24 Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

3We aim to put research at the heart of all of our work, make good use of our curatorial expertise, make informed decisions, and properly maintain our properties and collections. In 2011–12 we continued to make our conservation process more visible.

conservation projects

The new Rouse Hill House & Farm Visitor Centre features a completely revised and updated interpretation wall spanning the history of the property from the time of Richard Rouse’s first land grant right up to the present day. It draws together the many strands of local history, politics and family life at the centre of which stood Rouse Hill House itself. For the first time we also reveal the rich and ongoing Aboriginal culture and physical presence of the Darug people in Western Sydney. We commissioned a new film for the Visitor Centre featuring fly-over footage that provides another level of understanding of Rouse Hill House for visitors.

Much of our conservation work is the endless round of small repairs, mending and replacement of worn fabric that is needed to preserve objects and displays. Textiles are particularly vulnerable to the destructive effects of light and wear. This year we have completely replaced the elaborate curtain hangs at Elizabeth Bay House and Vaucluse House due to the deterioration of the fabrics. Curator Scott Carlin devised simplified window treatments based on research in Ackermann’s Repository and other sources. At Elizabeth Bay House, sprigged muslin was used in the drawing room and hand-embroidered muslin featuring a running guilloche pattern in the morning room. In the Vaucluse House drawing room, new pelmets were made featuring a Gothic trefoil pattern based on a design from Geo Jackson & Sons, manufacturers of composition & improved papier mâché (1836), enabling the bay window to be treated as a continuous run, without valances or drapery. New Nottingham lace was commissioned for this purpose. The fine hand sewing required for these projects was provided by the dedicated Soft Furnishings Volunteers Group under the guidance of Dianne Finnegan.

Newly appointed portfolio curators in each property portfolio ensure the HHT’s longstanding reputation for scholarly research and evidence-based conservation continues, and that their extensive knowledge of trade and craft skills can be shared with the widest possible audience. We aim to demystify conservation processes by making them as visible as possible and by sharing our understanding of historic places with others.

acquiring new collection material

Noted Viennese designer Paul E Kafka, a migrant who arrived in Australia in 1939, established a furniture-making workshop in Paddington where he produced bespoke items strongly influenced by modernist design ideas. He worked with several notable architects of the postwar period mainly, on fitted furniture items for house interiors.

This year, with generous support from the Foundation, we acquired a major archive of drawings, sketches and photographs of Kafka’s early work from the 1920s and 30s, covering his student years and time spent as a cabinetmaker in his own right before coming to Australia. The archive comprises around 700 drawings plus 300 photographs of furniture and room settings fashionable in Austria, which represented a marked contrast to conservative mainstream taste in Australia at that time.

We also acquired a copy of A parallel of the ancient architecture with the modern, an 18th-century pattern book by Roland Fréart. It previously belonged to the architect John Horbury Hunt (1838–1904), who has been the subject of an HHT exhibition and book. One of the most highly regarded architects working in New South Wales in the late 19th century, Hunt had an extensive professional library once regarded as ‘probably the best collection of architectural books in Australia’.

Burdekin House was a grand town villa located opposite Parliament House in Macquarie Street, and was demolished in 1933. The controversy around its demolition and the public campaign to save it has come to be seen as one of the defining moments in the evolution of the heritage conservation movement in New South Wales. We acquired four painted, fluted timber columns, c1841 (originally part of a set of ten), that were salvaged from the building at the time of its demolition. They are doubly loaded with significance, as after their removal from Burdekin House they were incorporated in the St Malo residence at Hunters Hill, which was to become the subject of an even more vigorous conservation battle in the early 1960s.

In the late 19th century, Australian plant motifs began to be used decoratively on furniture, textiles and other domestic wares such as porcelain. The exquisitely detailed watercolours of sisters Harriet and Helena Scott were much admired, and appear on a 55-piece Wedgewood Australian Flora Pearlware Dinner Service acquired for Government House by the Governor’s Acquisition Fund with the permission of Her Excellency The Governor of New South Wales Professor Marie Bashir. Dated 1895, its acquisition is important, as Australia’s first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, who lived at Government House, Sydney, owned a service in the same series.

Our prOperties and cOllectiOns are handed On tO future generatiOns in gOOd heart.

cOnserVatiOn and curatOrship

25Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

conserving our collections

Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley’s totemic Edge of the trees sculpture in the Museum of Sydney forecourt has undergone conservation work to prevent water damage and to replace the deteriorated paving material under the columns. A landscape architect and technical consultants worked with HHT staff to develop a sympathetic approach to the resurfacing, consulting the original artists prior to installation.

The incredible diversity of the HHT’s collections means we draw on the skills of a broad range of conservators and specialists in the maintenance and conservation of objects such as the late 19th-century Limbach porcelain vases at Vaucluse House, which were repaired and cleaned on site by conservator Karen Coote. The pair of vases, each almost a metre tall, features naturalistically modelled flowers, fruit and birds in three-dimensional relief and represents popular middle-class taste of the period.

endangered Houses Fund

Supported by the Foundation, our Endangered Houses Fund enables us to acquire at-risk historic buildings, repair them and then market them with conservation covenants to ensure their long-term protection.

Glenfield House at Casula, our first major project, remained on the market owing to the sluggish real estate performance.

Exeter Farm, an 1860s timber slab cottage, was awarded the National Trust Award for Conservation Projects under $1 million in 2011 and, most recently, won the prestigious 2012 Australian Institute of Architects’ Francis Greenway Conservation Award. The only other time the HHT received the Greenway Award was for the conservation and adaptive re-use of The Mint.

