Safekeeping history: Hillside Lodge

Not so long ago, Mount Eliza’s Daveys Bay was part of Frankston, as were the hills and dales of inland Frankston South up to Sweetwater Creek. Hillside Lodge, built in 1879 on 78 acres and improved in the 1950s, has the distinct imprint of the weatherboard holiday homes popular in the area during the middle of last century with touches of local folklore owners of the home have carefully reconstructed.

The view from the kitchen takes in mature olive tree, tennis court and a shed secluded within the mature garden.

There’s still work to be done in uncovering historical facts and significance about the property, including whether or not Prince Charles spent a weekend exeat here whilst at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop campus. It brings into focus homes like Hillside Lodge are never truly owned, but rather held in trust for generations to come.

Old world charm hides a swimming pool within the property’s large footprint, where hedging and landscaping ensure complete privacy.

There’s an old-world, country living charm, retained through numerous subdivisions narrowing it down to a manageable acre at 8 Parkland Close. On the market with RT Edgar after a relatively short stay by its current owners, it’s move-in comfortable but with enough projects to keep the curious, architectural adventurer occupied. Wet areas were improved to reflect a timeless aesthetic around 10 years ago and the en tout cas tennis court has been completely renovated under the current caretaker-owners for an enduring weekends in the country year-round vibe.  

A grand entry via the towering hedge from the street hints at the property’s heritage charm.

Refined views of the garden are framed throughout along corridors, large living areas and bedrooms tucked away for complete privacy on days that melt into warm nights in the many outdoor rooms. The towering magnolia grandiflora and a hedge enclosing the pool and front garden bring greatness to life where rolling lawns would have you forget this well-shaded property is a short walk to Minimbah and an easy drive to Mount Eliza’s Village where a tradition of the landscaped environment has evolved over time.

One of numerous outdoor rooms, this one steps out from the dining for alfresco living by a pizza oven. A recent, but nonetheless, timeless addition to the home.

As the Greek saying goes, “Societies become great when old men plant trees the shade of which they will never sit in.”

The addition to the home at right surrounds a headily-perfumed Magnolia. Completed in the 1950s, it added the convenience of two additional bathrooms and two family bedrooms.

Natural reflection: 5 live loves with Emma Davies

Plenty to reflect upon in this evolving sculptural garden.

Passing through the evolving garden where pittosporums are falling away to a preference for Western Australian natives, succulents and Victorian coastals, it's easy to see why this acre in North Mount Eliza (erhem... South Frankston) has captured Emma Davies' heart.

The artist, who was recently featured in the window of The Colour English for the Drift Mt Eliza Sculpture Trail, views the garden as a work in progress. "When you've got a garden like this, it is like sculpting," explains Emma of the acre she shares with her two children.

A portrait of the city, as seen from a rise in the garden with a purposeful hammock.

"It's a balance trying to keep the garden not looking overly manicured but you've just got to sort of manage it. Otherwise, it goes wild." The back garden gives the impression of a park, where landscaped vignettes give way to lawns, a forest of trees to a cubby house hidden in the trees, and a view of the city from a hammock slung lazily between two trees.

The home itself is has heritage credentials. The previous owner built the Knox House on the property, positioning it with enough area at the front and rear to shroud it in privacy. Constructed on three, tiered slabs with local and reclaimed materials, the ingenuity of the design is in its flexible floorplan, adaptable to working from home, a large family, entertaining with a timeless grace and functional generosity found in grand homes designed for generational longevity.

Slate and brick underpin solid timber frames and furnishings in the home where decorative features inspire conversation and creativity.

When homes have bona fides like these, living in them is more caretaking than owning. "I'm passing through this house, leaving it for the next person to enjoy," says Emma with reverence for a building near-perfectly designed for the post-modern Australian lifestyle with human values that effortlessly transcend eras.

From a grand fireplace dominating the living area to the Aga stove in the kitchen that runs year-round, it's a home where a cup of tea is always moments away and as Emma says with some pride, "It's the heart of the house. It's the best cake maker I've ever met." Even in summer, when the home is naturally cool and breezy, the stove is an attraction, the hearth of the home, where taking in the scope of the property and the home itself is delivered by a towering ceiling and views outdoors on three sides of the kitchen.

