Dedication of the Deborah Russell Garden

Jimbour 12th November 2011

Deborah Russell 19th September 1950 - 2nd August 2011

Order of ProceedingsW A Mozart

‘Letter Duet’ - The Marriage of Figaro

ChairThe Honourable Justice Ian Gzell

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Welcome to JimbourThe Honourable Bruce Scott MP

Member for Maranoa MP Batt

‘Bright Eyes’ - Watership Down AppreciationsAndrew Russell

David Russell RFD QC The Dedication

Margaret Macarthur-Onslow Great great grand-daughter of the Honourable Sir Joshua Peter

Bell KCMG and Lady (Margaret) Bell HL Shore and F Walsh

‘Into the West’ - The Lord of the Rings

Order of ProceedingsW A Mozart

‘Letter Duet’ - The Marriage of Figaro

ChairThe Honourable Justice Ian Gzell

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Welcome to JimbourThe Honourable Bruce Scott MP

Member for Maranoa MP Batt

‘Bright Eyes’ - Watership Down AppreciationsAndrew Russell

David Russell RFD QC The Dedication

Margaret Macarthur-Onslow Great great grand-daughter of the Honourable Sir Joshua Peter

Bell KCMG and Lady (Margaret) Bell HL Shore and F Walsh

‘Into the West’ - The Lord of the Rings

A continuing presence

Deborah’s ability to make key decisions, her aesthetic eye and understanding of architecture quickly enabled us to formulate the brief and move the project forward. Working with garden designer Darryl Mappin, Deborah at the same time worked up the garden design and plant species to in every way enhance and complement the architecture.

Master planning for the precinct involved the location of the new kitchen block immediately to the east of the existing Bluestone staff quarters. This new kitchen block was designed with similar forms and aesthetics to complement the existing building. A new covered way, replicating the original demolished when the brick kitchen was added in 1925, connects the new kitchen block with Jimbour. The new covered way is located such that a new northern courtyard is created allowing for the reopened north verandah to provide both an attractive prospect from, and aspect to, the house. Architecturally the new covered way is based on the southern garden arbours.

The restoration of the two storey timber northern verandah was the most challenging aspect of the project. We were aided by heritage consultant Ivan McDonald. In accordance with Burra Charter principles and utilising knowledge of typical historic construction details, historic photographs, examination of remnant work and examination of the “shadows” of removed work detailed measured drawings of the original verandah were created. Much of the existing fabric and structure remained but was covered or had been removed and stored elsewhere on the property. Where necessary new materials were installed utilising the same species and profile as the existing. The 19th century period colour scheme is based on paint scrapings and tonal comparisons from historic photographs.

I have worked with Deborah and David for over thirty years – starting with renovation and underpinning of a large brick house in Hamilton. Deborah showed great understanding and with her ability to see the humorous side of many problems we completed the work.

Fifteen years ago, we started work at Jimbour with restoration of the bluestone staff quarters to the north of the main house. Under Deborah’s watchful eye and assisted by the gifted craftsman Gino Sandrin we worked our way through the main house with restored cedar-work, paint and plaster. At the same time we renovated 1950s style bathrooms.

Historic Jimbour, circa 1877, is a two storey grand country house in the English manner. Constructed from locally cut sandstone, locally felled timbers and with a Welsh slate roof, Jimbour was designed by Brisbane architects Suter and Voysey.

In 1923 David’s grandfather purchased the derelict house and began a program of restoration. At this time a brick kitchen block was added to the northern side of the house and over time the original open verandah was enclosed and a mixture of exposed services, air conditioning, heating, water and electrical, were also added. Deborah and David’s brief was to remove all the unsympathetic additions, restore and renew the northern verandah, construct a new kitchen block and upgrade various services both within and around the house.

