Lesmurdie House

Statement of Significance

Lesmurdie House a two-storey stone and brick residence in the Federation Queen Anne style, constructed on the site of and as extensions to an 1898 two-room cottage (demolished 1910), with an orchard store and a garden bathing-pool set in expansive landscaped grounds has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons;
·         Lesmurdie House & Estate is a good representative example of a Federation Queen Anne style residence, developed as a private retreat in the hills district east of Perth,
·         The group, through its associations with the influential early Sanderson family, and provision of educational, health and religious services, is closely linked to the development of the Kalamunda district in the 20th century, and particularly the locality of Lesmurdie, which derives its name from Lesmurdie House & Estate,
·         Lesmurdie House includes a good example of Federation garden style landscaping, which combines with the nearby native forest to produce pleasing environs;
·         Lesmurdie House was chosen by Government officials to accommodate the Duke and Duchess of York for a weekend retreat during their Australian tour in 1927, which generated publicity to boost the growing hills tourism industry in the Interwar years.

Physical Description

Lesmurdie House is a Queen Anne style residence that has been enlarged but retained much of its original design ethos. The original section of the house is of single storey construction, built from laterite stone with red brick quoining with a hipped roof clad with Marseilles tiles. The original section occupies the eastern section of the house and is characterised by a distinctive brick bay in what would have been the centre of the original north façade, with rendered and timbered gable detail. Each of the three sides of the bay element contains windows, single openings to the side and a larger opening in the front face. All have timber shutters painted dark green. There is a further small window in the return of the bay, again with shutters. The east elevation demonstrates a more functional side of the house with the main entrance door under a flat suspended door canopy and a secondary doorway in the same elevation accessed by a short flight of stairs at the north-east corner. The central section is dominated by a covered verandah area with the iron canopy being supported on brick columns. Small paned French doors lead onto the verandah. There is no enclosure to the verandah but the base is constructed on laterite stone retaining which demonstrates the slight variance in topography at this side of the building. To the south of the verandah the former ‘porte cochere’ has been converted to provide additional accommodation. The form of the element remains intact but the open sides have been in filled with weatherboards. The original timber valance has been retained adding an element of interest to the structure. All windows are multi-paned openings. The eaves are wide overhanging boxed eaves with a distinctive moulding pattern to the lining. This pattern and form of eaves extends around the building.
To the west of the original section, an interconnecting element of weatherboard and rendered construction links the sections of the house. This section is two storeys with a small gabled dormer to the upper level and a small area of brick walling containing a small multi-paned window to the lower level, to the west of the doorway. Adjacent is a further section of the former house which resembles the construction method of the original part. Laterite stone with red brick quoining to the corners and openings, tall brick and rendered chimneys.

History

Early settlers, local heroes, land allocation, technology, hospitality, community services
Private hostel (1934), rented (1937), flats (post WW2), private hospital (1960-74)

Integrity/Authenticity

Level of Integrity - Lesmurdie House - Moderate
Heritage Building - High; Level of Authenticity - Lesmurdie House - Moderate
Heritage Building - Moderate

