CONSERVE
A New Lease of Life BY CLAUDIA CHAN SHAW
Everglades is unique among Australia’s Art Deco heritage, an original blend of style, sculpture and design in both home and garden. But this iconic property needs work to return it to its former glory.
Art Deco was a global phenomenon. A delicious pastiche of design ideas that looked to the past for stylistic influence. It also looked to the future and was the embodiment of speed, progress and modernity. Its zigzags, chevrons and arcs captured the vibrant spirit of the time. It reached its peak at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, and continued to influence architecture and design around the world. In Australia, the Deco explosion was between 1932 and 1941.
Extravagant, inspired, iconic
If you were asked to create a list of Art Deco buildings in NSW, the line-up would probably include the heroic Anzac Memorial (1934), the sleekly streamlined Minerva Theatre Kings Cross (1939) and the New York-style City Mutual Life Assurance Building (1936). While grand Art Deco civic buildings, cinemas, apartments and corner pubs take all the glory, Everglades, the stylish 1930s weekend retreat of industrialist Henri Van de Velde in Leura, is a fine example of the style.
The flamboyant ‘his and hers’ bathrooms have all the hallmarks of Art Deco with a touch of Hollywood. Mrs Una Van de Velde’s bathroom is pure geometry. A deep octagonal bath sits
Construction of Everglades House began in 1935, blending different styles. The modernist exterior has Mediterranean references with its rendered walls and arches. The streamlined curved bay window at the rear of the house hints at the stylistic inspiration of the Art Deco interior. The house’s centrepiece is a curved concrete staircase winding from the basement to the first floor. It features a striking Art Deco wrought iron balustrade made up of sinuous beckoning tendrils.
By the 1930s, the Blue Mountains was known as the ‘Playground of the Commonwealth’ and had emerged as an ideal setting for the wealthy to establish weekenders. Van de Velde saw potential in 13 acres of land known as Everglades, with breathtaking views over the Jamison Valley. Collaborating with Danish landscape gardener Paul Sorensen, Van de Velde created what would become one of Australia’s most significant gardens, integrating European-style formal gardens with native bushland and modernist influences. 8
National Trust (NSW)
Below The exuberant wrought metal balustrade of the main stair is one of the key Art Deco features of the home (photo by Harold Cazneaux, 1936). Right from top The Otto Steen relief panel with its central fountain in the dining room shows a light-hearted view of food production (photo by Georgie Conyngham Greene).
