THE VILLA OVER THE YEARS
Updated: Jan 5, 2023
There have been many changes made to Corio Bay Villa over the decades, both big and small. No doubt, every owner has impacted the home in their own individual way. This post focuses on the owners who undertook major renovations or restorations to the home. For a visual representation of Corio Bay Villa over the years, please view the Photo Book.
1890s
Charles Emberson bought a parcel of land, which was 76 feet by 145 feet (roughly 23m x 44m) in 1889. He built the double-brick house with a central corridor and four rooms, three with fireplaces. Outside it had two ornate chimneys and a tiled veranda with lace iron work at the front, which was typical for the period. The original veranda was replaced sometime after the 1930s, as were the original windows. Otherwise the front of the house, which was elaborately decorated in the Victorian Italianate style, remained largely untouched. A heritage report written for the City of Whitehorse in 2010 describes the façade as follows:
"A highly decorated parapet to the hipped roof runs solely along the façade...In the middle of the parapet, there is roman revival detailing around a top stone that reads 'Corio Bay Villa'...On each side are small pilasters and above sits a simple entablature and pediment with small detail... There are two chimneys that sit upon the corrugated roof and have distinctive classical decoration." [1]
Local residence claim the top stone once included the year '1890' written underneath 'Corio Bay Villa', but it was removed by a later owner when old things were undesirable.
Inside the high ceilings displayed intricate cornice designs and ceiling roses assumed to be made by Charles. Two of the original ceiling roses remain intact, with the largest one being an exact replica of ones found in the Supreme Court Library. The geometric shapes surrounding the roses (shown below) may have been added at a later date.
Image left: Ornate decoration in the main room and corridor
1920s
Corio Bay Villa, went from 4 rooms to 5 rooms around 1920, according to the local rate books which recorded the number of rooms. Perhaps this is when the weather board lean-to/skillion was added at the rear of the house. Charles Emberson, the owner, had been living there in the few years living up to early 1920, so he may have been the one to add the additional room out the back. Prior the this the kitchen may have existed as a separate building.
The 1920s may have also seen the introduction of electricity to the house. During the 1920s electricity was becoming more readily available to homes. Prior to this, gas was used for lighting.
Sewage would most likely have been collected by the night-man. The task of the night-man was to come and empty the outside toilets so it wouldn't sink out the whole property. The house was not hooked up to the main sewage system and until the 1960s
From an advertisement in the newspaper, we also know that Corio Bay Villa received a big paint job in the 1920s. However we do no know if it was for the whole house or a section, but the use of the word "renovate" implied it was a large job. As there were no telephones, any interested parties to asked to come to the house. The advertisement states:
PAINTERS, renovate Corio Bay Villa, Surrey Hills, 9.30 to 10, Thursday.
Image: Advertisement for a painter, The Age, 18 March 1925.
Source: https://trove.nla.gov.au/
1960s
Between 1930 to 1960 Corio Bay Villa appears to have remained largely unchanged. Certainly when Denis Farney lived there as a child in the 1950s and 1960s the property appeared to remain true to the Victorian era in which it was built. There existed the double brick, four roomed house with a large garden out the back. Attached to the rear of the house was lean-to weatherboard structure with a kitchen and also a small bathroom, which together may have been rated as a fifth room in the rate books. At the front of the house stood a white picket fence and a Victorian style veranda with iron lattice work. The house was painted white, and has remained white since then.
The large backyard contained a toilet and washhouse. Hot water had to be carried into the house from the washhouse with a bucket. The yard which had once been host to cattle and horses was now host to a large vegetable garden.
By the 1960s the dirt road was covered in bitumen and the once empty street was now filled with residential housing. In 1967 Frank and Elizabeth Vincze purchased Corio Bay Villa and made a number of changes. They remodelled the Victorian porch, by enclosing it with windows and bricks. They removed the original patterned tiling on the floor of the veranda which had once continued down the steps and along the path towards the sidewalk. Interestingly the titles had displayed a geometric pattern that resembled the Nazi swastika symbol. This was an unfortunate coincidence as the German Nazi political party had not been invented when Charles Emberson laid the tiles in the 1890s. Because of these tiles, there was a persistent rumour that Charles had been a pro-Nazi sympathiser, which may explain Frank Vincze's eagerness to remove them.
The white picket fence was replaced by a more modern timber rail fence. The internal carpet and neon lighting was also installed around this time. The original windows were replaced with larger windows to allow more light into the house. The existing vegetable garden in the back yard may have been maintained during the 1960s, but it was certainly gone by the 1970s. By 1971 the backyard was overgrown.
