Bundoora Homestead, the Cafe and Oasis

This year as part of Open House Melbourne, we visited Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre for a tour, followed by scones and further exploration.  Then we headed into Station Street in Fairfield for lunch at Oasis Cafe and Grocery.  The homestead was a beautiful building with a fascinating history of high society and mental health.  It was great that my parents could come with us to see an amazing building and eat lots of good food.

When we arrived, the tour was just beginning.  It was well attended, though I think the next was not so busy.  We started on the verandah where our guide gave some Indigenous history of the area and then moved into the history of the building.  It is a grand Queen Anne style home, built in 1900.  After passing the modern information desk, we were led into what I believe is the old parlour to admire the magnificence of the ornate fireplace.

Looking up we could see the lovely decorative moulded plaster ceilings and sparkly chandelier.  This was the home of the family of John Matthew Vincent Smith, who was the leading racehorse breeder in Victoria at the time.

Our guide pointed out the brass handle of the Tobin ventilation system.  He explained that this system had a vent for fresh air that the handle could open and close. 

The stained glass windows were wonderful.  This one above the front entrance to the building is intended to impress visitors.

This was originally the drawing room and later became the billiards room.

The entrance hallway leads into the grand staircase.  This looks like a house built for entertaining and showcasing wealth.

On the staircase is a complete set of pyrographic panels.  These decorative motifs such as this dragon are made with controlled burn marks in the wooden panel.

Above the stairs is an elegant stained window skylight that imbues the area with natural light and artistic splendour.  It was so impressive that at one stage there was talk of installing it in the new Parliament House when Canberra was built in the early decades of the Nineteenth Century.  However a break in the glass meant that it was kept in its original location and the glass repaired. 

 

In 1920, Jack Smith, as he was known, sold the house to the Commonwealth Government.  It was transformed into a psychiatric facility to treat the mental health of returning World War I soldiers.  Bundoora Convalescent Farm became the Bundoora Repatriation Mental Hospital in 1924 and transferred to the Victorian State Government.  The magnificent cast iron verandahs were enclosed with canvas to became hospital wards.  They are not stable enough for public access today.

Originally the plan had been to rehabilitate returned soldiers with mental conditions in about 4 months by giving them "gentle" labour and fresh air. Sadly, it was not so simple and many of the inmates were here far longer, some for the rest of their lives.  

After World War II, former Prisoner-of-War, Dr John Cade, was the medical officer.  In an unsued kitchen, he experimented on guinea pigs, and then himself, he discovered a correlation between urine toxicity and manic depression.  He found that lithium stablised mood in patients with what is now known as bipolar depression.  This made a global impact on treatment of mental illness.  Today this introduction of lithium treatment in a small rural hospital in Australia is still considered an important moment in the history of mental health.

In 1993 the repatriation hospital was closed.  Many of the hospital buildings were demolished in preparation for private residential housing.  Due to the local community lobbying, the main homestead was saved.  The local City of Darebin Council restored the homestead and in 2001 it was re-opened as Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre.  Throughout the house today are gallery spaces as well as a cafe in the former billiards room.

After the tour, we went for a walk in the garden while it was still dry.  Rain was on the way!  The Smith family had established large lavish gardens with three full time gardeners. 

It was great to see the fine facade of the homestead with its verandah's restored to their early Nineteenth Century glory.  My photo does not do justice to the gargoyles on top of the roof but they were rather fierce.

The circular driveway has a small garden around it but most of the original gardens are now either parkland or housing.  Beyond this stretch of garden is an old gum tree that our guide pointed out to us. 

This tree is at least 400 years old.  It is far older than the colonisation of this land but far younger than the history of the local Indigenous people who have lived here for tens of thousands of years.  It is a great illustration of the difference between the Indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Sylvia amused me by saying that the gnarled branches of the tree looked like a hand making an "I'm OK" gesture.  What a lot of change it must have seen!

 It was lucky we had a quick walk to see the exterior of the house and gardens before the rain poured down.  We went to the cafe for a cuppa and scone.  As far as I could see it was a pretty simple menu.  The only options for a meal seemed to be a soup and baguette or a cheese croissant.  If you are after a hot or cold drink with something sweet, there is a lot more on offer.