Jimbour - Completing the Vision

The slate roof to the house and verandah were repaired and replaced. The repairs were carried out using slate from the same geological layer as the original Welsh Penrhyn slates and installed using traditional slating tools and techniques. Generally, roof slates were replaced on an individual basis although one area of severely-deteriorated roofing above the northern verandah was re-laid with new slate. The reopening of the verandah allows both levels of the house to cross ventilate while the addition of clear roll up plastic blinds protects from winds and creates a winter sun trap. The four historic brick-lined in ground water tanks located in the northern courtyard now hold water from the Bluestone building roof for garden purposes. All roof water from Jimbour and the new kitchen block is captured in a 95,000L water tank adjacent to the house. A solar hot water system provides hot water to Jimbour and the new kitchen.

Further additional works included the refurbishment of two bathrooms, the fit out of a new house pantry and scullery and a lift. The lift is installed in the north eastern service stairwell between the stair flights minimising damage and allowing removal at a later date if required. A new toilet facility for visitors to the garden was also included in the project. Throughout construction, John Walsh Architects inspected the works regularly and Ivan McDonald Architects inspected the works periodically and provided advice throughout.

Last year the Northern Verandah Project was awarded a Darling Downs Regional Commendation and a Queensland Heritage Architecture Commendation by the Australian Institute of Architects (Queensland Chapter).

Darryl Mappin’s wonderful garden associated with this project once again reflects Deborah’s sensitivity to time and place. David had a great capacity to see these skills in Deborah which resulted in producing the outcome we see today. Deborah has left her mark on Jimbour for generations to come.

David and Andrew have given me the great honour to design the Summer House in her memory. The structure combines the restrained use of traditional form and detailing to achieve a contemporary yet sympathetic architectural expression. Subtle features such as the sandstone post plinths and timber-louvered valence panels refer to similar existing details on the northern verandah of the main house. The simpler Quad-profile guttering is used in lieu of the more-elaborate Ogee-profile guttering on the main house. Sandstone veneer is incorporated into the base of the Summer House in lieu of the ashlar sandstone of the main house. Square-dressed timber fascias are used in lieu of the beaded fascias on the main house. A simple, square-dressed handrail is detailed in lieu of the existing moulded handrail detail on the house. By these material and detail variations, a clear expression of the modernity is achieved whilst being of a form and style which sits comfortably in the grand, Victorian-era rural homestead setting.

I hope and pray that Deborah looks down upon the Summer House with her approval.

John Walsh FRAIA Architect

from 1997 to 2011, Deborah understood their historical importance and the people who shaped them. Deborah’s influence is everywhere throughout the grounds and it is only because of her guidance and support that the gardens have developed to their present state today. By their nature gardens are always changing. Deborah was aware of the need to adapt and modify the gardens as environmental and practicality issues impacted on the grounds. She was fiercely protective of the historical integrity of these gardens. Any changes within the formal grounds needed first to be approved by Deborah and there had to be good reason for doing so. Much debate would ensue before her consent was given. Protecting the formal gardens, particularly the plantings by Hilary Russell, was always given priority even in the midst of devastating drought. With an approach based more on functionality, various structures were added to Jimbour in the 1920s and later years that seriously compromised the original architecture of the house. Deborah and David Russell recognised these structural add-ons had no historic or aesthetic merit. Together they were determined to rectify the error and return the house to its original form. Progressively, over a 14 year period, structures were removed and the house slowly started to reveal its true form. These restoration works were finalised with the removal of a large kitchen annex that sat against the northern side of the house. The space that separated Jimbour from the Bluestone building was a large unattractive utility area filled with clothes lines, parking spaces and the kitchen annex. Part of these restoration works was the development of a new garden. The structural restoration of the house and the development of the new garden was very much Deborah’s passion. Her brief for the new garden area was that it had to have historical context, be private, befit the house and existing gardens, be enjoyed both day and night and be built to last.