Views out to the garden are best enjoyed from the kitchen, where eggs harvested each day help the AGA’s reputation as an excellent cake maker.

Ritual as religion in pieces that pay homage to craftsmanship and instruments to create artistry.

"I went to Montsalvat (in Eltham) when I was young and I wonder if I manifested this house," offers Emma. It's stained-glass windows, cathedral ceilings and even acoustic merbau salvaged from the Sydney Opera House appear at turns to create an impressive slate – scalable and adaptable to the personality of those who dwell within.

Emma wasn't sure of the area when she found the house six years ago. But it was love at first sight. "I was the only bidder at the auction. There were heaps of people, but they'd all come up from the street Christmas party!" she laughs.

Extensive travels off the beaten path to Torres Straight, Arnhem Land, Soweto and Japan inform Emma’s work.

Joking that she now lives in Portsea North, Emma's initial hesitation at a location far from her studio in Highett is rewarded on the daily by the quiet, remote location that allows her to turn the music up as loud as she likes. "I pretty much wake up every morning and love living here," she says as we chat in her home studio, where large scale projects are underway.

"I drive in and I could be anywhere."

Emma's range of decorative pieces are available at:

The Colour English

Shop 7, 87 Mount Eliza Way

Mount Eliza

Blending and molding: the garden’s perfection lies in its fragile confidence of purpose and comfort.

5 Live Loves

Live for the vegetation – "It's a big thing for me. I love the trees and the leaves."

Love the beach – "...without trying to sound like everyone else."

Live for my work –  "Having an environment where I can make things..."

Love the space – "I'm just moving through here, keeping it for the next owner."

Live for the inspiration – "If I go for a walk, I feel like all my sense are alert.

The art of life: 5 live loves with Debbie MacKenzie

Urchins, deer and a grand sailboat are blended in Debbie’s effortless style to create a statement vignette overlooking the garden.

The artist at work: Debbie in her studio, photographed by Jules Haines.

There’s nothing more Mount Eliza than going to the city to get a tertiary education and staying or moving further afield for 20 years before returning with a lifetime of memories to where it all began. Debbie MacKenzie not only embodies the spirit of success so many find out in the world, but a deep appreciation for the values that have led so many sons and daughters of Mount Eliza to succeed on the global stage.

 Take the flight upstairs to her husband, Adam’s, retail clothing store, Atticus Finch, and you’ll notice Debbie’s studio hidden in broad daylight, a stark contrast to the crisp, imported basics for sale. Her paintings capture the fragility of a perfect view in our part of the world, where sunlight reveals deep shadows in the afternoon on otherwise moody and constant days.

 Each show at Manyung Gallery has been a sell-out with an upcoming group show proposed for Sydney in June introducing Debbie’s work to a market beyond the borders. With a long wait list for her paintings, limited edition archival prints are now an accessible means to own one of her works and an affordable entry point for budding collectors.

A pair of bellows used by Debbie’s father are as useful today as they were at boarding school.

 Debbie shares her home with a collection of mementoes that function to bring both texture and context to a rich life spent travelling, working in film, television, and advertising as well as a love of the seaside and nature.

 “Flotsam Jetson, really,” explains Debbie. “I’ve been collecting since I was 15 years-old when I used to go to the Moorooduc Antiques Store with a friend, fossicking for special, meaningful pieces.”

Books decorate every corner of Debbie’s home. Here, children’s artwork is celebrated with memories and her fossicked collection.

 Her home in the Ranelagh Estate is a classic beachside bungalow and the perfect setting for a gallery of accessible artefacts from a lifelong collection of inherited and acquired pieces.

The garden overachieves in the strict guidelines of the Estate, where the footprint of a home must not exceed 60% of the title. The garden dominates, with an ancient camelia, prodigious gardenia (Debbie’s favourite scent) and towering gums lending this pocket of traditional beach houses a fragility within an area of unchecked renewal.

Deep green leaves off-set crystal and a Mirboo pine cones.

