Dappeto is a heritage-listed residence at 171 Wollongong Road,

Arncliffe, New South Wales Arncliffe is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Arncliffe is located 11 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Bayside Council. Arncliffe is south ...

, Australia. It was built in 1885 by Frederick Gibbins. It is also known as Macquarie Lodge and Dapetto. The property is owned by the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

Frederick John Gibbins (builder and owner of Dappeto 1885 to 1917) was born on 25 May 1841 at Dappeto - an Aboriginal name for the area south of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, later variously known as

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

or Mullet Creek. Frederick Gibbins was the eldest child of John and Ann Gibbins (née Meredith) who were married at St. Luke's Anglican Church,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, NSW on 16 March 1840. John Gibbins arrived in Australia on the "Claudine" in 1829 after having been sentenced to 14 years transportation for stealing a handkerchief. Frederick John's mother, Ann, was a granddaughter of First Fleeter Meredith, Steward to Captain John Marshall of the "Scarborough." In 1865 Frederick John Gibbins met and married Catherine Pickett and they had a family of six sons and three daughters - Alfred, Emma (Pattison), Amy (Thom), Ernest, Frederick, Walter, Edwin, Ada (Stead) and Percy. Percy died at the old family home in

Kent Street, Sydney Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

, in early 1885 just prior to the move to Dappeto. From 1885 to 1917 Dappeto was the home of the Gibbins family. The home stood on 11 acres of land, part portion 61, Parish of St. George one of four adjoining portions included in a Crown Grant made to Thomas Hill Bardwell on 5 September 1853. On 18 September 1879, Portion 61 was sold to George Penkivil Salde who in turn sold the land to Frederick John Gibbins on 6 August 1881. In 1885 the building of Dappeto was completed and became the family home of the Gibbins family until the death of Mr Gibbins in 1917 and the final sale and settlement of the estate. Frederick Gibbins was an oyster merchant and trawling magnate. About 1906 he entered into partnership with three other large oyster merchants, Comino Athanassio, Charles Edward Woodward and John Moriarty, and the firm, known as Woodward, Gibbons & Comino, dominated oyster marketing in New South Wales. In 1917 the Salvation Army purchased Dappeto and part of the original site - Lots 33 to 36 and 54-59 Section B, Portion 61 for the purpose of establishing a Children's Home. It remained in operation as such until 1969 when the children in residence were transferred to the

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

Children's Home and plans for a Senior Citizens' Complex were prepared. In 1971 the Senior Citizen's Complex was completed containing self-contained units, a bed hostel and nursing home. The complex was renamed Macquarie Lodge. The wing at the rear of Dapetto that housed the kitchen, laundry and servants' accommodation was demolished and replaced with the present nursing home. Following its nomination by Rockdale Council an Interim Heritage Order was placed over Dappeto on 14 May 1986. A Permanent Conservation Order was placed over the property on 17 February 1989 and transferred to the State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Description

Dappeto is a two-storey house of domestic style Victorian architecture. It was constructed of sand-stock face bricks which were mixed with whale oil to protect the building against dampness. It has a patterned slate roof surmounted by an ornate captain's walk accessed by a cast iron spiral staircase. The two storey

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

h has an iron

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

and trim to the upper floor and

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

to the lower floor. It features several beautiful fireplaces and overmantles of various imported English timbers. The name Dapetto appears above the

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

. A Coat of Arms with initials F. J. G. is above the side

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

Heritage listing

Dappeto is of State heritage significance as an excellent example of domestic style Victorian architecture. It is associated with Frederick Gibbins, an oyster merchant and trawling magnate. Dappeto was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

* *

Attribution

External links

{{commons category-inline, Dappeto New South Wales State Heritage Register Houses in Sydney Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register 1885 establishments in Australia Houses completed in 1885 Arncliffe, New South Wales