Dunara

About

Dunara is a heritage-listed residence at Point Piper, in Sydney, Australia. It was built from 1882 to 1883. It is also known as the Dorothea Mackellar birthplace. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The Point's European history began as part of a 76-hectare (190-acre) land grant by Governor Macquarie to Captain John Piper in 1820. Piper had control of customs and all harbour matters, a lucrative position which enabled him to vastly increase the size of his land holding and build the finest house then in Sydney on the Point. He named it Henrietta Villa (after the second name of Governor Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth ) and it quickly became the most prestigious social venue in town. However, Piper's flamboyant and extravagant lifestyle exceeded even his resources and he was soon deeply in debt. In 1827 it became apparent that he had embezzled A£ 13,000 from the customs revenues which, together with other debts, amounted to millions in modern values. The mortified Piper made a curiously grand suicide attempt, having himself rowed out into the harbour and, to the strains of his naval band, jumping overboard. He survived to retire to a more modest rural life.

Henrietta Villa was bought by one of his debtors, Daniel Cooper in 1827, the Vaucluse part of his estate outside the Point being bought by William Wentworth and the rest ( Bellevue Hill, Rose Bay, Woollahra ) to the firm of Cooper and Levey to whom Piper had owed another A£20,000.

Daniel Cooper (1785–1853) had been transported to Australia in 1816 and became one of the colony's most successful merchants. His nephew, born in Lancashire in 1821 and also named Daniel Cooper, came to Australia in 1843 and was soon following in his Uncle's footsteps. Daniel the younger was already wealthy by the time he inherited his uncle's estate a decade later. He now had estates throughout the colony, including a large chunk around Double Bay, much of which was Piper's former estate. In 1856 Cooper began a great mansion called Woollahra House on Point Piper, on the site of Captain Piper's Henrietta Villa. In the same year Cooper became first Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He resigned from the Speakership in 1860 and returned to England a year later, became the Agent-General for NSW, was made the First Baronet of Woollahra in 1863, and died in 1902. Woollahra House was not completed until 1883 by his son, William. Some subdivisions of the Point also began around that time. It was suggested as a replacement for Government House around 1901 (then occupied by the Governor-General of Australia ) but the offer was not taken up by the government and the estate was progressively sold off and the house demolished in 1929.

In the 1820s business partners Daniel Cooper and Solomon Levey began acquiring land that included the substantial Point Piper Estate comprising 460 hectares (1,130 acres) in the Woollahra district that had been amassed by Captain John Piper since 1816. Following some financial difficulties Piper's land was conveyed to Cooper and Levey in 1826. Their title to the land was confirmed in 1830 and it became the sole property of Daniel Cooper in 1847. On Cooper's death in 1853, his nephew, also Daniel Cooper (later Sir Daniel Cooper), was appointed trustee of the Point Piper Estate which his uncle had bequeathed to his nephew's eldest son (also Daniel Cooper).

Now a prestige living area, it was part of a 77-hectare (190-acre) grant to Captain John Piper in 1820 who was "Naval Officer" of the Colony at the time. After Piper found himself in financial difficulties the grant was bought in 1827 by Daniel Cooper who bequeathed it to the son of his nephew both also called Daniel. The son sold the grant to his brother, William, for A£100,000 who in 1883 built Woollahra House. The first subdivision on the Point took place around 1880 with the release of foreshore land around Woollahra House in 1899.

John Mackellar married Euphemia Jackson and emigrated with their family to Australia from Dundee, Scotland in 1839. Their three sons were Keith, a sea trader, Frederick, who in 1839 became the first salaried officer at the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary, later Sydney Hospital, and Charles, who became a surgeon. Frederick had a son, Charles Kinnaird Mackellar (1844–1926) who married Marion Isobel Buckland (1854–1933) in 1877. There were four children of this marriage: Keith; Eric; Isobel Marion Dorothea (1885–1968) and Malcolm. Keith was killed in action in South Africa on 11 July 1890, during the Boer War. He was second lieutenant in the Australian Volunteer Horse Squadron.

