The Retreat

Child Places

• 00388 House

Statement of Significance

The Retreat has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• The building is located in a prominent position and presents as a distinctive example of a Federation Italianate style of architecture, which together with mature palm trees creates strong visual appeal and streetscape values;
• The place is significant in the history of the local area and has connections with several generations of the Barnard family who presented a prominent social and professional standing in Busselton;
• The place is valued by the local community as a reminder of Busselton’s development as a holiday destination and its ongoing use as a medical facility

Physical Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION The Retreat is a single storey stucco masonry building with zincalume roof, in Federation Italianate style, situated in a prominent position close to the main street of Busselton. The hipped roof is steeply pitched and features gables, finials and chimneys with corniced chimney-caps. It is symmetrically arranged with the bay windows at the east and west of ends of the front façade that are defined by gable roofs. The building displays two separate and identical front entrances with sidelights, placed either side of the front steps leading onto the verandah and promoting the notion that the house may have originally been divided internally and used as holiday accommodation for two families. The verandah extends across the front and down the sides of the building (with the exception of the area containing the additions), is painted white with chamfered timber posts and features a St. Andrew’s cross balustrade. Although additions and alterations have taken place since c1970s, the façade of The Retreat presents largely in its original form.

DESCRIPTION
The Retreat fronts the west side of Bussell Highway, Busselton and is located approximately 80 metres south of the main intersection of Albert Street and Queen Street; and the entrance to Busselton. Queen Street is the main commercial thoroughfare in Busselton and Albert Street was the main road
to Dunsborough and Yallingup, prior to the construction about 10 years ago of the ring road that skirts the town. The place is bordered by Go Geo Vehicle Hire to the north, a commercial property in the manner of a c1930s bungalow (currently empty) to the south and situated across the road from BP Busselton service station and Paradise Motel. The building is placed well back from the street, with a long driveway and large numbers of designated bitumised parking bays and brick footpaths crisscrossing the area and replacing the original lawned area. The fences are made up of a variety of contemporary styles and materials. Two large palm trees c1920 situated in front of the house and one close to the boundary fence to the south remain extant and contribute to the aesthetic value of the place; the remainder of the garden has been re-planted in a contemporary manner. The Retreat is a single storey stucco masonry building with zincalume roof, in Federation Italianate style, situated in a prominent position close to the main street of Busselton. The hipped roof is steeply pitched and features gables, finials and chimneys with corniced chimney-caps. It is symmetrically arranged with the bay windows at the east and west of ends of the front façade that are defined by gable roofs. The building displays two separate and identical front entrances (with sidelights), placed either side of the front steps leading onto the verandah and promoting the notion that the house may have originally been divided internally and used by two families. A verandah extends around the building (with the exception of the area containing the additions) with chamfered timber posts and a St. Andrew’s cross balustrade all painted white. The building appears to be well maintained with the exception of a small section of guttering on the north side of the Laboratory that requires replacement. A single-story structure housing Western Diagnostic Pathology adjoins the main building. Access to these business premises exists from the end of the verandah on the north side of the main building as well as from a pathway down the side of the main structure, up steps and through a diagonally placed entry onto the verandah close to the entrance. The architectural style of this structure is similar to the main house (now housing the doctors’ surgeries) and it is possible that it was probably part of the original construction. The interior of the main building has been greatly altered since its adaptation to commercial use and the original layout is now not obvious. The front reception room appears to have been enlarged, possibly by the opening up of two separate living rooms and contains a large free standing counter. Other space adapted for use includes areas created as consultation rooms; waiting rooms; a second reception area; large treatment area along with a staff room and storage facilities. Part of the original verandah, which ran along the back of the building was removed during the c2002 additions and has been replaced by a curved feature ceiling interpreted by Kent Lyon, architect to represent the removed feature. As well, original verandah posts deemed to be beyond repair, were replaced and these were then set into the new walls as a means of interpreting the original verandah profile. Building plans outlining the additions and alterations undertaken in c2002 have been included in the Appendix The remnant built fabric appears to be in good condition. The areas not affected by the various periods of adaptation, generally retain their original ceiling roses, skirting boards, architraves, fireplace surrounds; while an ornate archway featuring a plaster ‘cherub’ defining the ‘front’ rooms from the less important areas of the original house exhibits as a dominant feature. The detailing of the joinery appears to be more prominent at the front of the house (as expected) and two double hung sashed bay windows remain intact and add to the aesthetic values of the place both internally and externally. Many original four panelled doors with bolection moulding and displaying round-topped decorative features (some with opaque glass inserts) in the late Victorian manner remain in-situ. The timber floorboards are not visible and the floors are covered in commercial vinyl in most areas with the exception of the consultancy rooms, which are carpeted. The verandahs have grano flooring and masonry footings.

