The Cliffe is one of the first residential dwellings built in the

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

suburb of Peppermint Grove. The house is located at 25 Bindaring Parade, Peppermint Grove and has historical associations with the prominent McNeil, Brisbane and McComb families.

Description

The original house was designed by architect Clarence Wilkinson and built in 1894 for businessman and timber merchant

Neil McNeil Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. Early life McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, No ...

. Substantive additions, undertaken in 1899, were designed by prominent

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n architect J.

Talbot Hobbs Lieutenant General Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs, (24 August 1864 – 21 April 1938) was an Australian architect and First World War general. Early life Hobbs was born in London, the son of Joseph and his wife Frances Ann Hobbs (née Wilson). E ...

. Later additional and modifications to the house occurred in the 1930s and the 1960s when the northern wing, previously servants quarters were refurbished. The dwelling is designed in the

Federation Bungalow Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

style and built predominantly of

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...

. In 1914,

James Battye James Sykes Battye (1871–1954) was an Australian librarian who was the first chief librarian of the Victoria Public Library in Perth, Western Australia. He was a leading historian, librarian and public figure in Western Australia and also se ...

in his ''

Cyclopedia of Western Australia The ''Cyclopedia of Western Australia'', edited by James Battye, was the pre-eminent written summary of Western Australia's development and context prior to World War I. Review of progress It was created at a time that saw progress, and was su ...

'' described the dwelling as follows:

History

The Cliffe was built in 1894/95 by Neil McNeil on of land he had purchased in 1892one year after Peppermint Grove was surveyed into building allotments. McNeil was one of the first five landowners in the area and his name was given to McNeil Street which ran along the southern border of his property from the Swan River to what is now Stirling Highway. McNeil was one of the owners of the Jarrahdale Timber Company which exported timber for the paving of London Streets at the turn of the century. Because of his strong business interest in timber and his conviction of its suitability as a building material, McNeil built his home as a showpiece of jarrah construction. Unfortunately, McNeil's vision of majestic timber houses, rather than houses constructed of brick and stone, was not shared by the Peppermint Grove Road Board which later legislated against timber construction in the area. The original house was designed by Clarence Wilkinson. The house was altered and extended in coming years, most notably the additional of a billiard room and other rooms in 1896 by Wilkinson and Smith and, following McNeil's marriage in 1900 to Jessie Alexander Lawrie, some further modifications in 1906 designed by the architect J.Talbot Hobbs and his firm, Hobbs Smith and Forbes. In 1915 the property was subdivided into 20 lots with the Cliffe retaining a considerable

curtilage In common law, the curtilage of a house or dwelling is the land immediately surrounding it, including any closely associated buildings and structures, but excluding any associated " open fields beyond". In feudal times every castle with its depen ...

on the banks of the Swan River. The property was sold in 1927, following McNeil's death, to

Lance Brisbane Sir Hugh Lancelot (Lance) Brisbane (16 March 1893 – 4 February 1966) was a prominent Western Australian industrialist and businessman. He was involved with the ownership and management of a number of brick and tile manufacturing companies in ...

, a prominent West Australian industrialist. When Lance Brisbane moved in 1933, Brisbane's brother, David Brisbane, and his family, occupied The Cliffe until his death in 1960. Harold McComb, a plastic surgeon and Athel Hockey, a geneticist, subsequently purchased the Cliffe and lived there until April 1995. The McComb's had four sons, two of whom (

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and Robert) performed in the iconic Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band,

The Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The Triff ...