It is not until you stand next to Jimbour and stare up at its towering stone walls do you realise just how big the building is. Nothing had prepared me for the scale of the project when I first visited the property and I couldn’t quite imagine anything being as impressive as Jimbour .... and then I met Deborah Russell for the first time. Her personality, determination and vision matched the size of the house and it is only because of her strength of character and energy that so much has been achieved at Jimbour during her time. The restoration works to the house and development of the new garden was an ambitious project. Jimbour is a significant and valuable historic structure that could only be approached with exacting attention to detail. Works on the garden had to be approached with great sensitivity particularly with the elements that lay beneath the ground. Within moments of turning the first sod, archaeology began to reveal itself. Brick water channels, stone footings from old buildings, generations of underground plumbing going back over 100 years crisscrossed the yard and, most remarkable of all, the unearthing of 2 vast underground brick wells over 5 metres deep. With each new discovery the design and construction approach had to be re-evaluated. Many people have influenced the gardens and grounds of Jimbour over the years. From its humble start as a timber shack to the grand homestead of today the gardens that surrounded these buildings reflected the needs, aspirations and social standing of the people who occupied them. As the custodian of Jimbour’s gardens

The Jimbour Garden. Realising a Bold Vision

the water features at the eastern and western ends of the garden originate from the ruins of the ES& A Bank - not the bank that foreclosed on the Bells but it did sit over the road from the one that did. Built in the1870s and then demolished and dumped in the Brisbane River almost 100 years later in the 1970s, these capitols were retrieved from amongst mangroves. Now they have pride of place in her garden. Apart from a number of the larger trees in the formal grounds, many of species in the gardens were planted by Hilary Russell. A dedicated and knowledgeable gardener, Hilary selected her plant material wisely, focusing on colourful and hardy species such as canna, vinca, agapanthus and shasta daisies. Many of the flowering species in the new gardens are transplants from Hilary’s original plantings. Deborah’s mother Lady (Georgina) Campbell was also a dedicated gardener. While she was at Government House in Brisbane she planted most of the camellias in its grounds. Cuttings were taken from the Government House camellias and are now established in large custom-made pots along the Covered Way as the Lady Campbell Camellia Walk. Individually these garden elements have some resonance with the people and events that have shaped Jimbour. Collectively they represent Deborah Russell’s passion for the history of Jimbour and her love of its gardens.

To work with Deborah on the gardens of Jimbour has been an honour and a privilege. I can only hope that the development of these gardens gave Deborah as much pleasure as it has given me in building them for her.

Darryl Mappin Garden Designer

Jimbour is one of the most historically significant homesteads in Queensland and as such Deborah wanted some reference to the history of the property and its people to be represented within the garden. Historical inspiration for the garden’s central feature came from the design on a tile that came from one of the original bathroom floors. This same tile design has also inspired the shape of the summer house recently constructed just outside the formal grounds on the south east corner of the formal garden. Four flowering peach trees have been planted in the garden in reference to explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. He planted peach seed at his camp sites as he moved through unexplored Queensland. It is quite possible that some of the large stands of wild peaches that can be seen growing along creek banks outside Jimbour might have Leichhardt provenance. The inclusion of three water features as part of the design reflected Charles Russell’s determination to drought-proof the property. During his time at Jimbour, Charles made many practical improvements to the property. He sunk bores and built numerous dams interconnected with a network of underground piping. This huge undertaking guaranteed that Jimbour would never run out of water. It is his foresight and commitment to drought proofing Jimbour that ensured the formal gardens and station enterprises survive today. The Bells’ fortunes suffered when the payments under the mortgage secured by Jimbour were in arrears with the Queensland National Bank foreclosing and seizing the property and many of their possessions. The Bells left and the property fell into disrepair until it was taken over by Wilfred and Millicent Russell in 1923, starting the Russell family’s legacy with Jimbour. True to Deborah’s sense of irony, the two large capitol stones that sit in

GardensDarryl Mappin

Catherine Haydock Tony MadiganRobert Biggs

ArchitectureJohn Walsh

ConstructionGino Sandrin

MusicMaggie Noonan

Kiandra HowarthCamerata of St John’s,

Queenland’s Chamber Orchestra Leader -Brendan Joyce Harpist - Lucy Reeves

House ManagementSandra Hansen Michelle Davis

Co-ordinationKirsty Gardiner

CuisineRichard May-Steers

Alan Wynn Jimbour Beef Jimbour Wine

Photography Jason Rück

CompilationKen Crooke

Pat McGuire

Appreciations