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WOLLOMAI HOUSE
Other NamesWOLLAMAI HOUSE (spelling on some charts) , WOOLAMAI HOUSE (offical place name of area) Location7 CLEELAND ROAD CAPE WOOLAMAI, BASS COAST SHIRE
File NumberFOL/15/31789 - 2LevelRegistered |
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Statement of Significance
"Wollomai House" near Newhaven is a pastoral homestead
which has important links with the early history of Phillip Island and
the racing industry. It is of weatherboard construction with a slate
and iron roof and is typical in form, having a cross wing with a
verandah flanked by a gabled side wings with bay windows. The
detailing is Italianate and is highlighted by a two storey tower with
a pointed arch entry. A dormer window adds to the asymmetry of the
roof line at the front. The house was built in several stages
beginning c.1876 with additions reflecting the changing use of the
property. Elements of the Victorian garden remain at the front with the mature
trees including an avenue of Norfolk Island pines forming an important
part of the landscape. At the rear of the house there are a verandah
and two dormers with a low kitchen wing to one side and a well.
Outbuildings are set some distance away to form a layer open yard. The house was built in 1876 for John Cleeland who arrived in Victoria
from County Down, Northern Ireland in 1840. Then aged about fourteen
he settled with his family on Darebin creek before sailing the South
Pacific for many years finally as captain of his own schooner. In 1859
he returned to Melbourne and purchased the Albion hotel in Bourke
Street, the starting point for all up country Cobb & Co coaches,
keeping it for twenty two years. Cleeland's interest in racing
apparently began about this time but it was not until the early 1870s
that he purchased several allotments on Phillip Island, including the
one on which the house now stands. Soon after this he bought and
trained the racehorse "Wollomai" which had been bred by John
David McHaffie, one of the lessees of the Phillip Island run.
"Wollomai" won the Melbourne Cup in 1875, the first time it
was run on a Tuesday. The following year work began on Cleeland's New Haven residence
which, like the racehorse, was named after Cape Wollomai. In 1881 he
returned there to engage in pastoral pursuits and horse breeding until
his death in 1914. The property remained in the hands of the Cleeland
family until 1982. The largest and possibly oldest residence on the
Island "Wollomai House" is a rare survivor of the
substantial homestead complexes built for Gippsland pastoralists
during the last century.
Group
Farming and Grazing
Category
Homestead Complex