 Debbie’s love of architecture is reflected in her live loves, as well as nature, expressed in her sell-out shows. With a modesty wrapped in confidence about her place in Mount Eliza’s community and the strength of her work, she explains: “I don’t have a Wikipedia entry and I’m pretty happy about that.”

 That may all change soon, as she joins the ranks of artists, writers, musicians and actors who’ve all called Mount Eliza home.

Antique spools are re-invented as candle holders, whilst a live arrangement obscures one of Debbie’s celebrated works.

Love – the sense of community. “Did you hear about the lady who’s Golden Retriever was pinched from her home? Where else would the community get together and find the dog?” 

Live – for Ranleagh Beach. “It’s familiar, and you always run into someone you know.”

Live – For the people. “It’s a good breeding ground for interesting people – Australian Crawl, The Daddos, Tim Ross, and the woman who wrote, ‘Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree.’ She went to Toorak [College].” Marion Sinclair later taught at the school, prolonging her own legacy on Mount Eliza.

Love – “The history! For a sleepy seaside village, it’s had a huge impact on the country.”  Walter Burleigh Griffith, who designed both Canberra and the Ranelagh Estate lived in Mount Eliza for many years with his wife and collaborator, Marion Mahoney Griffith and Toorak College is approaching 150 years as a school education women throughout Australia and more recently, the world.

Love – “The older architecture. It does seem a bit sad that it’s all disappearing. There used to be so many one and two-storey white weatherboard houses down here. We really need to protect that part of Mount Eliza’s history.”

Etty Zimmerman's 5 Live Loves

Meeting Etty Zimmerman for the first time is both a memorable experience and lesson in the value of a beautiful garden. She has a sixth sense for landscaping that’s borne out in her spectacular garden in Woodland’s Mount Eliza.

Etty Zimmerman in one of her garden’s many picture-perfect outdoor rooms.

She grew up in Indonesia, a descendant of the Sunda Kingdom of Java before moving to The Netherlands where she met her husband Leon. They spent 15 years together before embarking on a move across the world to Australia 30 years ago. In 1992, Leonets, was established and Netty has devoted her life to one of Mount Eliza’s most spectacular gardens.

The front garden at 24 Gillards Road, Mount Eliza is a breathtaking entry to a spectacular property.

A rural outlook from one of the outdoor rooms at 24 Gillards Road, Mount Eliza.

“I used to do the open garden,” she explains, “It’s too many people and too much to organise. Now it’s just for me, my friends and the neighbours.”

Outdoor rooms begin on the verandah and reveal themselves over 3/4 of an acre towards Kackeraboite Creek.

Currently listed with RT Edgar Mount Eliza, the Victorian revival is pitch perfect with antique cast iron verandahs, stained glass made by Etty herself and a rich patina of solid timbers, ceramics and plaster work that recreate a grand home of the era.

Outside is where the majesty of the home comes into its own. Hundreds of plant species, arbours and exotic botanicals have been tended with an expert eye to create numerous outdoor rooms. It’s a property best experienced in person and one any lover of gardens would be hard pressed to fault.

Views down a valley to Kackeraboite Creek, immaculately trimmed lawns and a restrained use decorative features that delight at every turn are just some of the features of the garden.

Down the garden path - antique statues flank one of the may entries to secret outdoor rooms at Leonets.

We asked Etty for her top five Live Love moments and, for this Mount Eliza garden lover, it’s people who dominate the list.

Love my garden – “It’s so peaceful and revitalizing to spend time in its many rooms.”

Live for my house – “It will be sad to leave, but it’s time for more people to enjoy what Leo and I have created.”

Love the neighbourhood – Lovely houses and gardens

Live for the seasons – “It’s so beautiful to see my garden and The Village change with the seasons.”

Love how safe it is – Caring and helpful neighbours who all watch out for each other

“I’ve been here for a short lifetime and seen so many changes,” says Etty. “In my garden, but also in the neighbourhood. So many young families. But we all have something in common here in Mount Eliza – we cherish beauty and we nurture it.”

An outdoor room is perched above a valley where the gentle waters of Kackeraboite Creek run freely.