''Highlands'' is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

private residence located at 9 Highlands Avenue,

Wahroonga Wahroonga is a suburb in the North Shore (Sydney)#Upper North Shore, Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia ...

in the

Hornsby Shire Hornsby Shire is a local government area situated in Northern Sydney (Upper North Shore), as well as parts of the Hills District, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The shire stretches from the M2 Hills Motorway in the south to the Haw ...

local government area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It was designed by

John Horbury Hunt John Horbury Hunt (1838 – December 30, 1904) was a Canadians, Canadian-born Australian architect who worked in Sydney and rural New South Wales from 1863. Life and career Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of a builder, Hunt was tra ...

and built from 1890 to 1893. 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

The ''Highlands'' was built for Alfred James Hordern, a retail merchant, and his wife, Caroline. During the construction of ''Highlands'' the couple lived in a small cottage close to the construction site. It was in this cottage that their first son was born, Alfred Roy. Their second son, Bruce Alexander, was born six years later. Alfred (1859-1932) married Caroline Doig (1870-1938) in 1890. Caroline was the daughter of Alexander, a planter in Levaka, Fiji, where she was born. Plans for ''Highlands'' would have already been drawn up or the house may already have been under construction. Caroline obviously had a hand in the plans. Lesley Horden said of Alfred that "There is nothing in his letters to suggest he had the aestheticism or the spirit of innovation which would move him to commission such an architect. He was not a man to take risks or flout convention, and the robust and distinctive style of this house... bears little relation to his nervous personality." Caroline, however, is described as an artistic and well-educated woman, attributes reflected in Highlands. Other evidence of her influence of the plans is the second kitchen, located next to the household kitchen, which allowed her to "indulge in a culinary orgy." For Caroline, cooking was a creative outlet and was not for the purpose of feeding her family. Once her masterpieces had been formed they were given to local hospitals to feed patients. The garden was also created and maintained by Caroline, with the help of up to 14 gardeners. The original garden, how much modified, featured colour. Of note was the gravel driveway bordered by hydrangeas, in 1931 the garden was said to contain 100 varieties. Another feature was a bed of lily-of-the-valley. The garden was not just ornamental, there were extensive kitchen garden beds and, in 1903, Caroline had a grape house constructed. She was also an avid collector and would bring back exotics from her travels in the Pacific Islands and Europe. This had its down side, it is said she introduced a weed of the Oxalidaceace family to Australia. The Alfred junior and Bruce may not have maintained the house as when it was purchased by Mr and Mrs Norman Jones in 1948 it was in a dilapidated state. The Jones replaced the shingle roof with concrete tiles in the 1960s as part of the restoration.

Description

This distinctive two-storey house comprises two conjoining components. The prominent part is the house proper, the kitchen wing sits a separate pyramidal roof. The separation of these two functional centres was advanced for its time. Both roofs were originally shingled, like the walls. The wall shingles curve out over

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 ...

hs and openings, to

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...

water away from the walls. This is a feature of several of Hunt's Shingle Style houses. The verandahs are supported by massive timber posts, minimally decorated. The verandahs are recessed under the eves, another design element commonly used by Hunt. Internally, a small stair hall opens into the sitting room on the right and the drawing room on the left. The drawing room was formerly a dining room. Behind the hall was originally Mrs. Hordern's kitchen, but has since been converted into the dining room. The bedrooms on the second floor open off the stairwell, with the verandah facing north off the main bedroom. Extensive alterations have been made to the kitchen wing. This wing contains a feature not seen in Hunt's other houses - a wide half-glass door. Reynolds and Hughes describe "the structural brace is treated as a glazing member, to which the normal glazing bars are subservient." The

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

stack is another unusual feature, "a tall, buttressed slab of

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

which appears almost freestanding." Externally, the original roof shingles have been replaced by grey roof tiles. The main framing, including window openings is of NSW hardwood, while the window sashes and doors are cedar. The house was originally situated on , but subdivisions have left it on a substantially smaller allotment, with the rear of the house to the street. The garden, although significantly altered, contains a notable period Hoop Pine and provides a sympathetic setting to the house.

Heritage listing

As at 20 September 2006, ''Highlands'' was a fine example of John Horbury Hunt's interpretation of the Shingle Style. The house displays many of the elements common to Hunt's Shingle Style houses, including recessed verandahs and sweeping skirts to deposit water well away from the walls. In contrast to these common elements, Highlands also displays several unusual features, a half-glass door and distinctive chimney stack being the most prominent. ''Highlands'' is significant as evidence of women shaping architecture. Mrs Caroline Hordern was a keen cook and the two-storey kitchen wing was heavily influenced by her. The landscaping was also of her creation and Mrs. Horden introduced many exotics from the Pacific Islands to adorn the garden. Highlands was listed on the

on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. ''Highlands'' is representative of John Horbury Hunt's interpretation of the Shingle Style. While each of Hunt's houses has distinctive elements, Highlands displays features common to his Shingle Style houses, namely recessed verandahs and shingles sweeping away from openings to carry water away. ''Highlands'' is currently the only Shingle Style house of this scale on the State Heritage Register.

References

Bibliography

* *

Attribution

External links

{{commons category-inline, Highlands, Wahroonga New South Wales State Heritage Register Hornsby Shire Houses in Wahroonga, New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register John Horbury Hunt buildings 1893 establishments in Australia Houses completed in 1893 Buildings and structures in Sydney Buildings and structures completed in 1893 Horden family