1970s
When Adrian & Megan Peniston-Bird came across Corio Bay Villa in 1971, they thought it was a dump with lots of potential.
Top image left: Advertisement for Corio Bay Villa 1971, provided by Adrian & Megan Peniston-Bird.
Other images: Photos of Corio Bay Villa and back yard, 1971, provided by Adrian & Megan Peniston-Bird.
Charles Emberson's four room brick home remained largely intact, although the front veranda had been completely modernised and enclosed. The floor inside was carpeted and at the rear was the skillion kitchen, a bathroom the size of a cupboard and a toilet in a tin shed meters from the house. Where there had once been a large vegetable garden was now a large overgrown garden, perfect for children.
The Peniston-Birds sought to undo what the Vinczes had done in an effort to modernise the home. They completely rebuilt the front veranda so it was in keeping with the Victorian era. They sourced second hand iron lattice work and imported Portuguese blue and white tiles for the veranda (shown below). These tiles were later replaced with a more geometric pattern.
One year over the Easter break Adrian dug out a cellar by hand, which remains in place today. Adrian and Megan also enclosed the fireplaces in the two front rooms, and installed an oil heater in the main living room. They put up decorative wallpaper in the bedrooms that was later painted over. Adrian added cupboards to the main bedroom and outside they installed a high front fence to allow privacy for their young children when playing in the yard. They also completed the following restorations which remain in situ to this day:
Decorative side windows: They employed local craftsman Keith Burley to recreate the fuchsia design glass panels on the sides of the front door, which have unfortunately since deteriorated.
Ceiling roses: Where the original ceiling roses had been removed, the Peniston-Birds replaced them with ones appropriate to the late Victorian period.
Original ceiling: The original plaster work in the living room was restored by Adrian who created his own plasticine moulds.
Pediment over the north facing window, built by Adrian to match decorative elements on chimneys.
Decorative urns on the front façade.
Images clockwise from top left: front verandah before restoration; front veranda after restoration; cellar built by Adrian, tall brush fence; window pediment installed by Adrian, decorative urns.
Megan recalls that milk was still delivered by a horse and cart when they moved in in 1971. The delivery man and horse lived on nearby Broughton Road, Surrey Hills.
The Peniston-Birds had many happy memories in Corio Bay Villa, having brought their three children into the world whilst living there. However, the tiny kitchen and bathroom became unworkable for the Peniston-Birds and they decided to move on.
Above image: Advertisement for the sale of Corio Bay Villa, The Age, Saturday 1 October 1977, provided by Adrian & Megan Peniston-Bird.
1980s
John McMillan bought the home from the Peniston-Birds and added on a large timber extension to the rear of the brick house, which incorporated the existing bathroom and added on a new kitchen and a mezzanine level. He removed the old kitchen and reused some of the windows that Peniston-Bird had installed. He also laid new pine floor boards inside and bluestone pavers outside the house. John's original architectural plans can be viewed at the Box Hill Historical Society.
Above architectural drawings from 1987 showing Corio Bay Villa as it was before John McMillian's renovation. Images from left to right: side view; rear view; and floor plan.
Above photos detailing Corio Bay Villa after John McMillian's extension, published by Jellis Craig, 2005. Available at Realestate.com.au
2000s
Image: Jellis Craig A4 flyer for Corio Bay Villa, 2005
Before selling Corio Bay Villa in 2005 Michel Canetti replaced the tall brush fence with a white picket fence which was in keeping with the Victorian era. The Shaws bought the property and subdivided it in 2007. The garage was removed to make way for driveway access for a new dwelling at the rear. The Shaws then built unit out the back and sold it in 2007.
Corio Bay Villa, the original house at the front, was leased to tenants before undergoing its own renovation. The back extension was spray-painted white, the front veranda was retiled, a new fireplace was installed in the main room and a deck was built around the oak tree. Once a new kitchen and bathroom were installed, Corio Bay Villa was ready to be sold again in 2011.
Image: Jellis Craig A4 flyer for Corio Bay Villa, 2011
2020s
My husband and I bought Corio Bay Villa with the view to renovate it down the track. Like Megan and Adrian Peniston-Bird, we saw a lot of potential. Ten years after moving into Corio Bay Villa, we were finally ready to realise our dream.
To be continued.....
Image: graphic representation of Corio Bay Villa post 2021 renovation.
REFERENCE:
[1] HLCD Pty Ltd, 2010, Final Heritage Assessments, Part 3, pp. 48-50.
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