The cafe has plenty of seating in the elegant former billiards room with a lovely view of the gardens out the big bay window.  We were planning a later lunch so just shared a cheese and chive scone and a plain scone with jam and cream.  I ordered a herbal berry pot of tea but it was so sweet that it was almost like cordial in hot water.  While not quite what I had expected, it was lovely and warming while the rain pounded on the windows.

After tea and scones, we had a chance to wander around the building at our leisure and enjoy the details.  This stained glass window above is by the grand staircase and has wonderful details.  I particularly loved the little cottage in one pane and a dragonfly in another.

The galleries had a few lovely photos and a fascinating wall kisser but there wasn't that much to see.  The most interesting room was the Truth telling centre room.  It had many photos as well as written history from pre-colonisation (or pre-invasion) times through the history of the Smith Family and the repatriation hospital and right up to the Centre and its connections with Indigenous people today.  You can see most of it in the Bundoora Homestead History Booklet.  Above is the fireplace which is a nice fusion of the beauty of nature and Nineteenth Century interiors.  On the wallpaper is the Chocolate lily, an edible Indigenous plant I haven't come across before.

I was interested to read the origins of the name Bundoora which refers both to the homestead and the suburb where it is located.  One story board said that Bundoora was named after Keelbundoora, a Wurundjeri man and the nephew of Indigenous leader, William Barak (Barak).  Elsewhere I read that Keelbundoora was present at the signing of the Batman Treaty, and also that Bundoora is named for "the favourite haunt of the kangaroo".  History is never simple!

We then headed to Fairfield for lunch at Oasis Cafe and Grocery.  It is a huge place with lots of seating downstairs and upstairs for meals.  The above photo is taken from the stairs looking down at the crockery section and the food counters beyond it.  To the right of the crockery are a lot of seats just as you come in the door.

The food counters had a wealth of options on display: lots of Middle Eastern pizzas, salads and cakes.  It all looked beautiful and so hard to choose what to eat.

I asked for kombucha and was told I could go into the grocery and purchase some from the fridge.  The range of different brands was impressive.  I was very pleased with my choice of blackcurrant and elderberry Buchi kombucha -it is on the middle of the top shelf in the above photo.  My dad had a tropical juice with lucuma and the others had coffees. 

We were delighted with our lunch.  I had the falafel plate with hummus and pita bread.  I was very happy with my choice of a tabouli salad and a lentil bean salad as optional sides.  My parents shared a chicken and spinach pizza and a spinach and cheese spring rolls.  Sylvia's Breakfast Mezze was the most impressive.  She had beautifully presented Lebanese baked eggs, shashuka, grilled haloumi, labneh, pickled vegetables, foul medammas, fresh cut vegetables and pita bread.  On the side were hash browns.  She loved it.  (I was less happy when I found one of the pickled vegetables I was eating was a chilli - too hot for me!)

For dessert we shared a slice of knafeh.  It had shredded filo pastry, a sweet creamy cheese filling and rosewater syrup on the side in a gorgeous little bowl that we could drizzle over it.  While it was beautiful to look at, it was a too much sweet creamy filling for me and not enough pastry.  I much preferred the baklava, which are also sweet and syrupy but are served in small morsels with lots of pastry and nutty texture.  My mum and Sylvia really enjoyed the knafeh.

Before leaving we wandered around the huge grocery beyond the cafe area.  There were rows of spices, cheeses, crackers. jams, chocolate and on and on.  I loved the fun packaging on these Snacka Changi Chips.  The flavour name was "Sweet Chilli: with a hint of scorpion venom".  Then in a smaller print it said "acutually we don't think there's scorpion venom in the chips but it sounded good so we ran with it". 
How disappointing for all the thrill seekers!

Feeling very full, we took a last look at the wonderful pile of sweet baking and desserts and went home.  We were very happy with all the good food and interesting local history.  I really admire how the Bundoora Arts Centre brought together Indigenous history and colonial history in a meaningful way.

Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre
7 Prospect Hill Dr, Bundoora VIC 3083
Hours: Wed- Fri: 11am–4pm, Saturday: 10am–4pm
Cafe Hours: Wed- Fri: 11am–3pm, Saturday: 10am–3pm
https://arts.darebin.vic.gov.au/Arts-venues/Bundoora-Homestead-Art-Centre

Oasis Cafe and Grocery
92-96 Station Street, Fairfield  VIC 3078
Mon-Sun: 8am-7pm
oasisonline.com.au