History

Assessment 2010
Construction date c1890
Architect/designer: attributed to HC Ashton, Addition alteration c 2002 Kent Lyon
Builder not known
Alterations/additions: 1975, 1991, c2002
Original Use : holiday house
Current use: medical Centre, laboratory

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The Retreat was built in c1890 for Messrs Byfield, Allpike & Ashton as a holiday house. Approximately 13 years later, in 1903 ownership changed hands for the first of many times, when it was purchased by the Barnard family. The place was to remain in the hands of the Barnard family for 63 years until it was sold to the Paradise Motel in 1966 when it was considered for demolition by them in order to expand the existing Motel business situated across the road. During the 1970s the building fell into a state of disrepair and was again threatened with demolition. The Retreat was sold to Woolworths Pty Ltd, who purchased the land in 1975 pending the development of a supermarket. During this period the supermarket chain Coles made the decision to establish a large store in Busselton and the development of The Retreat site by Woolworths Pty Ltd for a supermarket was put on hold. The place was then sold to Dr Robert Jarvis who proceeded to construct extensive renovations in order to create suitable premises for use as doctors’ surgeries and to provide extra rooms for commercial lease. In 1984 Dr Jarvis sold the property to Keith Howard, car dealer who bought it as an investment and developed adjoining land (to the north) as a second hand car yard. The Retreat was resold in c1990 to a group of Doctors who applied an adaptive re-use programme to enable expansion of their business and carried out major extensions to the place in 1991 and again in c2002. In 2009 The Retreat remains the premises of Busselton Medical Centre and Western Diagnostic Pathology.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS The Retreat is a substantially intact example in the Victorian Italianate style, symmetrical with steeply pitched roof and articulated with gables, finials and chimneys with corniced chimney caps. A search on the HCWA Places Database has identified 23 places as ‘Victorian Italianate’, (1 place in Busselton) and 31 places as ‘Federation Italianate’, (2 places in Busselton) in architectural style. In the database, the Weld Institute, 13 Queen Street Busselton Place No: 00404, c1874-2005 has been described as Victorian Italianate. The Retreat has been listed in the Places Database No. 00422 as Federation Italianate and the description notes that ‘the building has some stylistic similarities to 58 West Street’ Busselton on Place No. 05328. St Mary’s Church Rectory, 41 Peel Terrace Busselton c1895, Place No. 18163 has been listed as Federation Italianate. The Busselton Municipal Heritage Inventory (2005) lists Place Number: PN045 ‘Silver Chain Administration Offices’ at 58 West Street, Busselton c1900. It is described as Federation Italianate in style and no architect has been nominated in the assessment documentation. Although on a smaller scale, 58 West Street c1900, appears to closely represent The Retreat in its architectural design genre. The Retreat is considered to be an excellent example of the Federation Italianate style
HISTORY
In 1834 the Bussell brothers and others arrived by boat at Geographe Bay from Augusta where they had originally settled in 1830 on the recommendation of Governor Stirling. The Chapman brothers and two soldiers who travelled overland from Augusta met them there. Augusta was heavily forested and unsuitable for farming and the open pastures of the Vasse had impressed John Bussell. He applied for a land grant on the east side of the Vasse River and the brothers set about establishing a dwelling, which would be named ‘Cattle Chosen’.3 The remainder of the family then joined them. In 1835 the settlement was named Busselton in their honour. Fanny Bussell recorded that ‘we should have liked it to be called “Capel”, but the name was given at Perth without our knowledge.’4 In 1836 Lieutenant Bunbury had the townsite of Busselton planned and surveyed. By 1839, Surveyor Henry Ommaney had laid out the Busselton townsite and by June 1847 the Vasse settlement was officially gazetted as ‘Busselton’.5 Early growth in the Vasse area was limited as settlers struggled against the odds to become self-sufficient. Later their subsistence lifestyles were supplemented by the opportunities to work in the whaling and timber industries, which provided some income for many of the locals. At the same time the establishment of government infrastructure served to improve local conditions. Included in the developments were the construction of the Gulch (bonding store), a post office at the Vasse in 1842 (later a post and telegraph office in 1871) and a gaol in Strelley Street. A bridge was built across the Vasse River, erected by local citizens to open communications for the settlers with the new St Mary’s church erected in the townsite in c1844. A Town Trust operated within the boundaries of the Vasse district