Monsalvat Artists Colony, Eltham

Monsalvat Artists Colony was the vision of Justus Jorgensen, who commenced building in 1934 with fellow bohemian artists and intellectuals.  From the first humble cottage, it has grown to encompass an impressive 34 heritage buildings on 5 hectares.  They give this part of leafy Eltham in Melbourne Northern suburbs, a sense of stepping into a Medieval French village of artisans and peasants.

This is a long post because Monsalvat is one of my most favourite places to visit ever and I have plenty of photos from a few visits to share - October 2024, November 2025 and most from January 2026.  I have been there more times than I can remember, though never enough.  My most recent visit was with Sylvia and my friend Kerin, both of whom had been wanting to look around.  Sylvia can't remember our visits when she was little and Kerin had not heard of the place.  I have been surprised at how many people I speak to who do not know of Monsalvat.  Part of me wants to shout about it from the rooftops because everyone should see it and part of me wants to keep it a my own secret place to enjoy without the crowds.

The first sight from the car park is the Meeting pool cafe and the Barn Gallery.  This photo is from November when the flowers were in bloom.  They were not so many flowers in January.  The Meeting pool cafe is also usually the entry where you buy tickets ($15 for an adult).

I dug out this photo from a visit in June 2009 because I was interested to see that there is very little foilage above the cafe.  The beautiful gardens change a lot with the seasons and the years.  You can also seem one the magnificent peacocks in the photo.  On our recent visits I have only seen a white peacock as well as lots of geeese.

I had chosen the day because it was one of summer's milder days.  So when we arrived we sat outside at the cafe with a drink.  It was so lovely outside the Residents Gallery in the shady courtyard.  It is possible to come to the cafe without paying an entrance fee if you don't want to go further.  If you pay to go in, there is so much more to see.

Before we look at the buildings, let's talk about Justus Jorgensen who was the visionary who founded Monsalvat.  He was the son of a Norwegian master mariner who had settled in Melbourne.  Justus trained as an architect before he studied painting at the National Gallery school of art (where the principal was Frederick McCubbin of the Heidelberg School).  He traveled through Europe and lived in Paris in the 1920s before returning to Melbourne.  He exhibited his paintings in galleries of Europe and after he returned to Melbourne in 1929 he held classes in a bohemian art studio in a warehouse in Melbourne.

The influence of his travels can be seen in the architecture of Monsalvat and his students helped to build it.  He and his community used old fashioned building techniques to build cheaply with local and salvaged materials.  In the above photos you can see examples of reuseing timbers in the buildings: top left: roof trusses in the Long Gallery, top right: Tudor-style half-timbered details in the Residents Gallery, bottom: exterior and interior of the Barn Gallery incorporating timber beams.

More information about Justus can be found at the Australian Dictionary of Biography, and articles on Trove like Mud Brick Utopia in Smiths Weekly 23 Sept 1939 and The Quest for an unholy Monsalvat in The Canberra Times 1 Dec 1984.  If only I have more time to read about him and Monsalvat!

The name, Monsalvat, means "saved mount" in Catalan.  It references the way the place saved pieces of Melbourne's architectural history in an era when Whelan the Wrecker was knocking down Melbourne's beautiful Nineteenth Century buildings.  The Great Hall features Gothic limestone windows and carved balconies from the demolished Royal Insurance Building at 414 Collins Street.  The plain glass lead lights in the Great Hall windows were old photographic glass paints that were cleaned by the students.  All those photos gone and yet the glass found a new artistic purpose.

The Great Hall also incorporated stonework from Wilson Hall at Melbourne University that was destroyed by fire in 1952.  I have always felt sad that the original Wilson Hall was destroyed - it was as ornate as the replacement hall of 1956 was simple.  There is a small consolation is knowing that it contributed to this enchanting vision.  Windows in the chapel incorporated various stained glass in the windows in the above photo.  I am not sure where the balustrade in the photo comes from but I love that buildings hold so many stories everywhere you turn.

The first place we went to after showing our tickets was the Residents Gallery by the outdoor cafe space.  This little building has been a chook shed, a school and a writers studio and residence.  The exhibition was Resonant World by Browyn Calcutt.  I was quite impressed by her images on old pianola rolls and by her sculpture of Demeter, goddess of the harvest of agriculture.  You can see my photo above which does not do Demeter justice but gives a sense of the autumnal colours and harvest crops.

