Our Secret Mansion
By Sophie FitzGerald
The towering iron gates opening onto Burwood Highway in Upper Ferntree Gully conceal one of Australia's most exclusive properties. Mount Royal Manor has been home to some of the country's extremely prominent families and has recently been put on the market, for offers in excess of $6 million by an anonymous owner.
The property is situated on five acres of formal gardens and contains a private tennis stadium, garden glass house and croquet lawn. It has a large swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and pool bar. The garage accommodates twelve vehicles and a separate house is situated on the property for full time caretakers and gardeners.
Christies Great Estates, the company auctioning the property, said the 1333m2 house is decorated with finishings and furniture imported from all around the globe. It has a snooker room, wine cellar, formal lounge and a chandelier lit dining room.
The manor contains six bedrooms, five bathrooms and ‘uninterrupted views of the ever so close Melbourne city sky scape'.
Mount Royal Manor is an amazing property with an equally fascinating history. George Weymouth, an electrical engineer from Burnley, built the first property known as Mount Royal Manor in 1909 after purchasing twenty-two acres of land from the commercial bank.
In 1919 the property was sold to Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer, a respected professor at Melbourne University and honorary director of the National Museum.
"Mount Royal Manor is an amazing property with an equally amazing history" In 1900 he was made a fellow of the Royal Society, London, in recognition of his notable research in natural history and ethnology.
Baldwin Spencer's work on the cultural anthropology of the central Australian Aboriginals was considered the most significant scientific contribution from Australia prior to WWI and he was knighted in 1916.
In 1923 Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer subdivided and sold the estate that was then called Darley. The section containing Mount Royal Manor consisted of five acres of formal gardens, lawns and an orchard.
The property was surrounded by a rabbit proof fence and had its own water supply and pumping station with rights from the water commission. The Manor consisted of eight rooms with electric light power and hot water radiators. It was surrounded by an eight-foot verandah and the outside buildings included a washhouse, storeroom, garage, powerhouse, green house and multiple sheds.
Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze, a professor of music at Melbourne University's conservatorium, owned Mount Royal Manor for a short time after Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer. In 1925 Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze was conductor of the Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra before advancing to conductor of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra in 1956. He was also Director - General of Music to the Australian Broadcasting Company, Director for the New South Wales Conservatorium and he was knighted in 1949.
John E Liston, secretary to the Licensed Victuallers' Association, purchased Mount Royal Manor in the 1950's where he lived with his wife and daughter until a fire destroyed the house on New Year eve, 1953.
An article titled AFTER THE FIRE published in the Ferntree Gully and District Times on January 7, 1954 said Mrs. Connie Billington, a newly appointed housekeeper, noticed the blaze and dragged Mr Liston from the house after he went back to rescue his family. Mrs Liston and her daughter escaped through the kitchen window however MrListon's poodle died in the fire.
"The family lost everything in the fire, including priceless Dresden china, a library containing many first editions, the Moonee Valley gold Cup..., beautiful Sheraton furniture and Mr Liston's motor car," the Ferntree Gully and District Times reported.
"I will rebuild Mount Royal" Mr. Liston told the Ferntree Gully and District Times.
However on March 8, 1954 Mr. Liston died in a car accident before having the chance.
Another article was published on March 11, 1954 title MR. JOHN E. LISTON KILLED IN CRASH. The article said Mr. Liston was killed instantly when the car he was driving crashed into a tree when his car failed to take a corner while returning to Mount Royal.
Mr Vanderbrinks, a leather worker, later purchased the estate and developed the property to produce the Mount Royal Manor that stands today. Since then the estate has been home to numerous individuals, most of whom like to keep a low profile.
(Special thanks to Catherine Turnbull from the Knox Historical Society for her research.)