from the c1850s and soon after convict labour fuelled a local development programme that included further government infrastructure and the construction of several substantial buildings. In 1871 the Busselton Municipal was declared and under the local Act, a Council was formed with an elected Mayor. However, it was almost another 20 years before the town experienced a substantial growth period. The gold boom of the 1890s in the Eastern Goldfields resulted in a huge increase in population in city centres and economic well-being. Busselton’s location on Geographe Bay, its beaches and mild weather, would prove an attractive destination for holiday-makers. The general prosperity in Busselton was marked by the building of a new two-storeyed hospital in 1896 and a new Courthouse with Police Quarters, constructed in 1897. Substantial residences built about the same time were ‘St Davitts’ for Mr FW Cammilleri (1903), ‘Ithaca’ (1897 and 1904) now ‘Villa Carlotta’ and The Retreat for Messrs Byfield, Allpike & Ashton as a holiday house for themselves in c1890. Research into the history of Messrs Byfield, Allpike & Ashton proved difficult and little information surfaced regarding the full names, addresses or occupations of the original owners. Byfield and Allpike are both associated with land near Mundaring Weir. John Allpike was the manager of Walter Padbury’s store in Guildford. He purchased land in the Helena Valley in the early 1880s. Frederick W. Byfield also purchased land in this area at the same time. However, it is likely that the Byfield referred to is Edward George Byfield, Frederick’s brother. Edward, together with Rysley secured the government contract to construct the Boyanup-Minninup Railway Line that was completed in 1893. The first reference sourced in the Busselton Rates Books (1898-1906) for the place on lots 116 &117 Albert Street appears as an entry for ‘dwelling’ owned by G.W. Barnard in 1903 with a value of £140, which may be considered a large amount of money at that time. The Rates Books identified Mr H.C. Ashton as the owner in 1899 of Lots 48-52 Marine and Adelaide Sts, Busselton and as he was listed in the records as an architect, the possibility exists that he may have also been one of the owners and the designer/builder of The Retreat. Approximately 13 years after The Retreat was built in c1890, the ownership changed hands for the first of many times, when it was purchased by the Barnard family. The place became the joint residence of Mr GW Barnard Snr, his bachelor son Charles, his daughter Patience as well as his married son George William Barnard Jnr his wife Eliza Jane Bovell and their family of two sons and four daughters. The place was to remain in the hands of the Barnard family for 63 years. George William Barnard Snr (always referred to as ‘the boss’) was born in Perth 12.5.1839 and died Busselton 21.1.1930. With his first wife Martha Minion he had two sons Charles Minion Barnard and George William Barnard Jnr. With his second wife Marcia (nee Dawson) he had one living daughter Patience Evelyn. George William Barnard Snr. was a foundation pupil of Perth Boys School, but left at age 10 and minded sheep at York. He moved to Busselton in his twenties, attracted to the area because of the prospects in the timber industry and quickly realised the business potential of the Busselton District. He built a store and started trading under the Barter System taking his two sons into partnership with him and trading as GW Barnard & Sons before building the Freemason’s Hotel (replacing an earlier Freemason’s Hotel c1850). The Inquirer dated 30 October 1889 notes that ‘after a long delay Mr Barnard has made a commencement on his new building. It will have a frontage of two streets namely Queen St and Albert St and stand at the corner of the allotment’. Mr Barnard was a foundation member of the Sussex Lodge of Freemasons. In 1903 he purchased property in Albert Street that included The Retreat and leased the Hotel but continued operating the store. Later his sons sold out of the store and re-occupied the hotel. The small store, which had been added became part of the licensed premises and was later converted into a bottle shop. The name of the hotel was changed at this point to the Commercial Hotel, although it was managed by Sydney Hedley and popularly known as Barnard’s Hotel. The property in Albert Street owned by the Barnard family extended to the Queen Street intersection and several buildings were later constructed on this site. Daughter Mrs Rin Ryan (nee Barnard) who lived at The Retreat until she was married at 25 years of age confirms this when she stated that ‘we used to have a lot of land around the house down to Prince Street and across to Queen Street’. Barnard’s Hall c1901-3, situated in Albert Street close to The Retreat was used for meetings, children’s balls, the Firemen’s ball, boxing tournaments, darts finals and even log chops were common events inside the building. The Congregational Church used the hall as their place of worship and the hall began operating as a movie theatre from as early as 1914. Barnard’s hall was demolished in 1964. Interestingly, Barnard’s yard (opposite the Commercial Hotel) was an area used during the 1920s and 1930s to place a merry-go-round for community use, due to the fact that there was insufficient room for them to operate at the time on the local showgrounds. George William Barnard Jnr. was the first of a second generation born in Western Australia to represent the town and district in the State Legislature and was MLA for Sussex from 1924 for 19½ years. He was a member of the Busselton Municipal Council, a councillor and Mayor of Busselton for 2½ years, member of Fire Brigade and Agricultural Society, Justice of the Peace (1910), actively involved with the Anglican Church as the people’s Warden and ‘almost every other public and social movement for nearly forty years’. On the death of George Jnr., who was killed in a car accident, the property passed to his eldest daughter Miss Marjorie Barnard. She was a nurse and in the late 1940s became the Matron of the Busselton District Hospital. The Retreat remained in the hands of the Barnard family for 63 years until it was sold to the Paradise Motel in 1966 when it was considered for demolition in order to expand the existing Motel business situated across the road. During the 1960s and 1970s the building was in a state of disrepair and a report dated February 7, 1975 states that the building ‘appears solid but vandals have smashed most windows, verandah railings etc. reputed to be condemned by Council and threatened with demolition.’ The option to demolish was not followed through by the owners of the Paradise Motel and The Retreat was sold instead to Woolworths Pty Ltd, who purchased the land pending the development of a supermarket. At the same time, the supermarket chain Coles was to establish a large store in Busselton in 1975 and the development of the site was again put on hold. Later in 1975, The Retreat was sold to Dr Robert Jarvis who then proceeded to undertake extensive renovations in an effort to create suitable commercial premises for use as doctors’ surgeries and to provide rooms for lease by other professionals. The adaptive reuse of the house was seen by Dr Jarvis to be a solution to the problem that the Busselton hospital and medical centre were situated approximately 3 km out of town. The Retreat would provide a medical facility close to the town centre. By 1977 The Retreat building housed an accountant’s office, a branch of the Busselton Health Centre and a clinical laboratory. On 24 March 1977 it was reported in the local newspaper that a fire in The Retreat caused damage of $2,000. ‘The damage was caused when a fire in an old open fireplace burnt through the mortar and set alight a cupboard in an adjoining room which backed on to the chimney.’ Dr Jarvis sold the property in 1984 to Keith Howard, car dealer who bought it as an investment and developed adjoining land to the north as a second hand car yard. The Retreat was resold to a group of Doctors in c1990; and the registered proprietors are listed in 1993 as Robert Baden Jarvis, John Roger Boston, Michael John Peterkin, K.J. Cullen Pty Ltd, John Douglas Caldow, and Gary Michael Tapper as tenants in common in equal shares. The group of doctors collectively used the place to house medical surgeries and a clinical laboratory. In 1991 work was carried out at the site and a quotation was received for $34,095 covering an addition to the Laboratory at the rear of the Doctor’s Offices and re-alignment of driveway and installation of new parking bays. In c2002 major extensions to the place were undertaken to enable a further expansion of the business. The rear verandah structure was removed and a large addition provided extra consultancy rooms, a second reception area and waiting area, kitchen, toilet, large treatment area and extended area for the laboratory. The additions drawn up by Kent Lyon, architect display a sensitivity towards the aesthetic values of the place and are not generally visible from Albert Street. At the same time however it proved necessary to remove a large palm tree at the rear of the original structure to allow for the planned extensions. During this work period, the car parking at the front of The Retreat was realigned to allow more car space and the two large and visually prominent palms were left standing at the front of the house adding significantly to the streetscape value of the place. The original site has been subdivided and greatly reduced; and the lots now contain a variety of businesses including an antique shop, several real estate agents, Go Geo Southwest vehicle hire depot and a contemporary movie theatre. However the location of the place has made it a target for
vandalism after hours. Recent incidents include the demolition of a
contemporary limestone fence with fence posts, damage to verandah
balustrade and rubbish thrown onto the roof.
In 2009 The Retreat remains the premises of Busselton Medical Centre and
Western Diagnostic Pathology

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.