Tempe House - then and now (Tempe House Tour Part 8)

To finish this series about Tempe House I was keen to take some photos from similar vantage points from which 19th century artists depicted it. These were taken from Kendrick Park in Tempe, across the Cooks River.

Many people and heritage organisations argue that the Wolli Creek development has ruined the context and setting of Tempe House, and I agree. Others say that, sadly, it was the only way the house could be preserved at all. That is probably true too. In the 1990s the state government was lobbied to buy the site and restore the house, as the only one of its architect, Verge, still in its original setting, with no bulk behind. They declined.

I think it is such a shame that a development of this size and bulk was presented as the only option. Sadly, in Sydney, developers are allowed to extract every cent they can. Promises were also made that there would be public access, including the parkland sweeping down to the river, but it has never been open as far as I know, and the house, while beautifully restored by renowned heritage architectures is sitting unused and inaccessible (other than to curious bloggers who scramble up rock faces, scale walls and straddle fences...and to the owners of the apartments who have private access through electronic codes on gates.)

Postscript: This afternoon I went into the city to see an exhibition at the Museum of Sydney called Lost Gardens of Sydney. The garden of Tempe House is one of those featured.

Below: Taken 18 Sep 2008

Below: Cooks River Tempe House by Conrad Martens, 1838

Below: 18 September 2008

Below: Tempe House by Samuel Elyard, 1836
Below: Cooks River with Tempe House by James Clarke. I couldn't get a similar vantage point because the railway bridge now runs at the right, and the river is obscured by trees in the park

From Tempe House to Cook's River (Tempe House Tour Part 7)

One of the positives of the development at Wolli Creek is the rehabilitation of the parkland sweeping down to the Cook's River. Alexander Brodie Spark once had a bathing pavilion on the river.

Unfortunately we have heard nothing about this space being publicly available, as was promised to the communtiy.

The suburb across the river is Tempe, named after the house.

Tomorrow: looking across the river from the other side.

Wolli Dancing (Tempe House Tour Part 6)

Wolli Dancing relates to the Wolli tradition; a place that represents openness, which expresses joy, such as dancing. It captures the sensation and enthusiasm of the performers.

Artist Blaze Krstanoski-Blazeski. Unveiled 18 June 2008.

I'm also dancing to celebrate my loving mum's 80th birthday today!

Wolli Creek development - the pool (Tempe House Tour Part 5)

The apartment pool is now obscured from view by opaque glass, but I took this pic in 2006 soon after completion.

Tempe House - the facade and Mount Olympus (Tempe House Tour Part 4)

Spark died in October 1856. There were no obituaries, and he is buried in an unmarked grave in St Peter’s Church cemetery, Tempe. he had already lost the house to trustees.

In December 1856 there was a partial subdivision of Tempe Estate into 123 suburban lots of between ½ and 2 acres. There was little interest and it was withdrawn in April 1859 and re-sub-divided.

The house and 11 surrounding acres were one lot, and the remainder were 1 to 20 acres.

Tempe was bought by two bachelor brothers, Patrick and Thomas Maguire of George St, Sydney. They paid £ 2000. Neither brother ever lived at Tempe, and it was occupied by a series of wealthy tenants. It was known as Greenbank at this time. The large block of flats immediately behind Tempe House is named Greenbank. The other is named Verge.

Probably the most notable tenant was Caroline Chisholm, dubbed “the immigrants’ friend”. She leased it to run “an educational establishment for young ladies”, until ill-health forced her to abandon it. Chisholm was once on the Australian $5 note, but lost that position when the $1 and $2 notes were replaced by coins. It is tradition to have the monarch's head on the lowest denomination note, so Queen Liz got the gig.

In 1885 the house passed into the hands of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of St Benedict who operated it as St Magdalen’s Retreat for destitute women from 1884 to 1983.

Gradually the function changed from accommodation for destitute women to one primarily for women unable to find employment and in danger of prostitution. Former prostitutes, ex-prisoners and alcoholics were accommodated for two years to work in the laundry, dairy or poultry yard. Younger women were taught cooking, sewing and other domestic duties.

Originally the women accommodated were all volunteers, free to leave at any time, and then the courts increasingly referred young women judged to be in “moral danger”.

I believe that the house was sold to Qantas which had some plans to use it as a training base, but that never came to fruition. The house and grounds quietly disintegrated until it was eventually sold to developers, the results of which we see today.

Mount Olympus (Tempe House Tour Part 3)

The original owner of Tempe House, Alexander Spark Brodie had travelled extensively in Europe, having undertaken the classical gentleman’s Grand Tour of classical sites. As well as naming the estate “Tempe” after the Vale of Tempe in Greece, he named the rocky hill behind Mount Olympus.

Mount Olympus has had a piece sliced off it to accommodate the development.

Tempe House (Tempe House Tour Part 2)

Yesterday we were at the back of Tempe House, looking between the church and house. Today we look back in the other direction.

The house was built for a wealthy and successful Scottish émigré, Alexander Brodie Spark. After achieving business success in London, Spark applied to emigrate to Australia, and arrived in Tasmania on 21 January 1823. Finding that not to his liking, he moved on to Sydney where he arrived on 17 February 1823. He opened a general store in George St, and eventually moved into wool exportation, and owned a ship. He was a major shareholder in the Bank of Australia.

On 10 August 1826, Spark purchased 110 acres of land on the south bank of the Cook’s River. The only way to cross the river was by boat. Spark had a private boatman, “Old Willy”.

Brodie was a great entertainer, and it soon became apparent that the cottage on the site was inadequate, so in 1834 he commissioned John Verge to design an arcadian villa with resemblance to a Greek temple. Verge was a major colonial architect, responsible also for Elizabeth Bay House and Camden Park at Menangle. Verge also designed Spark’s previous home, Tusculum, at Potts Point.

Tempe was completed in 1836, and Brodie made it his permanent home, leasing Tusculum, to the Anglican Bishop of Sydney.

Behind Tempe House (where we were yesterday)there was an orchard, greenhouse, shrubbery and gardener’s cottage. On the river he constructed a rococo bathing house. I'll feature the river in a later post, though, sadly, the bathing house is no more!

Wolli Creek - a new suburb (Tempe House Tour Part 1)

Come with me over the next few days as we have a look around a "brownfields" housing development: the re-use of inner-urban land for modern housing development.

The Wolli (pronounced Woll-eye) Creek apartment development is in an area previously called North Arncliffe. It will house 7000 people, and is an example of creating a new suburb in an inner urban area. It was the site of light industry and a magnificent historic house, Tempe House which had fallen in to disrepair. Come with me over the next week or so while we take a stroll through the Tempe House area of Wolli Creek.

From 1884 to 1983, the house was occupied by Catholic nuns, the Magdalen Sisters, and the church dates from that time. It is now de-commissioned as a church. It is meant to function as some kind of community facility, but as yet, nothing seems to have happened there - it is always locked and off-limits.

Below: The church and Tempe House. Over the next week I will tell you more about Tempe House.


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