Charles Mackellar (1844–1926) was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Grammar School and the University of Glasgow Medical School, graduating in 1871. He returned to Australia and practised in Sydney, becoming a noted physician and sociologist. Charles registered with the Medical Board of NSW in 1872. In 1873-77 he was honorary surgeon at the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary, where his father had been the first salaried officer. He advised the NSW Government on hygiene and preventative medicine and helped establish the North Head Quarantine Station and the Coast, or Prince Henry Hospital. In 1883, he became president of the new Board of Health and president of the NSW branch of the British Medical Association, which was set up in 1880. Mackellar was a physician at the hospital in 1882 and a director from 1884 to 1903. He was also a director of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital from 1886 to 1917. He worked "stupendously" at general practice in his early years. In 1877 he married Marion Buckland, acquired considerable pastoral interests and in 1896 succeeded his father-in-law as a director of the Bank of NSW, of which he was president in 1901-23 apart from absences abroad in 1904-5 and 1912–13. He was chairman, board member and trustee of a number of other companies, in insurance, sugar refining, etc.

His parliamentary career included serving in the NSW Legislative Council from 1885. He became a Senator in 1903 but his commitments precluded attendance at Melbourne sittings so he resumed his Legislative Council seat. He was president of the Children's Relief Department from 1903 and published a pamphlet on "Parental Rights and Parental Responsibility" (1903) and a treatise on "The Child, The Law and the State" (1907); he established homes for invalid children at Mittagong, for disabled children at Parramatta and for delinquents who had been before the Children's Court, at Ormond House. In 1913, Mackellar reported on the treatment of delinquent and neglected children in Europe and the United States. Mackellar was knighted in 1912, and appointed KCMG in 1916; he died in Sydney on 14 July 1926.

Marion Isobel Mackellar (née Buckland) (1854–1933) was the second daughter of Thomas Buckland of Kent, a wealthy merchant, pastoralist and banker. Buckland became a director and president of the Bank of New South Wales, a position in which he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Charles, from 1901 to 1923. Marion married Charles Mackellar in August 1877 at St. Paul's Church, Sydney. They had three sons and a daughter, Dorothea.

Dunara was built c. 1882 – c. 1883 by distinguished physician, MLA and philanthropist, Sir Charles McKellar. The house was the birthplace and the childhood home of his daughter, Dorothea, the famous poet. It is a good example of the spacious and well-crafted residence of the period. Dorothea Mackellar was born on 1 July 1885 at the family home, Dunara, built by the Mackellars on zero point eight one to two point zero two hectares (two to five acres) at Rose Bay/Point Piper. The two-storied residence was surrounded by servants' quarters, a stable, a coach house, numerous outbuildings and magnificent gardens. Dunara is an indigenous word for " gunyah on the slope of a hill", and was one of many residences in Sydney owned by the Mackellar family. Dorothea Mackellar spent most of her childhood here.

Dorothea was educated privately, travelled extensively and was educated at the University of Sydney. She became fluent in French, Spanish, German and Italian and attended some lectures at the University of Sydney. Her youth was protected and highly civilised. She moved easily amongst the society of Sydney's intellectual and administrative elite, life on her family's country properties and among their friends in London. While staying at Torryburn, a family property in the Allyn River valley in the Hunter Valley, she experienced the breaking of a drought and subsequently wrote the patriotic verse My Country. This poem was published under the title "Core of My Heart" in The Spectator on 5 September 1908, when she was visiting London, and reprinted in The Sydney Mail on 21 October 1908 and in most of Australia's leading newspapers and journals, on occasions with minor wording changes. It quickly became Australia's best-known lyric poem. The poem captured the spirit of nationalism developing in the early 20th century. In 1911 her first book of verse, "The closed door and other verses" was published in Melbourne. The appearance of My Country in this book is thought to be the first under its more familiar title.

Dorothea travelled widely in Europe, Asia and South America and published three more collections of verse: "The Witch Maid" (1914); "Dreamharbour" (1923); and "Fancy Dress" (1927). Her novel, 'Outlaw's Luck' (1922) reflected impressions of Argentina and her poems included translations from Spanish, German and Japanese. She also wrote two other novels in collaboration with Ruth Bedford, but ill health had virtually ended her literary career when "Fancy Dress" appeared. Dorothea was appointed OBE in the 1968 New Year Honours list and died at the Scottish Hospital, Sydney on 14 January 1968. Prior to this she had spent a good deal of time living in relative seclusion at her house, Tarrangaua, in Lovett Bay, Pittwater. "The Poems of Dorothea Mackellar", including "My Country" and a brief memoir by Adrienne Matzenik (née Howley) was published in 1971. On her 82nd birthday in 1967, Dorothea told two friends, Gordon Williamson and Dorothea Macmillan, that the famous poem was completed in the apartments above her father's consulting rooms in Buckland Chambers, overlooking Hyde Park (183 Liverpool Street ), Sydney.

