Nazareth House

Statement of Significance

Nazareth House has a very high aesthetic, historic and social significance for the Geraldton community. The building is a fine and unique example of Inter-War Mediterranean style architecture with Spanish Mission 1 elements, and has high aesthetic significance given its prominent location, large dominant scale, fine features, towers and colonnades. The building has important landmark qualities and provides a strong aesthetic contribution to the townscape. The place has high social significance for Geraldton as part of an important grouping of Roman Catholic churches, especially the group of distinctive buildings associated with the work of architect /priest, Monsignor John Hawes, designer of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. It is also socially significant for its role in the care and accommodation of the poor and elderly, and as the largest institutional building of its time outside the metropolitan area 5. Aesthetic Value: ATTACHMENT The Nazareth House building is a fine representative example of the Inter-War Medite1nnean style of building8 adopted in the early twentieth century by architects who wished to temper the stereotype for religious buildings with the uncluttered simplicity of mass and detail favoured by the modernists. Its impressive massing, fine detail ing and prominent towers give it landmark quality and a distinctive prominence in the Geraldton streetscape. [Criterion 1.3] The place is important for its creative achievement and is a fine example of the design skills of the architect/priest, Monsignor John C. Hawes, whose work is now recognised as having made a major contribution to the aesthetic landscape of Western Australia. [Criterion I .2] The place is significant in exhibiting aesthetic characteristics that have led to its listing on the Municipal Inventory, demonstrating that its aesthetic qualities are valued by the community. [Criterion 1, 1) Historic value: The place is significant as representing a transitional stage in the development of architectural history in Western Australia and reflects the search for an appropriately up-to-date ecclesiastic architectural style in the city of Geraldton and in the State. [Criterion 2.2] The place is historically significant because of its role in the provision of religious institutions for the care of the poor and the spread of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Australia. The place also has special historical significance because of its close associations with the work of Monsignor John C. Hawes. [Criteria 2.3; 2.4) Social value: The place has social significance through its association with the Roman Catholic Church and the provision of accommodation and care for the elderly poor and orphaned children in the community of the North and Mid- west of Western Australia. [Criterion 4.1] Rarity: The place is a unique example of the design work of Monsignor John C. Hawes and fo1ms part of an unusual and distinctive group of rel igious buildings in the Mid-West region designed by this architect/priest. The place is an uncommon and distinctive example of an Inter-War religious institutional building unique in Western Australia. [Criterion 5.1] Representativeness: The place is significant in demonstrating the principal features of one of the styles of modern institution building of the period as well as the attributes that identify it as being characteristic of the architectural designs of Monsignor John C. Hawes. [Criterion 6.1) Condition, Authenticity and Integrity: The building is in excellent condition and because of the quality of the original design and construction, its continued usage, and the standard of maintenance, the place has a high level of integrity and authenticity. It is in almost the original 1941 condition and substantially unaltered internally, retaining the original structural form and layout as well as fixtures and fittings. Despite various additions and extensions around the original building, it retains its integrity of form and detail.

Physical Description

Nazareth House is set in a prominent and picturesque position just over four kilometres north of central Geraldton, overlooking the Indian Ocean and Bluff Point beachfront to the West, the mouth of the Chapman River to the North and with views to the Moresby Ranges to the East. The main building is an imposing example of Inter-War Mediterranean style architecture2 with elements of the Spanish Mission style.3 The structure of the original building comprises a large, rendered brick, two storey hollow square with a hipped roof of Spanish pattern clay tiles crowned by solid square towers at the outer corners and a central gable enlivening the centre of each side. The central tower on the western side facing the ocean, has three levels in order to accommodate a water storage tank and has a pyramidal roof like the corner towers. The towers are linked by colonnades on both levels with plain circular arches at ground level and triple arched bays on the upper level featuring Byzantine columns above a concrete block lattice balustrade that provides ventilation and adds delicacy to the colonnade. The wall surfaces are all rendered with a Spanish textured finish and painted a natural buff colour. The main entrance to the building is through a lobby located in the central tower on the Eastern side and is demarcated by tall, Byzantine, flanking columns supporting a pediment and an ornate Spanish Mission style gable featuring a niche with a statue of the Madonna and child topped by a plain cross. This entrance is approached directly from the main driveway that surrounds a circular rose garden containing another statue of the Madonna. The Geraldton Municipal Inventory suggests that "John Hawes may have been influenced by other contemporary architecture in the State at the time, as the rhythm of the two-storey colonnades is reminiscent of that on UWA's Winthrop Hall (1927-193 1), whilst the (Art Deco) corner towers bear a resemblance to those of theformer Perth Girls' School (1936).

