Throughout Home Hill beautiful objects are everywhere. Dame Enid left a stunning collection, many of these objects are displayed in cabinets created by Dame Enid from doors ways she no longer needed, one of the visitor favourites is the backlight display of glass items. Other pieces are arranged on mantel pieces, shelves and furniture, it can take many visits to really appreciate all of the pieces in this collection.
If you spend time at Home Hill, you may feel as if you have stepped out of time, the carpets, wallpapers and furnishing are very much as Dame Enid, wanted the house to be shared with the public.
Maintaining the collection and buildings as Dame Enid envisioned brings a special set of conditions for the caretakers, unlike a traditional museum that provides a space to view various collections, the whole house is the collection and a lot of care is taken to try to preserve the in situ fittings. Special consideration must be given to any repairs that may need to be undertaken, and cleaning old fabrics is a delicate proposition. Even light can be damaging and therefore lightbulbs have been removed from many of the lampshades created by Dame Enid. Below are a few then and now photos, the older ones were provided by Dame Enid to her family as a guide for how to present the house, paired with images of the house as it is presented today. You will see differences for many practical reasons, but the overall feeling and presentation is definitely as Dame Enid intended. Another important aspect of the Home Hill property is the garden which Dame Enid devoted many hours of her time to. She developed the almost bare land of nearly a century ago in to an amazing lush and diverse garden. Aspects of the gardens have remained as they were when she was tending the grounds at the end of her life. The garden presents a new face with each season, thanks to the ongoing care of volunteers and the Devonport City Council grounds crew.
Thanks to the generosity of one of our long term volunteers Lyn and her nephew Kristian Sikora, we have some wonderful footage of Home Hill from above. The roof of this building is quite unusual, it has come about through the progressive renovations and additions the Dame Enid and Joseph Lyons made as their family grew and changed.
Drone flight around Home Hill from Slater on Vimeo. |
Home HillThe Devonport family home of Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, his wife Dame Enid Lyons – the first woman elected to Australia’s federal parliament – and their 12 children. Archives
December 2016
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