Condition

Good Archibald Sanderson was born at Glen Thompson, Victoria, in 1870, the fourth son of John Sanderson, who had founded (in 1858) the Melbourne firm of John Sanderson and Co, an agency of Sanderson and Murray, wool merchants of Galashiels, Scotland. In 1871, the family returned to England where John Sanderson became a partner in Sanderson and Murray’s London Branch in 1876. Archibald Sanderson was educated at Haileybury College in England, and later attended Oxford University. From 1892 until 1894, he worked as a journalist in New Zealand. In 1894, Sanderson came to Western Australia and cycled through the Coolgardie goldfields in the capacity of special correspondent of the Christchurch Press and the New Zealand Times. In Coolgardie, he had a short involvement with the mining industry but later in 1895, moved to Perth. There, Sanderson found work as assistant master of the Perth High School for a few months until joining the Perth Morning Herald as leader-writer and assistant-editor. While at the Perth High School Sanderson met E.W. ‘Paddy’ Haynes, who, in 1895, brought him to visit the Darling Range. Sanderson liked the country and, in 1897, bought (Lot 227) for £20. Sanderson worked in the city during the week and, on weekends, camped in a tent, spent his time clearing and developing his Hills block. Sanderson also employed a man to care-take during the week and carry on with clearing the land. In early 1898 a simple wattle and daub cottage of two rooms and a verandah had been built on the land by local builder A. Jecks, at a cost of £72. This simple structure was called ‘Lesmurdie’ by Sanderson, named for a boyhood holiday home on the upper reaches of the river Deveron, Banffshire, in Scotland. It was also in 1898 that Sanderson was elected a member of the first Darling Range Road Board. Samuel Wheelwright and Richard Brady, who were engaged by Archibald Sanderson to clear his land and plant an orchard, shared the newly-built Lesmurdie cottage, until 1901, at which time they built on a block of their own further south. In 1903, Archibald Sanderson’s returned to England on the death of his father and took up law studies to further his career. In 1906 he was called to the bar and married Maude Parry, daughter of the late Bishop of Perth. He returned to Western Australia with his new wife in 1906 and they settled at Lesmurdie House. By this time, additional building work to the cottage had been carried out by William Patterson, who, with his wife, had leased the property during Sanderson’s time in England. The cottage now had four rooms, with a small verandah in front. Beside the house was another two room building; a stone kitchen behind a hessian- walled room, also with a verandah in front. In 1907, half of the back verandah on the cottage was enclosed to provide a spare bedroom, and the two separate buildings were linked by a small cement courtyard, which was partially roofed. Adjoining the cottage, two large brick rooms were built; a bedroom for Archibald and Maude, and a dining room with a central fireplace. In addition, a weatherboard and iron three-roomed shed was built at the side of the cottage, to house the family of George Champion, who was emigrating from Kent to act as gardener at the property. In 1909, under the direction of George Herbert Parry architect and Archibald's brother-in-law, a Georgian-style front wing, built of local laterite stone with a tile roof, had been added to the house and the two roomed cottage was demolished. Lesmurdie House was modelled on ‘Bullerswood’, the house that John Anderson had built for Archibald, and the rest of his family, at Chislehurst, in Kent, in the second half of the 19th century. Panelling in the hall and staircase, the metalwork and the furnishings, were all especially commissioned for the house. In addition, some of the original ‘Bullerswood’ furniture and carpets were purchased by Archibald Sanderson in 1920 for use in Lesmurdie House. In August 1912, the ‘nursery wing’ of Lesmurdie House was completed, in time for a new child, the fourth Sanderson baby. In 1913, a second storey, also designed by George Herbert Parry, was added to Lesmurdie House. In 1927, during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to Australia for the opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra, Lesmurdie House was used as a weekend retreat for the Royal visitors. From 1935, Archibald Sanderson’s financial difficulties compelled him to lease Lesmurdie House & Estate to tenants who operated it as a private hotel. In the meantime, the family rented a house in Cottesloe. On 18 June 1937, Archibald Sanderson died and the estate took over the property. Lesmurdie House & Estate was commandeered for military use during World War Two. In 1945, the house was converted into three flats, and let to Sanderson family members, or various other tenants. Major renovations were undertaken to Lesmurdie House during 1955 and 1956 the Kitchen and former Servery were completely gutted and rebuilt, and the breeze-way on the east elevation was enclosed to form a sleep-out. In 1960, the house was sold to Mr and Mrs Howard Press the house was then equipped as a private hospital and managed by Margery Sanderson. An operating theatre was constructed beneath the porte-cochere and one of the bathrooms was re-roofed. This establishment operated successfully until 1973. Lesmurdie House was returned to the Sanderson family and reverted to private residential use in 1974, when Hugh and Catherine Sanderson moved into Lesmurdie House. In 1985, Hugh Sanderson died and his wife, Catherine, died in 2000. Lesmurdie House was then purchased by the adjoining St Brigid’s College which entered into a long-term maintenance program for the place. St Brigid's currently [2013] use the place for residential accommodation for students at the school.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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