The original building where the Barn Gallery stands was previously used as a boat shed, joinery workshop and studio space before it was burnt down by arson.  All the remained was a huge fireplace.  The community rebuilt it as faithfully as possible to the previous building.  It used salvaged beams including wharf timbers from Wollongong.  

The exhibition we viewed here was Birdseye Victoria by a couple of artists. Santosh Mahale paints topography and cartography with images of local landmarks and birds.  These were my sort of images with maps, historic icons and vibrant colours.  Mia Emily Freeman's gorgeous detailed paintings of birds really appealed to Kerin.  

While I cannot identify this building - I took the photo last year - I think it might be around the Barn Gallery area.  It is a sign of the beauty of Monsalvat that such a magnificent building that would be greatly admired elsewhere does not stand out here.  It feels like everywhere I point the camera is delightfully picturesque.

Monsalvat has special exhibitions but when you see how many sculptures are dotted around the gardens, you realise that the whole place is a gallery.  

Here are more details you will see in the buildings and grounds that makes it such a charming place.  So many surprises that stopped me in my tracks in admiration.  Delights lurk around every corner.  There are continual bursts of the talent and whimsy.  It yet another sign that you are in Australia's oldest continuous artists community

When we visited in October 2024 we were attending one of Rochelle Van Der Merwe's wonderful Storyholding collage workshops.  At the time she was based in one of the poolside studios.  The wisteria was in bloom with gorgeous purple blossoms.  I probably would have taken more photos if we had not needed to race back to our car when it rained.

With buildings on all four sides, the poolside courtyard is such a lovely space with the twisted branches of the wisteria, old balustrades, blue water, old stone benches and stone arches.  On the website, it says that they hold a wine bar here every Friday evening.  How amazing would it be to go there!

This photo is from our most recent January visit.  You can see the Great Hall in the background.  On the right of the photo are the doors to the poolside studio that were originally built by the artists who first set up their studios here.   Their names are still above the doorways.

The pool was donated by by Helen Lempriere's family.  She was one of Justus' students and the niece of Dame Nellie Melba.  I went to see The Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award at Werribee Park in 2006 at Werribee Park.

The Bluestone Chapel is built using bluestones from a church that Whelan the Wrecker was demolishing near Trades Hall in Carlton,  Other salvaged items in the small chapel are from a convent, a bank, a school, a Mason's lodge and another church.  Inside you can also find paintings and sculptures by the artists at Monsalvat.

I cannot remember looking inside the chapel on previous visits before this year.  The Catholic Archbishop of the time might not have consecrated it due to the ratbag bunch of bohemians at Monsalvat but it is truly beautiful, as you can see in the above photos.

Lily's Cottage was the first completed building at Monsalvat, built for Justus Jorgensen's wife in 1934.  It was built using a pise de terre or rammed earth technique and created in the style of peasant French cottages.  This was a new technique for the Justus and his community.  He sent a friend to the State Library to research it.

Next to Lily's Cottage is Sue's  Tower.  It is made of mudstone that was found on site.  It is delightfully rustic and the honey hues are unlike a lot of the dark bluestone that is often used in old Melbourne buildings.  Steps lead down to charming archway with bench seats under the tower.

The Grand Hall was initially planned to be a more modest building.  Then the discovery of a reef of mudstone on the property and the salvaged gothic windows and balconies gave rise to visions of grandeur.  Justus's students added further details such as carving the gargoyles at the front.  It is a magnificent building that is very popular as a wedding venue.  I attended a wedding there many years ago and it was really gorgeous.  On our visit this month, there was a bridal couple taking photos in the grounds, as you can see in the above photo.

In the upper gallery in the Great Hall, the artworks of Justus Jorgensen are on display but the space is so amazing that there much more to see.  The elegant spiral staircase was a remnant from the demolished Bijou Theatre in Bourke St that was given new life here.  Wooden pews welcome the congregation for a ceremony or an audience for a performance.

Jorgensen's paintings are lovely to gaze upon as we walk around the gallery in the Grand Hall.  They are influenced by his travels in Europe and mostly of everyday objects.  I particularly like the Still Life Study of Bed (third pictures on the left of the above collage) from 1940s.  It rumpled as though the artist had too much on his mind to consider making his bed.