History

Assessment 2004 Construction: 1939-1941, various additions Architect/designer: Mons John C Hawes Builder: Berry Brothers HISTORICAL OVERVIEW In I938 the Poor Sisters of Nazareth were invited by the Catholic Bishop of Geraldton, the Most Rev. Dr. James P. O'Collins to construct and staff a home "for the care of the aged and infirm poor and orphaned children, particularly girls." The present site was chosen for the building, and sketch plans and elevations for the building were drawn up by the Diocesan Architect-Priest Monsignor John C. Hawes prior to his depa11ure from Western Australia. The building was to be a quadrangle of Spanish Mission design with a courtyard in the center. Hawes later sketched plans for a chapel at Nazareth House but this was never built. In the absence of John Hawes, detailed working drawings were drawn up, based on his sketch designs, by Basil Berry, son of one of the partners of the building contractors, Berry Brothers of Perth. The twenty year old was articled at the time to well known Perth architect E. LeB. Henderson and no doubt was supervised by him. Construction work commenced in October 1939 by Berry Brothers, but was severely disrupted by the Second World War. (One of the Berry brothers, a principal of the firm, was killed in the war). Difficulties in obtaining materials, increasing prices, shortage of tradesmen and damaged equipment from England all hindered progress on the building. The electrical contractor was Mr Branch and the plumbers were Messrs O'Connor and Oma. ("Brief History of Foundation and Ongoing Formation of Nazareth House," p. l).6 The foundation stone was laid by Bishop O'Collins on 2 June 1940. The Chapel was the first room to be completed, with the altar being a gift from the builders. Although the Sisters took up residence on 27 June 1941 , Nazareth House was not officially opened until 28 September I 941 by the Premier, Hon . J.C. Willcock, MLA, and the building blessed by the Bishop. Construction cost nearly £35,000 and at the time was the largest institutional building outside the metropolitan area. An article in the Cathedral Chronicle in October, 1941 describes the building and the work carried out by the Sisters of Nazareth. 6. HISTORY (continued) Following the Japanese bombing of Darwin in February 194 I most of the residents of Nazareth House were evacuated to Nabawa, Chapman Valley, returning in August of that year.9 Over the years various additions around the perimeter of the original building have somewhat diminished the powerful presentation of the facades, and the vistas to the open site, but as the author of the treatise on Hawes' work comments, "it remains a masterful example of Hawes' design skill".10 In 1975 further extensions were carried out and Larmenier Hostel was opened by the Local Member, Mr Jeff Carr, on 26 October of that year. In 1994 a large extension to the north, designed by architect Greg Eastman, was built to provide more nursing home accommodation.11 Further recent extensions to both North and South of the building to provide additional single storey accommodation pay some respect to the original architecture but could be better integrated. Monsignor John Cyril Hawes As an articled student architect in London, John Hawes came under the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the quiet aesthetic revolution that rejected the dominance of the Victorian era's Classical and Gothic models, advocating instead a return to simple, rough-cast homeliness and the use of natural building materials with restrained organic decoration. That influence can be seen in Hawes' buildings in Western Australia, exemplified by h is stone and wood carvings, decoration , use of natural materials and love of small, human scale. A talented artist with an original approach to his work, Hawes skillfully blended the religious themes and traditional architectural style insisted upon by his church clients with an individual expression of the modernism of the time. This modernism was often considered inappropriate for church architecture by the establishment and his proposals for the Perth cathedral, for example, were thwarted by a local preference for the Gothic style. He wrote scathingly of 'imitation Gothic', noting that: "Bastard Gothic is the worst of any type of building. Nothing is more incomparably beautifulL and inspiring than medieval Gothic architecture, but it is as wellfor us to remember that unfortunately we live in the 20'h century, and we cannot revive such spontaneous poetry in stone in an era of internal combustion engines and explosive chemistry. "12 Hawes was very widely traveled and had made meticulously observed and analysed drawings of ecclesiastical buildings wherever he went. In America he had discovered the Franciscan 'Spanish Mission' style architecture from California which appealed to his Franciscan leanings, and the influence of which is evident in a lot of his subsequent projects. Hawes' life in the vast parish of Mullewa was characterised by continuous hard work under arduous conditions, often riding huge distances on horseback to minister to his parishioner s and yet designing some 24 major buildings, sixteen of which were built, in many cases with his own hands. The introduction to the Monsignor Hawes Heritage Trail guide states "The architect-priest John Hawes has become a Legendary figure in the history of the development of the vast Geraldton-Mullewa region. He spent only 24 of his 80 years in Western Australia (1915-1939), but Left his mark on the Landscape: a group of churches and other buildings seldom understood by his contemporaries but now greatly prized and well preserved because of their simple beauty, rough texture and human scale. Like so many pioneers, Hawes worked in harsh conditions. On many constructions he was not only the architect but also the foreman, surveyor, and labourer; on Sundays, from his pulpit , he begged for funds to maintain his work. His buildings are important because they are part of the history of the district. In harmony with the landscape, they have a recognisable style and were created with love and deep faith."

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