An 1887 photograph shows the bushland surrounding Dunara (downhill to its east, south and to the north) the house is on a cleared rise above Rose Bay). In 1919 the house was sold to merino sheep breeder, Sir Norman Kater (1919) and in 1931 sold to Mr Michaelis. Some alterations were carried out by architect G. Keesing in 1933 and when bought by Mr Plowman in 1957 further modifications of a sympathetic nature were made by Professor Leslie Wilkinson. It was later acquired by the Royal Australian Air Force and has been used as a WAAF Officer's Mess. The property was subdivided in 1954, alienating most of the grounds. Although bushland no longer leads to the foreshores (to the east side of Pt. Piper), Dunara still has an uninterrupted view of Rose Bay. The whole cul-de-sac of Dunara Gardens (now 11 houses) was all part of Dunara's original estate, which stretched east to Wunulla Road, much of it grassed with a circular driveway west of the front door. In 1978 Dunara was up for sale. Russell (1980) noted it was sold by auction in 1979.

The poem, In a Southern Garden, by Dorothea Mackellar is believed to relate to her early home, Dunara :

Dorothea Mackellar spent many of her early years at Dunara, a Georgian mansion built by her father on a large property fronting Rose Bay. In 1978, long after the once-expansive grounds were subdivided c. 1950, Dunara is to be sold. In Point Piper Past & Present Nesla Griffiths writes: "Miss Dorothea Mackellar tells me that Dunara is a native word meaning "the house on the hill" and that her father built his home between 1882 and 1884. It is still standing, and is one of the few with a drive to the door, with a lovely view eastward, and in those days gracious gardens and beautiful trees."

Dunara was bought by Dr. N. W. Kater (later Sir Norman) in 1919 and sold to Mr Michaelis in 1931. It was one of the houses taken over by the RAAF and has been used as a WAAF Officers' mess. The house has two storeys, covering about 45 squares, a colonial verandah on the ground floor and a balcony on the first floor, both with wrought iron lacework. Bushland no longer leads to the foreshores but Dunara still has an uninterrupted view of Rose Bay.

The sandstock walls of the house are 45 centimetres (18 in) thick and the front door is cedar with etched white glass panels. The Minton tiled vestibule inside the front porch leads to the sitting room, drawing room, dining room and cedar staircase to the second floor. There are five bedrooms, some of which contain period features like bay windows and the original chain window sashes. All have marble fireplaces (there are seven in the house) cedar and mahogany joinery, and 4.6 metre high ceilings. The main bedroom is huge, and it has two floor-to-ceiling windows leading to the balcony, a wall of built-in cupboards and a study annexe. The present owners, who have been progressively restoring the mansion since they moved in 21 years ago (1957), plan to move to a smaller home. Richardson & Wrench, of Double Bay, will auction the property on 24 November 1978. The house was sold by auction on 7 June 1979.

Mr Andre Korda, the present (1987) owner (at the time of PCO) was interested in the heritage aspect of the Dunara Gardens property and nominated it for the protective order.

The Point's European history began as part of a 76-hectare (190-acre) land grant by Governor Macquarie to Captain John Piper in 1820. Piper had control of customs and all harbour matters, a lucrative position which enabled him to vastly increase the size of his land holding and build the finest house then in Sydney on the Point. He named it Henrietta Villa (after the second name of Governor Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth ) and it quickly became the most prestigious social venue in town. However, Piper's flamboyant and extravagant lifestyle exceeded even his resources and he was soon deeply in debt. In 1827 it became apparent that he had embezzled A£ 13,000 from the customs revenues which, together with other debts, amounted to millions in modern values. The mortified Piper made a curiously grand suicide attempt, having himself rowed out into the harbour and, to the strains of his naval band, jumping overboard. He survived to retire to a more modest rural life.