If you go to the front where the large lead light window makes an impressive centrepiece, you can look across to one side to see the grand piano under the dark rafters and skylight that give the gallery a sense of spaciousness and light up the white walls.  You can see a balcony in the roof that can be accessed by the spiral staircase which is closed to the public.

To the other side of the centre windows is a wooden table and chairs in the light of another skylight.  The chairs are carved in a Medieval style and look like they would be for important people, but are not necessarily the most comfortable places to sit.

Downstairs in the Great Hall is the large Dining Room in the style of a sixteenth century banqueting.  Although it darker than the upper gallery, it had plenty of character with an impressive carved dining table by the fireplace, cast iron chandeliers hanging fro the rafters and a fairy lights glittering on the balcony where musicians might play.   It is popular for weddings and events.  On previous visits it has been decorated with flowers but not on our last visit.  

We walk up to the Village Square (as it is called the our visitor guide but called the  via the artists workshops.  Firstly we are filled with wonder as we peek in the windows of what is called the Mervyn Skipper Studio.  It was built for Mervyn around 1943 as a residence, writer's studio and carpenters shop and is now a puppeteer workshop.  Next door is another rustic building with half timbered walls, dormer windows and a sign above the stable door and "Maintenance Workshop" written on a sign in Medieval script.  I guess that is why slightly further along is a caged area full of work in progress sculptures and stone slabs.

The profusion of artistic creations can be seen here with various sculptures of busts placed outside this workshop.  Perhaps it is the bust workshop?  All the different faces are delightful to look at just plonked on the floor as raw art in progress rather than displayed for public view.

This rustic building with a dormer window, traditional wattle and daub on the top story and mudbrick walls below is called the Skipper Studio (above photo).  It was originally built in 1939-1941 to be a garage, store and cold room on the ground story and Jorgensen's studio above.   Mervyn Skipper, his wife Lena and their three children (Helen, Sonia, and Matcham) were among the students and friends of Jorgensen who were involved in the early days of Monsalvat.  Matcham, who started painting at Jorgensen's city studios around the age of 13, later took on a residence and studio at The Skipper Studio, and his son Damien also had a residence and studio here.

Monsalvat became a farm and market garden during World War II.  Two glasshousees were moved here in the 1950s for the Monsalvat plant farm.  True to the spirit of the place, they are gorgeous with fairytale eaves.  Today they have been converted to artist's studios with the large glass windows giving great views of their work.

The white mud brick barn and stable studios were built in 1947 by members of the Skipper and Jorgensen families and added to in the years after.  Since then they have been used for a dairy, barn, stables, pottery studio, printery, shop, gallery, residence and artist studios.  They are a reminder of the farming and rural part of Monsalvat's history.

When we did our second Storyholding collage workshop in Nov 2025, Rochelle Van Der Merwe had moved her studio to the barn building.  Above is a photo showing the boho chic of the old window and artistic touches as well as flowers which are very much part of Rochelle's flamboyant vibe.  Doing a workshop is a great way to spend time in a studio and with an artist in residence, as well as having fun creating artworks!

Then we walked back to the cafe via an old fountain outside the Residents Gallery, admiring the artworks in the garden along the way.

We had lunch in the Meeting Pool cafe.  The menu is far more limited and casual than when I dined here with E and Sylvia in 2009.  The main foods are now toasties, ciabatta sandwiches, burgers and chips.  When we were there iin January 2026, the fryer was not working so our options were limited.  I had a very nice and green Motza toastie with Mozzarella cheese, pesto, fresh tomato and rocket.  Sylvia wanted something vegan but there was nothing on the menu so she asked them to make her a sauerkraut, pickles and rocket toastie (looking at toastie ingredients on the menu).  The staff were very accommodating and she really enjoyed it.  Kerin had a gluten free ciabatta.
 

Though I would love to continue writing and sharing photos about Monsalvat, I must finish up.  I hope it isn't too long until I visit again.  It is such a fascinating place.  Always a story behind every sight.  Always beautiful.  Always changing.  

(Sources for all the information about Monsalvat include: the Self Guided tour notes we were given with our tickets, their website (below), Exhibition page on Matcham and Damien Skipper's artwork, 2024, and Monsalvat's Wikipedia page.)

Monsalvat Cafe
7 Hillcrest Ave. Eltham Victoria 3095
Open: Wed-Sun: 10am
Website: http://www.montsalvat.com.au/