The Hollies. formerly Curalo Retreat, Eden.

Item details:

Current status*:	Unlisted.
Name of item:	The Hollies
Former name/s:	Curalo Retreat
Item type:	Built
Item group/collection:	Residential buildings (private)
Item category:	House
Street number:	56
Street name:	Princes Highway
Suburb/town:	Eden, NSW
Local Government Area:	Bega Valley Shire
Property description:
Owner category:	Private
Current use:	Private residence
Former use/s:	Private residence

* Refers to the site's inclusion in Schedule 5 of the Local Environment Plan.

Significance:

Statement of significance:
Level of significance:

Description:

Designer:
Builder:	Messrs. Peterson and Wellings
Physical description:
Physical condition:	Excellent
Construction date/s:	1900
Modifications and dates:
Further comments:

John Archibald Boyd C1880s.

History:

Historical notes: Originally called "Curalo Retreat", land for the historic property now known as "The Hollies" was purchased by John Archibald Boyd and his wife Sarah in 1899 and they moved immediately to have a new home constructed on the site. A native of Weymouth, Dorset, England, John Archibald Boyd was born on 2 February, 1846, the eldest child of Dr. Sprott Boyd and his wife Catherine Cutler. As both the surname and given name suggest, Dr. Boyd was reportedly a relative of early colonial entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd, who founded his self-named Boydtown on the shores of Twofold Bay in the 1840s. After the family's arrival in NSW in 1857, Dr Boyd practiced medicine in Sydney for many years until he, his wife and daughter Frances returned to England. Educated at Sydney Grammar School, John Archibald Boyd left school at the age of 14 to work on a Queensland sheep station before returning to Sydney to take up a banking position. In 1865, during the cotton boom, he moved to Fiji where he owned and operated a plantation. He disposed of his island interests in 1882 to return to Sydney. He then partnered with his brother Mitchell Boyd in a North Queensland sugar plantation. John married twice. With his first wife, Mary Matanisiga, he had one son Reginald, born in 1878. Mary passed away in 1890, while Reginald died in 1918. John met his second wife, Sarah Jane Miskin, on board the ship they were both travelling on from England to Australia in 1893. Soon after their arrival in Sydney, the couple married and then moved to the Boyd brothers' sugar plantation at Ripple Creek (near Ingham) in Queensland. It was there that their son Archibald Sprott Boyd was born in 1897. During his time in Fiji, John began collecting natural history specimens for the Australian Museum and naturalist Sir William John Macleay, an activity that he continued after moving to the Ripple Creek station. While in that station, he also gathered examples of indigenous artefacts, some of which are today in the Macleay Museum collection of Sydney University. A reputedly outstanding array of items including rainforest shields, baskets, weapons and firesticks also remain in the possession of his direct descendents, as do his journals that detail, among other things, information about the local Ripple Creek area's indigenous peoples. After five years in Queensland. the tropical heat was taking its toll on John's health, so the couple decided to sell up and retire to the cooler climes of Sydney. Then, while visiting Eden 1899, they were "...charmed by the beauty of the locality..." and resolved to make the southern town their new home. After purchasing a block of land adjoining Lake Curalo, John contracted local builders Messrs. Peterson and Wellings to construct a new residence in December 1899, with work "...to be commenced forthwith..." By May 1900, building work had finished, and although it was reported that their furniture had yet to arrive, the Boyd family were preparing to move into their "...prettily situated..." new cottage. Originally comprised of nine rooms along with the "...attendant outhouses...", the "...general layout of the homestead..." was reportedly "...something exceptional..." Surrounded by a "...profusion of gay and rare flowers..." the "...picturesque retreat..." was the subject of a number of lengthy and highly complimentary write ups in local newspapers over the years. By 1904 it was being referred to as "The Hollies". By 1902, a lawn tennis court had been established and in February that year a team of players from nearby Pambula visited for the first of many friendly games. The following year, the Eden Propeller commented on the "...lovely tennis court..." which was the focus of "...frequent social gatherings...", with "...Mrs and Mrs Boyd being perfect as entertainers..." In 1909 the Twofold Bay Magnet claimed that the court was "...better than [any] which of its kind I have rarely seen..." Situated "...so charmingly..." on the western approach to and in close proximity of Curalo Lake, the Boyd family and their guests enjoyed easy access to boating, net and line fishing, and shooting, with a writer noting that "...it is positively charming to have such a lake...as your foot-stool..."  From very early in the property's history, Mr. Boyd interested himself in the establishment of the "...well and picturesquely laid out..." grounds. By 1903 he had employed "...expert..." French gardener Arthur Mathieu, and despite having only the "...muchly despised..." black loamy sand to work with, he used his "...experienced brain and cunning hand..." along with a "...large outlay and excellent management..." to create grounds on which "...trees and plants are a picture to gaze upon." Planting "...the handsomest, the rarest of flowers, and luscious fruit...", by 1903 the grounds were able to boast 92 distinct kinds of roses, a white sweet pea bush eight feet high and six feet in diameter, a fuchsia tree, rows of English holly, a collection of salpingolysis, Nemesia, golden cypress pine, sixty kinds of chrysanthemums of different colours and varieties, dahlias, hyacinth imported from England, violets "...of every variety...", more than 2,000 daffodils "...growing luxuriantly..." in front of the house, 60 varieties of gladiolas, tulips, narcissus, freesias, pansies, carnations, snow drops, iris, camellias, and the indigenous Australian desert pea. Three hundred fruit trees grew in addition to more than 130 grape vines "...of all descriptions..." and 200 strawberry plants at the rear of the house. The vegetables, it was stated, would have caused ""...the best market gardener to gaze on them with envious feelings...", with cabbages, "... the hearts of which turn the scale at 16 lbs..." Mr. Mathieu remained in charge of the property's "...artistically laid out..." gardens for a number of years, but by 1909 had moved on and it is unclear at this point whether another gardener was employed or the Boyd family took charge of the grounds themselves. In later years, "The Hollies" garden and its plantings would be closely associated with another historically significant local property - that of Loch Garra at the Davidson Whaling Station. By 1909, John was reportedly "...not in the best of health..." but although he was continually troubled by "...a physical infirmity which prevented him from moving far from his home..." he was able to remain resident at "The Hollies". The last few years of his life, however, saw him confined almost entirely to his bed until, on 29 March, 1926, he passed away at the age of 80 years. After John's death, his wife remained at "The Hollies" until 1939, when she too passed away shortly after travelling to Sydney for medical treatment. Although the property apparently remained in the ownership of the Boyd family, after Mrs. Boyd's death it appears to have been let out, with various newspaper items during the 1940s indicating that Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Brouff and family were tenants, although Dr. Boyd, who was then living at Roseberry, also holidayed at the property over the same period. Like his father before him, Dr. Archibald Sprott Boyd also married twice, firstly to Ella F. Lindsay in 1924; and then to Edna May Brouff in 1960. By that time "Archie" (as he was fondly known) had purchased the 16.9 acres (6.832 hectares) upon which "Loch Garra" and other buildings associated with the historically important Davidson Whaling Station were located. In the twenty years that the site had been unoccupied between the Davidson family's departure and the Boyd's arrival, the bushland had encroached on the previously established gardens. The new owners worked towards creating a pleasure garden to attract bird life by incorporating remnants of the original plantings with other exotic and native species, many of which Mrs. Boyd brought to Loch Garra  from the established plants at "The Hollies". The garden now evident on that site is very much the product and creation of Dr. and Mrs. Boyd and remains closely linked to that at "The Hollies". The whaling station stayed in the Boyd's ownership until it was acquired by the Coastal Council of NSW in 1984. "The Hollies" itself remained in the ownership of direct descendents of  John Archibald Boyd until 1994. In March that year, the deceased estate was placed up for auction. When Bombala farming couple Jim and Carolyn Rogers, then running a plant nursery in Government Road, Eden, saw the advertisement they fortuitously decided to bid for the property. In a 2014 newspaper article, Carolyn recalled "My husband just loved history...there was an article and photos on the front page of the Magnet, and the builders were going to put townhouses all down here. My husband was against it, and he said 'They can't get rid of the beautiful old home'. So we bought it..." The couple moved in on 9 May, 1994, relocating their nursery business to the seven acres that comprised "The Hollies", erecting glass houses and the shop building as well as undertaking further plantings around the grounds. The couple also turned their attention to re-establishing the grounds and renovating the buildings on the property. According to a 2014 report, "Preserving the history of the property was always a conscious decision for Carolyn." Thanks to their careful attention to detail, the house retains many important original features, including its iron roof, 12-foot high ceilings and timber-lined rooms with central corridor. In fact the only major change that they reportedly made was the addition of stairs to the now enclosed rear verandah. Still backing on to the stunning Lake Curalo foreshore, it has been said that even John Archibald Boyd would have little trouble recognising the estate he created. Carolyn and Jim Rogers continued to run the nursery business on site with the help of their children until 2003, when the good will was sold. Following on from the loss of her husband , Carolyn remained at "The Hollies" until, after 18 years, she decided to place the property on the market in December 2012. It has since been purchased by Melbourne buyers.

