- Author
- Hunt, A.L.
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- September 1997 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
The east wing billiard room built by G. C. Westgarth in the 1880s subsequently became the main dining room of the residence and has over the century witnessed many glittering occasions. It has been variously furnished with historic items. One long dining table was constructed from a centre section made at Garden Island for HMAS Anzac, escort for Her Majesty the Queen’s tour in 1954. In later years the dining table from HMAS Australia was recovered and made the centre piece.
This room has been the site for balls, receptions and a variety of entertainments for important overseas guests. And it has also seen days of fundraising events for charity, fashion parades and Melbourne Cup luncheons for naval wives. Of the many naval dinners celebrated in Tresco one special occasion was that during the celebrations of the RAN’s 75th birthday in 1986 when the guest of honour was Admiral of the Fleet, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Two sphinxes stood in the garden which had originally been located at the foot of the stairway in Clarens Gardens to the west of the present HMAS Kuttabul. When an additional electrical sub-station was built into the site in 1942 the lower end of these gardens was largely destroyed. The sphinxes were saved and transferred to Tresco. With the naval withdrawal from Tresco this statuary is returning to Clarens Gardens, which was so carefully restored in the 1990s.
Naval Support Command
In the late 1970s a significant restructure of the Defence Department saw the role of FOICEA evolve into the Naval Support Command with an increasingly national span of authority. Tresco remained the residence of Naval Support Commanders until June 1997.
Adaptions and Modifications
There have been several earlier reviews of the use of Tresco. In 1964 plans were developed for converting the rear wing into WRAN’s accommodation, with the main building to become self contained with a guest flat. There was a commercial bid in 1965 to buy the property for redevelopment.
Following a study in the early 1980s a renovation plan was set in place to ensure that the building survived with all of the heritage features retained. Each incumbent family applied themselves to the task but the available budget proved a problem.
1991 saw a remarkable coincidence of historical appreciation, business sense, artistry and determination in the combination of Mr. Bill Kirkby-Jones (Director of the Defence Housing Authority), architect and antiquarian Mr. Otto Cserhalmi and Rear Admiral David Holthouse and his wife Beechie. A master plan for restoration was established and major rebuilding undertaken. The Holthouses lived amid rubble and a team of the workers for some sixteen months but the result was a Tresco capturing features envisaged by Thomas Rowe in 1868 and George Westgarth and his designer Carl Weber in 1883. The present room arrangements and decoration were very largely the inspiration of Isobel (Beechie) Holthouse.
As part of the 1991 restoration glass panes etched with RAN insignia were installed over the main entrance and in the skylight at the top of the stairs. And the rooms were named to commemorate the city’s and nation’s naval heritage. So we can be pleased that some naval stamp remains on the house along with the memories of 94 years.
Vale
In all, Tresco has served the Navy well these past 94 years and will remain part of our maritime history along with the actions of the Fleet and its sailors of this 20th century. And those of us privileged to have enjoyed serving in residence there would claim that the Navy has equally well served and preserved the house, its history and heritage, for Sydney and the nation.