Hazelwood

Statement of Significance

Hazelwood is a substantial example of a Federation Queen Anne house and is associated with William Edward Dempster. Although no longer attached to its land, its history illustrates the development of agriculture and orcharding in the district.

Physical Description

Hazelwood is a single storey house constructed of lathe and plaster with a corrugated iron roof in the Federation Queen Anne style. The front facade is symmetrical and dominated by a pair of half timbered gables that flank the central entrance. A verandah supported on timber posts with ornamental brackets runs across the front facade and returns down the sides. At the rear is a timber weatherboard section. The homestead looks over the Preston River and has a deep cool cellar. The living room has long bay windows. Internally the house has large rooms and high ceilings. JOinery and details are of a very high quality and include copper door plates and separate knobs with an art nouveau motif. Most of the internal features remain including lead light windows and timber mantelpieces.

History

The original owner of the property was T. Rassmussen, a Scandinavian, who took up the land, cleared it and planted a vineyard and some fruit trees. In 1905, the property was sold to William Edward Dempster (b. Perth, 1869), of Esperance, who built and named the present house Hazelwood, where he lived the rest of his life. He employed a master carpenter cabinet maker, named Woodgate, to execute the more delicate work, carvings, etc. Unfortunately much of this craftsman's work had deteriorated through neglect by the mid-1990s, over the last decade, but the house survived with its graceful verandah and deep cool cellar. Major improvements to the house have been made over time.
Dempster, who was not particularly interested in vine growing, established an orchard of stone fruit and oranges that became well known. His produce won prizes at local agricultural shows and some of his Cleopatra apples were included in early shipments to London (1910). In 1912, his orchard at Hazelwood included 17 varieties of apple, six varieties of pear, and also peaches, apricots, plums, grapes, figs, oranges, cherries, gooseberries, mulberries and raspberries. Early photos (Western Mail 27 Jan. 1912) show the homestead and orchard, and the tree feller named the Dempster Forest Devil (patented by his late grandfather, J. P. Dempster) clearing to extend the orchard area. That year leading orchardists from Argyle, Donnybrook and Boyanup attended R. Cowen’s demonstration of scientific apple packing for export at Hazelwood. By 1919, there were 160 acres of commercial orchards within about two miles of Argyle. Dempster’s was the largest (40 acres, of his 117 acres of land) and most varied, producing apples, pears, oranges, cherries, loquats, peaches and plums. Most of the trees were three to 16 years old, but there was a small block near the original homestead where a few cherry, apple, pear, loquat and other trees were 25-30 years old. Dempster’s outbuildings were notable, including his use of rushes or sword-grass under the iron roof for insulation. The date(s) at which the fine mature trees were planted around his homestead at Hazlewood has not been ascertained. They include the oak, pines and magnolias, kurrajongs and eucalypts.
In 1928, Dempster sold most of the property to Messrs. Webb and Somerset while retaining Hazlewood. Some years later the orchard was sold to C. Pizzino, an Italian migrant. After Dempster died in 1954, his widow sold Hazelwood. In the mid-1990s, the internal plaster walls of the house were restored.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Fair to Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

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