Watts for $8.3 million. In February 2004 150 local residents lobbied the Booroondarra Council in an attempt to save the gardens of the estate by attempting to create a site-specific heritage overlay.
At that time the estate also had a significant frontage to leafy Rowland Street. The remaining land was however subdivided into seven large blocks and all have since been developed with large residential dwellings. What were originally the stables for the property (also fronting Rowland Street) have now been sympathetically developed into a coachouse-style accommodation. Photographs of the La Verna development can be found on the Walking Melbourne website dedicated to discovering and protecting Melbourne's mansions.
Prior to the La Verna sale, the previous record had been $6.6 million at auction for 19 Grange Road Kew to businessman and politician Evan Thornley and his wife Tracey Ellery (founders of the NASDAQ-listed internet company LookSmart). Thornley is now an ALP member of the Upper House in the Victorian State Government and the property has been extensively redeveloped.
In spite of the global economic crisis of the time, Kew as a whole recorded a 44.8% increase in median values for the year
to 31 July 2008 (to $1.495million) buoyed largely by sales in the Sackville Ward. The exclusive nature of the ward notwithstanding, there are a number of facilities within the area aimed at the elderly and the homeless. Prague House in Sackville Street is operated by the Sisters of Charity caters for homeless men and was redeveloped in 2006 using both funds from the Federal Department of Health and Ageing and donors (who contributed $200,000 for furniture and fittings). The Yarralee Residential Aged Care Facility is located at 48 Sackville Street.
Residents of the Sackville Ward include BHP Billiton
CEO Marius Kloppers
and LookSmart
Founder Evan Thornley
.
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Geography
Bounded to the east by Burke RoadBurke Road, Melbourne
Burke Road is a major north-south thoroughfare in Melbourne, Australia. It runs from Ivanhoe to Caulfield, and includes the major shopping district at Camberwell...
to the north by Cotham Road (Maroondah Highway
Maroondah Highway
Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...
) and to the south by Barkers Road, its western boundary is technically Glenferrie Road but more often deemed to be east of Edgevale or even Davis Streets. The Ward takes its name from the broad east-west avenue running through its centre.
History
Land in the area was purchased during the mid 1840s Government land sales by developers, two of whom were Edward Dumaresq and Peter Davis. Dumaresq (a Captain in the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
and one-time Surveyor-General of New South Wales) subsequently named some of the streets in the area after his sons, Rowland, Edward, John, Alfred and Thomas.
In the resultant economic boom created by the Victorian gold rush
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
, many grand mansions were constructed in the ward, most of which remain to this day. Dumaresq himself lived in Alfred Street and helped develop St Hilary’s Church of England, opening in 1889 and rebuilt in 1939. A brick house at 34 Rowland Street was constructed in 1890 to serve as the vicarage.
There was further development when land adjacent to the Kew Reservoir (near the corner of Burke and Cotham Roads) was subdivided in the early twentieth century, and this area is home to some fine examples of Edwardian and Federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
architecture.
Originally created as a Ward of the City of Kew
City of Kew
The City of Kew was a Local Government Area located about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the southeast bank of the Yarra River. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1994.-History:...
on 27 August 1955, after the 1994 abolition of that entity, council functions are now administered by the City of Boroondara
City of Boroondara
The City of Boroondara is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation....
.
Today
The ward is now sought-after due to its proximity to reputable private schools such as Carey Baptist Grammar SchoolCarey Baptist Grammar School
Carey Baptist Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Christian, international, day school consisting of four campuses in Victoria, Australia - Kew , Donvale , the Carey Sports Complex in Bulleen and an outdoor education camp near Paynesville in eastern Gippsland called Carey...
(1923), Methodist Ladies' College
Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
Methodist Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
(1882), Ruyton Girls' School
Ruyton Girls' School
Ruyton Girls' School , is a non-denominational, independent, day school for girls, located in the inner-eastern Melbourne suburb of Kew, Victoria, Australia....
(1879), Trinity Grammar School (1902), Genazzano FCJ College
Genazzano FCJ College
Genazzano FCJ College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
(1889), Xavier College
Xavier College
Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
(1878) and the alternative education school Preshil
Preshil
Preshil, or The Margaret Lyttle Memorial School, is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational, Progressive, school located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Founded in the early 1930s by Margaret J. R. Lyttle...
.
In August 2008 an IT executive paid more than $12 million in an off-market sale for La Verna, a 120-year old mansion built in the Italianate style. The sale was the highest in value for Melbourne for the year to date and created at the time, a new record for Kew.
The La Verna sale was for a property much reduced in size. Controversially, what had previously been a Catholic monastery and retreat for Franciscan Friars with 1.2 hectare gardens and stables was sold by the Church in 2002 to developer Phillip Watts for $8.3 million. In February 2004 150 local residents lobbied the Booroondarra Council in an attempt to save the gardens of the estate by attempting to create a site-specific heritage overlay.
At that time the estate also had a significant frontage to leafy Rowland Street. The remaining land was however subdivided into seven large blocks and all have since been developed with large residential dwellings. What were originally the stables for the property (also fronting Rowland Street) have now been sympathetically developed into a coachouse-style accommodation. Photographs of the La Verna development can be found on the Walking Melbourne website dedicated to discovering and protecting Melbourne's mansions.
Prior to the La Verna sale, the previous record had been $6.6 million at auction for 19 Grange Road Kew to businessman and politician Evan Thornley and his wife Tracey Ellery (founders of the NASDAQ-listed internet company LookSmart). Thornley is now an ALP member of the Upper House in the Victorian State Government and the property has been extensively redeveloped.
In spite of the global economic crisis of the time, Kew as a whole recorded a 44.8% increase in median values for the year
to 31 July 2008 (to $1.495million) buoyed largely by sales in the Sackville Ward. The exclusive nature of the ward notwithstanding, there are a number of facilities within the area aimed at the elderly and the homeless. Prague House in Sackville Street is operated by the Sisters of Charity caters for homeless men and was redeveloped in 2006 using both funds from the Federal Department of Health and Ageing and donors (who contributed $200,000 for furniture and fittings). The Yarralee Residential Aged Care Facility is located at 48 Sackville Street.
Residents of the Sackville Ward include BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
CEO Marius Kloppers
Marius Kloppers
Dr Marius Kloppers is CEO of BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company. He is presently the group president of BHP's non ferrous metals division.- Education :...
and LookSmart
LookSmart
LookSmart is an online advertising company based in San Francisco. LookSmart provides search advertising products and services to text advertisers, as well as targeted pay-per-click search and contextual advertising via its Search Advertising Network...
Founder Evan Thornley
Evan Thornley
Evan William Thornley , former Australian politician and entrepreneur, was a Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Council for the Southern Metropolitan Region...
.
Further reading
- Chen, Lovell (2005) Boroondara Heritage Review B Graded Buildings (specifically for dwellings 'Hermon' at 2 John Street, 34 Rowland Street and 12 Grange Road, Kew, notable for their architectural and historic importance). http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/Shared/ats.nsf/(attachmentopen)/80016A5A9219B542CA2573770007C343/$File/exh+C64+Support+Doc+B+Grade+Buidings+Vol+2+Part+B.pdf?OpenElement