Themes:

Australian theme:	New South Wales theme:	Local theme:
2 Peopling Australia	Aboriginal cultures and interactions with other cultures
3 Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscapes.
4 Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages
4 Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure
4 Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation
8 Developing Australia's cultural life	Domestic life
8 Developing Australia's cultural life	Leisure
8 Developing Australia's cultural life	Sport
9 Marking the phases of life	Persons

Application criteria:

Historical significance SHR criteria (a)
Historical association significance SHR criteria (b)
Aesthetic significance SHR criteria (c)
Technical / Research significance SHR criteria (e)
Rarity SHR criteria (f)
Representativeness SHR criteria (g)
Integrity:

Heritage Listings:

Information sources / bibliography :

Bibliography: Bega Budget Bombala Times and Manaro and Coast Districts General Advertiser Brisbane Courier Drenkhahn, Jenny, pers. comm. Eden Magnet Eden Magnet & Pambula Voice Eden Observer Eden Propeller Encyclopaedia of Australian Science: Biographical entry - Boyd, John Archibald (1846 - 1926) (http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001496b.htm) Henry, Rosita (ed.), John Archibald Boyd,  Rosita Henry, Research Project Newsletter 4, December 2013, James Cook University Illawarra Mercury Kesby, Robyn, pers. comm. Magnet - Voice NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Davidson Whaling Station Historic Site, Plan of Management, June 1995 Pambula Voice Raymond, Pat, pers. comm. Rogers, Carolyn, via Pat Raymond, pers. comm. Sydney Morning Herald Twofold Bay Magnet White, Jody, pers. comm. Whiter, Robert, pers. comm.

Author and date:

© Angela George. All rights reserved.

March 2015.