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EDMUND RICE CENTRE
7 Amberley Way LOWER PLENTY, Banyule City

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Banyule City
7 Amberley Way
7 Amberley Way
7 Amberley Way
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Statement of Significance

Amberley is of local architectural and historical significance. The house is a distinctive example of the inter-War clinker brick English Domestic Revival style, more usually found in Melbourne's affluent suburbs such as Toorak. The house is substantially intact externally and retains many original internal features such as the double-height hall, curved main stair and furnishings. The house also gains distinction from its hill-side siting and exotic garden setting typical of the inter-War period. The later additions to the house are of no heritage significance.
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    • Usage/Former Usage

      EDMUND RICE CENTRE - Usage/Former Usage

      Original: Residence

      Current: Training College

      Physical Description 1

      EDMUND RICE CENTRE - Physical Description 1

      BUILDING: Amberley is a two-storey, picturesque, English Domestic Revival style house of clinker-brick construction. The building was originally U-shaped, but is now T-shaped, and has hipped terracotta tiled roofs. The imposing appearance of the building, belying the small number of rooms that it actually contains, has just three bedrooms. The entrance elevation is approximately symmetrical, with a ground floor arcaded and vaulted loggia recessed between projecting flanking hipped-roof wings. The brick arches are supported on octagonal stone columns with Corinthian capitals, and the two end arches are infilled with multi-paned steel-framed glazing. Windows are steel-framed casements; those to the first floor central section are hipped-roof dormers. The garden elevation is three levels high with a lower ground floor level, corresponding to the downward slope of the land. The central section features three tall, narrow windows with stone mullions and transoms. The projecting section to the east has an open arcaded loggia, similar to the entrance loggia. Extensive two-storey additions c 1960s exist to the north.

      Adjacent to the house is an in-ground swimming pool with a small clinker brick changing pavilion. Much of the early landscaping has since been removed.

      Interior features include the double-height great hall with a spiral stair, cantilevered gallery and clear glass leadlight windows featuring native Australian birds. The dining/billiard room retains an original fireplace and some pieces of original furniture. Also intact are two intact bathrooms, built-in chests of drawers and walk-in robes in the bedrooms and a spiral concrete servants stair. LANDSCAPE: The garden features a number of mature trees and landscaping features from the 1930s. Lining the main driveway onto the property is a row of Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) that leads to a planting of Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) to the south west of the house. Other mature trees of note include a large Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia), Indian Bean (Catalpa bignonioides), several large Lemon Scented Gum (Corymbia citriodora), a Golden Poplar (Populus x canadensis), an evergreen Oak (Quercus sp.) and a Liquidambar (Liquidambar styraciflua). Most of these trees are located at the front (west) of the main building.

      The east side of the garden is relatively open, taking advantage of the views across the Yarra River to Templestowe. A stone walled terrace defines a formal lawn close to the house, with a set of steps leading into the native vegetation on the steep river bank. Mature fruit trees are located to the north-east of the main building.

      Other garden features include a tennis court to the north, contemporary with the house, though resurfaced, and a swimming pool directly to the south, incorporating a clinker-brick changing shed. The garden is significant as a relatively intact landscape contemporary with the notable residence. Many of the trees on the site are large for the local area.

      Physical Conditions

      EDMUND RICE CENTRE - Physical Conditions

      Excellent

      Integrity

      EDMUND RICE CENTRE - Integrity

      Excellent

      Historical Australian Themes

      EDMUND RICE CENTRE - Historical Australian Themes

      Amberley is one of the many large buildings purchased or erected by the Roman Catholic Church after Archbishop Daniel Mannix instigated a programme of expansion in the 1920s and one of several large Roman Catholic seminary buildings in the City of Banyule.

Public contributions

Note: Developments may span multiple time periods
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