Raheen
This article was first published in the White Hat Melbourne
Newsletter No. 310 on 30th April 2009, two days after the death of its high
profile owner Richard Pratt.
The patriarch lies dying in his bed in that house which has so many
stories to tell. His family is gathered around. Each time there is a crunch
on the gravel you know that someone else has arrived to say there farewells.
Anyone from the most powerful in the land to the local gardener. The
patriarch has built himself up from nothing, there have been some mistakes,
some skeletons in the closet, some last minute twists, but he is able to
leave a legacy to his family and to society that must count for something.
Don�t you love those BBC costume dramas? We can�t produce the stories or
the stately homes to match what they have in Britain. Or can we?
Richard Pratt died a very public death this week at Raheen. Prime
Ministers past and present attended his bedside as did people from a wide
range of society. I think he might forgive my slightly theatrical
description above. He was a thespian and would not be unaware of the
theatricality of his passing. He toured to England as an actor in Summer
of the Seventeenth Doll. He passed up a career as a footballer. And it
was fitting that he spent the last few decades of his life in a mansion with
a history as rich and varied as his own.
The Mansion Knowsley called was erected on the heights overlooking
the Yarra River. Like other important mansions such as
Como and
Toorak House it
had rolling grounds running down to the river which have since been
truncated. It was built for the successful brewer, Edward Latham. Like many
in Melbourne his fortunes suffered a severe downturn in the late 1880s when
banks went belly up and we headed to a great depression because they had
made loans for people to purchase land and properties even though it was
obvious they could never repay those loans. Thank goodness we have learned
those lessons.
Latham was forced to sell up and there was a buyer. Henry Wrixon was a
barrister and later politician. Now that doesn�t necessarily produce enough
of the readies to purchase a mansion � unless of course you marry a rich
widow. (By the way, if any of our subscribers have a list of rich young
widows we would be pleased to receive it - for research purposes. The
�young� bit is optional.) Wrixon had fortunately married Charlotte, a
wealthy widow and daughter of Henry 'Money' Miller and so Knowsley
was theirs. He soon renamed it Raheen after a district in his native
Ireland.
After his death the mansion was purchased by the Catholic Church for
their newly arrived archbishop �
Daniel Mannix. He would
walk down the hill each day distributing coins and homilies to the deserving
poor of Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy on his way to
St Patrick�s
Cathedral.
In 1981 the Catholic Church sold the property to a Polish immigrant who
had done well in the recycling business. Many thought that a now run-down
mansion in the hands of �new money� would soon be turned into a McMansion.
It turned out to be the opposite. The Pratts set about restoring and
refurbishing the mansion in its original spirit. And it was there that the
scene described above was played out this week.
Come with me into the ballroom at dusk. This is the time when you can
still see the flowers in the ballroom garden, but in the fading light you
can start to hear the walls reflecting back the conversations that have
taken place there.
�Believe me, one hundred years from now people will still be
enjoying the fruits of the Carlton Brewery.� (That must be Latham)
�When I was in charge, 90% of our graduates were teetotallers.�
(Sounds like Mannix) �If we extend the wing out there it will need to
pay respect to the existing building and the site.� (Sounds like
Glenn Murcutt) �Are
you sure the spires will be taller than the English at
St Pauls?�
(Mannix) �Believe me gentlemen, we can never hold our heads up high
until we give women the vote� (Wrixon I think) �I�ve got it
planned so that the St Patrick�s Day parade is led by up to a dozen V.C.
winners on white chargers. Why don�t you drop around the corner for tea
at our place one time?� (Probably John Wren) �That�s a lovely
voice dear, and what do you mean no-one performs the classic musicals
any more. We�ll soon fix that.� (Jeannie) �I have already
campaigned for a half day off on Saturdays so there will be no playing
of frivolous music in my house on the Sabbath.� (Wrixon) �I see
no advantage for these Protestant Sabbatarians wanting to kill all
enjoyment on a Sunday. Our pews continue to fill while theirs lay
empty.� (Mannix) �I know there is a danger that the Communists
will take over the Labor Party but �The Movement� will stand up for all
that�s right and good.� (Bob
Santamaria) �Thank you for your hospitality and your wishes for a
long and fruitful life.� (President Ngo Diem) �I might be late
home tonight dear. Don�t wait up. Since they elected me president of the
Melbourne Club I feel I
really have to go.� (Not sure here. I know there have been Catholic
and Jewish members of the Melbourne Club but possibly not as president
so I�ll go for Wrixon.) �I know the other politicians aren�t
interested in your plans for saving the Murray-Darling Dick, but I am
and I plan to be premier for a while yet.� (Jeff) �You were late
home again last night dear� (Mrs Wrixon) �You might have
foresworn earthly vanities but you always carefully adjust your top hat
and frock coat before walking through the poor.� (That�s the
mirror.) If the garden�s wilting we�ve got waste water at the
factory. I�ll bring some home.� (Sounds like Dick) �If Tommy Bent
gets elected speaker instead of me it will show the condition that
Victoria�s come to.� (Wrixon) �You never did understand Ireland
Dan.� (Sounds like the archbishop�s old mum.) �A little flutter
on the horses never did any harm.� (Take your pick.)
You will probably find plenty of books that tell you about the
architecture of Raheen. But that�s not what makes a building special.
Next time you are passing along Studley Park Road, pause at No.92. It�s a
private house and you can�t see much from outside. But if you stand quietly
for a while at dusk you might just hear some voices.
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Other articles in the series Seven Mansions of Melbourne: