Montsalvat
Established by Justus Jorgensen in 1934, the colony is set among gardens on five hectares (12 acres) of land, and is home to dozens of buildings, including houses, halls, studios, galleries and stables.
The grounds and buildings are currently used for exhibitions, performances, conferences, seminars, weddings and receptions; however, artists working in a variety of mediums continue to reside in Montsalvat.
Today Montsalvat is a popular tourist attraction and the entire complex is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
In the English legend of "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table", Montsalvat is mentioned as the home of the Holy Grail.
In the same year the couple travelled to Europe with a group of artist friends including John and Polly Farmer, Colin Colahan and Archie Colquhoun.
The Queen Street classes had attracted many students and the studio had become an important hub of intellectual and bohemian life in conservative Melbourne.
Jorgensen invited his students and friends to join him in Eltham where he harnessed their collective enthusiasm in the building of Montsalvat.
Among those early students and friends were author and critic Mervyn Skipper, his wife Lena and their three children (Helen, Sonia, and Matcham), Arthur Munday, George Charlmers, Lesley Sinclair, Sue Vanderkelen, Ian Robertson, Helen Lempriere, John Smith, John Busst and Myra Skipper.
[3] The Eltham district had been settled since the 1850s; some of these early pioneers had used mud bricks to build their farmhouses, but the method had long been abandoned.
The local soils appeared suitable for both adobe (mudbrick) and pisé de terre (rammed earth) and it was cheap, so he set his students to work.
Slate for the roofs came from a friend's recently demolished house, discarded fire bricks, tiles and other material came from other sites.
The recently demolished Bijou Theatre (in Bourke Street) proved a rich resource which provided the beautiful cast iron circular staircase, architrave mouldings and some of the doors and windows.
The unique ochre tones of the stone inspired Jorgensen to re-design and the resulting larger structure was the Great Hall.
He was fortunate in that Whelan the Wreckers were demolishing the charming Royal Insurance Building which stood at 414, Collins Street, Melbourne,[4] which contained the limestone windows and the stone balconies carved in the Gothic manner, that now adorn the Great Hall and give it its unique character.
Materials were scarce, but they managed to scrounge odd bits and pieces – from discarded broken bricks and rusty galvanized iron to timber poles cut from the bush.
Phil, although almost blind, worked on the new buildings and helped make some of the refectory tables, stools, carved chairs and other furniture that can be seen in the Great Hall today.
[5] Local tradesmen joined the team, as did some new students and aspiring artists fresh back from the horrors of the war, like Clifton Pugh, Gordon Ford and Joe Hannan and tradesmen Horry Judd, Bill Floyd, Wallt Stephens, Ken Howard, plus several refugees from Europe and Asia.
Public events (including exhibitions and performances), Film and Photography, Celebrations and Gatherings of many types are held on the property and amongst its buildings frequently.
