Dwelling - Owaissa

History/Notes
This dwelling was built in 1926, possibly by M.J. Denno, for sisters, Misses Annie Elizabeth and Bridget Adeline Clanchy, Co-Principals of the Central College, an early secondary school in Geelong, where, with their sister, Miss S. Clanchy, they taught for 29 years. They named their residence "Owaissa".

Miss Annie Elizabeth Clanchy was born in 1864 and Miss Bridget Adeline Clanchy in 1870. They were the daughters of Michael and Mary (nee Thompson) Clanchy. "Owaissa" was built as the retirement home for the long-serving teacher-sisters, having retired from the Central College in 1923. They lived there until Bridget Clanchy's death in 1938. Annie Clanchy died in
1945. Her extraordinary contribution to secondary education in Victoria was noted in The Advocate at this time:
'With the death of Miss A. Clanchy in Melbourne on August 15, one of Geelong's most colourful personalities and a pioneer of secondary education in the State has passed. It was as collaborator with the late Mr. G.F. Link, founder of Link's private school - later to become Flinder S.S. and now Matthew Flinders Girls' School - that Madam Clanchy became one of the prime movers in the introduction of secondary education as we now know it in Victoria.'

The elevated timber interwar Bungalow styled dwelling reflects a number of original design qualities. They include the principal gabled roof form that traverses the site and the minor gabled wing and flat-roofed verandah at the front. Other original features include the broad eaves, timber framed double hung windows, front timber framed doorway, front attic window, and the timber shingling in the gable infill. The gabled attic dormers were added in 1999. A carport was built at the front in 2006, along with the stone wall on the front boundary.

References:
Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages Indexes, Dept. of Justice.
Newtown Rate Books, 1925, 1926, 1935 Geelong Library & Heritage Centre.
Geelong Advertiser, 18 December 1923.
The Argus, 20 October 1938, p.10.
The Advocate, 22 August 1945, p.22.
Newtown Building Permit, 21 April 1926, City of Greater Geelong, listed
Denno as the builder of a dwelling in Nantes St (no owner's name given).

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House