Victorian Heritage Database place details - 24/8/2013
SHERWOOD HOUSE IVANHOE BOYS' GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Location:
41 The Ridgeway IVANHOE, BANYULE CITY
Heritage Overlay
Number: HO69
Listing Authority: HO
Extent of Registration:
Statement of Significance:
Ivanhoe House is of considerable local architectural (including landscape) and historical significance. The house predates the suburb of Ivanhoe, containing Ivanhoe Village within the original 1840 holding. It is also associated with John Greenaway,
who built the first Ivanhoe hotel and John Young who became nationally famous.
History
John Greenaway purchased the strip of land between The Ridgeway and Russell Street in 1849 from mortgagees Puller and Porter. It
is unknown whether a cottage existed on the land at that time, however tenders were called for the addition of a verandah in 1855. The property was sold to John Young, builder, after Greenaway's death in 1863, at a cost of £2,600. Elizabeth Greenaway
was rated as having a house in 1863 prior to the sale. Young improved the value of the house by 100% the following year, it is not known whether the existing cottage was incorporated or demolished. It is possible that the building was designed by James Blackburn
Jnr.
Young, who owned the Ivanhoe Hotel and a brick field in Ivanhoe, joined the Heidelberg Road Board in 1867, but frequent trips to Sydney and New Zealand forced his resignation as well as the leasing out of Ivanhoe House. He became Lord
Mayor of Sydney in 1886 and was the founding President of the N.S.W. Bowling Association, becoming known as the 'Father of Bowling'.
The value of Ivanhoe House increased by 60% when Young leased the property to Latham in 1868, by 58% when
leased by merchant Joseph Beaumont in 1882 and by 60% when it was sold to Horace A. Wilcox in 1892. At this time the house was extended north from the tower, demolishing Greenaway's cottage, to include a second tower. The work was completed by architects Hitchcock
& Nicholson who reinstated the verandah at the same time.
The house has been occupied by Ivanhoe Boys' Grammar School since 1920. The school renamed the building Sherwood House in 1924 and made a number of unsympathetic alterations
to the north, west and south elevations.
References:
Butler, G, 1985, Heidelberg Conservation Study
Description
The 1840s and 1850s saw patchy settlement and development in the
Banyule district, with an emphasis on rural sized land holdings and pastoral and agricultural activities. In the southern parts of the City of Banyule, a good deal of land was taken up by gentlemen farmers, who built large and relatively palatial country villas
on land which remained within easy commuting distance. John Young, owner of the Ivanhoe Hotel, built the first section of Ivanhoe House, while leasing the bulk of the land to tenant farmers.
Original use: Residence
Current
use: School
Good
BUILDINGS: Sherwood House is a large Italianate style, two-storey residence with hipped slated roofs with bracketed eaves. Rendered externally, the house is asymmetrically composed featuring a square
tower and later circular tower, semi-circular arched and rectangular double-hung sashes, bracketed eaves and rendered chimney stacks with moulded cappings. The facades are articulated by moulded string courses and rendered moulded architraves.
LANDSCAPE:
What remains of the original garden consists of a number of mature trees,and a terrace to the rear of Sherwood House. The terrace features bluestone retaining walls topped with a white painted balustrade. A number of cast iron urns were placed along the balustrade,
but only one is extant; a set of steps leads to the wider school yard.
Of the remnant trees, notable specimens include a row of Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara) to the north of Sherwood House, a number of Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra
'Italica') and Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata).
Specimen trees include a large Lillypilly (Acmena smithii), directly behind Sherwood House, as well as Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachchiton acerifolium), Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), Honey
Locust (Gleditsia tricanthos) and Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii) all located to the north. It is not clear if all these trees are associated with the original garden, or nearby gardens.
The landscape is significant for the remnant trees
scattered throughout the grounds, which are associated with the early Ivanhoe property. The terracing at the rear is also a notable landscape element within the municipality, reflecting a formal, man-made landscape feature.
Good
Thomas
Walker, 12/9/1838, Part of Crown Portion 1