. According to rock historian, Bleddyn Butcher, According to Robert McComb, the home inspired his famous brother, who loved the house: The cover of The Triffids' last album, '' The Black Swan'' (1989) was photographed in the stables at the rear of the house during the summer of 1988/1989. In April 1995, the McCombs sold the house to a local real estate agent, Christopher Shellabear: "Our family all left home and my wife and I were rattling around in this huge house", Harold McComb explained. On 30 June 1995, following receipt of petition from local residents worried about the potential redevelopment of the site, the Heritage Council of Western Australia issued a Stop Work (or Conservation) order under Section 59 of the Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990. On 17 July 1995, Chris Shellabear sold the now-encumbered property to Sharon Creasy, wife of prospector

Mark Creasy Mark Gareth Creasy (born 1944) is a Western Australian mining entrepreneur. Biography Creasy arrived in Australia in the 1960s, and trained as a mining engineer. He has developed various mining projects in Western Australia and other states ...

, for $2.7 million. On 10 October 1995, the Heritage Council of Western Australia added the property to the State Register of Heritage Places on an "interim" basis. The Creasys contested the interim listing for nine years, and in 2004 the Heritage Council removed the dwelling from the interim listing and placed it on the permanent register. There was a legal dispute as to whether the listing was done correctly, resulting in the Heritage Council re-registering it on the permanent list in May 2005. The Creasys estimate that the dispute has cost them $225,000 in legal fees and claim that the house is now uninhabitable, estimating it would cost at least $2.8 million to make it liveable and much more to renovate it completely. The dwelling is registered on the

Shire of Peppermint Grove The Shire of Peppermint Grove is a local government area in Perth, Western Australia, southwest of the Perth central business district. At , it is the smallest local government area in Australia; it contains only the eponymous suburb, Peppe ...

's Municipal Inventory, and with the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

on 6 March 1984, the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

on 30 June 1992, and the State Register of Heritage Places (original interim listing on 10 October 1995 and permanent listing on 27 February 2004). It was then removed from the State Register on 6 July 2004, with a second interim listing on 20 July 2004 and obtaining a permanent listing on 19 July 2005. According to the

Heritage Council of Western Australia The Heritage Council of Western Australia is the Government of Western Australia agency created to identify, conserve and promote places of cultural heritage significance in the state. Prior to its creation, considerable variance in policy and p ...

's assessment "The Cliffe is a rare example in metropolitan Perth of a substantial weatherboard 'gentleman's' residence, which has, intact, the subsidiary buildings of coachhouse, stables, summerhouse, servants cottages, and part of the original gardens." On Thursday 5 June 2008 the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

supported Parliament's first de-listing of an order by the Heritage Council so that the house could be demolished on the basis that the Government was potentially exposed to a $20 million lawsuit under clause 76 of the 1990 State Heritage Act. The clause, which had never previously been used, allows owners of heritage-listed properties to ask the Government to buy their property if its heritage listing makes it "''incapable of reasonably beneficial use, and that the carrying out of any reasonable development could not render the land capable of reasonably beneficial use''". The property was subsequently removed from the State Register of Heritage Places on 22 August 2008. Section 55 of the Act precludes consideration for re-entry onto the Register for a period of five years from the date of its removal, except with leave of the Supreme Court. In a newspaper interview, Robert McComb denied claims by Mr Creasy and both sides of parliament that the house was derelict. In an interview with

Drum Media ''The Music'' (formerly known as and now incorporating ''Drum Media'') is an online Australian music magazine. It previously existed as a street press devoted to long-form music journalism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. In i ...

, Jill Birt (keyboardist with

and qualified architect) advised She went on to express her disdain for Western Australia's tendency to forget about heritage and culture. In October 2008, the

approved the demolition of the building, although the Shire President did indicate that there was a desire among his fellow councillors to see at least the main rooms of The Cliffe relocated to a local park. The process of the removal from the heritage list occurred resurfaced from a complaint to the West Australian Corruption and Crime Commission in July 2009 with the main parties named denying any conspiracy.

Present status

The property was purchased by a private Perth businesswoman in 2013, who saved it from demolition. The owner purchased substantial land around The Cliffe in 2022 to re-instate its parklands.

References

External links

Heritage Council of Western Australia listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cliffe Heritage places in Perth, Western Australia Federation style architecture Peppermint Grove, Western Australia