Medley Hall is the smallest residential college of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Established in 1954, it is situated on 48 Drummond St in

Carlton, Victoria Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 3 km north of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of Vic ...

, away from other residential colleges in Parkville. It is home to approximately 60 students from around Australia and overseas. Medley Hall was named in honour of Sir John Dudley Gibbs Medley, a previous

Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of the University of Melbourne. Medley Hall was closed from July 2009 to June 2011 due to a building redevelopment. Medley Hall reopened as a residential college from July 2011.

History

The main building was originally called Benvenuta. It was completed in 1893 for Leah Abrahams, the widow of a small arms dealer. In 1925, Benvenuta was leased to the Commonwealth Government which transformed it into Arbitration Court Offices. Next, the mansion was converted into an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

club, boasting a ballroom, orchestra and a regular Sunday boxing match, after a period of vacancy. Benvenuta also has its share of dark history. A bullet hole in the stained glass 'Welcome' window at the top of the stairs is supposedly evidence of criminal activity occurring from 1938 when leased to a

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

vigneron A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by winery, wineries or :Wine companies, wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulture, viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grape ...

. Benvenuta's ownership passed to the Italian Consulate prior to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

's participation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, Benvenuta was given to the University of Melbourne which then renamed it the Drummond Street Hostel. In 1953, the management was taken over by the University Council and the first Warden was appointed the following year. In 1955, the hostel was renamed Medley Hall. Medley Hall is also famous for its appearance in the

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

film, Knowing, released in March 2009.

Architecture

The original building was designed in an Italianate Victorian Baroque style by

Walter Scott Law Walter Scott Law was an English-born architect based in Melbourne, Australia and later in Cape Town, South Africa. He designed many buildings in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne. Early life Walter Scott Law was born in 1852 in London, England. ...

. Construction materials and craftsmen were imported from Italy. This includes

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

and over 15 tonnes of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

. It is richly decorated including miniature statuettes on the parapets. After its brief closure between 2009 and 2011, Medley Hall reopened with a new extension behind the original benvenuta.

Facilities

While Medley Hall is the smallest of the residential colleges, it is not lacking in facilities. It has a newly equipped laundry room with four washing machines and two driers, a lounge room with grand piano, a music room, table tennis and pool, a fully equipped kitchen with TV lounge area and kitchenettes and dining area on each of the three floors of accommodation.

External links

* http://www.medleyhall.unimelb.edu.au {{coord, 37, 48, 21, S, 144, 58, 4, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title Residential colleges of the University of Melbourne Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Italianate architecture in Melbourne Victorian architecture in Victoria (Australia) Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) 1954 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1893