We commenced essential repairs and conservation work at Throsby Park, an 1834 house at Moss Vale that was transferred to the HHT from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2010. After a program of public open days and tours to reacquaint the local community with the

right: preliminary design drawing for proposed residence for paul e Kafka, eton Road, Roseville (detail), H Stossel, architect, 1948. Caroline Simpson library & Research Collection Below: limbach vase. photograph © James Horan

Our achievements

26 Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

house, we have catalogued and recorded the extensive house collections, completed pest-control treatment such as freezing and fumigation, repaired and replaced rotted verandah columns and the bay window, prepared a draft Conservation Management Plan, including options for future use and alterations, and commissioned a property appraisal by commercial property consultants.

Initial work carried out at Beulah, an extraordinary colonial estate near Appin, focused on environmental conservation activities funded through a biobanking agreement; these included fencing, weed control, bushland restoration and archaeological investigations. We held a working bee with a local historical society to provide an opportunity to show people what we are doing with this fragile site. We have undertaken investigations into the historic bridge and road on the site in preparation for implementing major conservation works.

We carried out conservation work to the former Presbyterian Manse in Moruya, working in collaboration with architect Peter Freeman. Our work included significant research into the manse’s historic internal decorations including wallpapers that form a valuable archive of Australian interior tastes from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Our development application for the renovation of a 1950s Nissen hut at Belmont was approved. These Nissen huts were originally built for migrant accommodation. We called for tenders for the works package required to bring the building up to date.

maintaining our properties

We renovated the Chalet at Government House in preparation for the Governor to take up residence in early 2012. Bathrooms were modernised, upstairs rooms repainted and carpeted, and new furniture purchased. A private garden zone around the house was created with traditional estate fencing based on a sample from Vaucluse House.

Extensive repairs and re-coating of the estate fencing at Vaucluse House have been carried out, as the marine environment causes rapid rusting and exfoliation of the steel. The fence panels have now been cold-galvanised and coated with a marine-grade paint to provide more durable protection. Metal corrosion has also been treated at The Mint with the elaborate front fence and gate panels removed in stages for grit-blasting and re-coating with a marine-grade polyurethane paint. The two lantern crowns were gilded as a reference to the use of the site as the first overseas branch of the Royal Mint from 1853 to 1927.

Elizabeth Farm’s popular tearooms reopened in October 2011 following extensive reconstruction needed after a tree collapsed onto the roof. A completely new steel superstructure was installed in the roof to allow future reconfiguration of the building for improved visitor entrance facilities and functions.

awardaustralian institute Of architects 2012 greenway award fOr heritage

– awarded to the Endangered Houses Fund property Exeter Farm, with Design 5 Architects

Below: exeter Farm. photograph © paolo Busato

27Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

4stability

Our aims include investing in and developing our properties, increasing self-generated revenue, improving public awareness of the HHT, better controlling our costs and reducing our carbon footprint.

investing in and upgrading our Facilities

The new Visitor Centre at Rouse Hill House & Farm on Annangrove Road opened on 30 August 2011. It provides improved car and bus parking facilities and a more visible and easily accessible entry point from Windsor Road. New interpretive and directional signage was developed for the building, and revised visitor flows planned for the new location.The Vaucluse House Tearooms were refurbished in collaboration with our licensee to improve returns on venue hire by offering an updated and fresh decor.

After emergency repair and refurbishment of the Elizabeth Farm Tearooms was completed, the venue reopened on 21 October 2011 with updated furniture and fittings, new equipment, including a coffee machine, and a more extensive outdoor landscaped area. A review of the food and beverage operations was completed by an external consultant to improve customer service.

generating income

In 2011–12 the HHT’s income from school and education groups rose by 1%, and exhibition visitation was comparable with last year. Commercial venue hire income increased by 8% from last year; the Museum of Sydney (MOS) in particular experienced strong venue hire from the business sector with an increase in revenue of 16%, and revenue from The Mint increased by 4%. Commercial leasehold income increased by 18% due to stronger food and beverage turnover at the MOS Cafe, Vaucluse House Tearooms, Hyde Park Barracks Cafe and private events at The Mint.

The HHT produces a comprehensive range of gifts, souvenirs and publications, and operates two dedicated shops, at MOS and The Mint. Over the last financial year, new HHT-branded merchandise was produced to support the exhibitions Surf city, Home front: wartime Sydney 1939–45 and The Force: 150 years of NSW Police; gross merchandise sales for the year exceeded $750,000. HHT publication highlights of the year included House: imagining the past through the collections of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and Government House, Sydney.

An annual major event is the newly named Keystone Festival Bar, in partnership with the Sydney Festival,

which this year attracted around 16,000 people to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum to hear some of the world’s best bands and DJs. The museum also hosted a special event as part of the annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.

Overall, our income from commercial services increased by 6% from last year.

raising awareness oF tHe HHt

Media interest in the HHT continued to increase in 2011–12, with more than 2400 stories profiling properties, exhibitions, programs and collections. Highlights included widespread interest in the Forensic Photography Archive at the Justice & Police Museum; of particular note were a series of stories in relation to fashion designer Ralph Lauren purchasing prints of mug shots from the collection to display in his New York and London offices, and also to form the basis of a menswear campaign. These included a front-page story in The Sydney Morning Herald and a report in Melbourne’s The Age, as well as a series of local media stories in other Fairfax newspapers, stories on Channel Ten's Sydney news bulletin and its national morning news bulletin, and radio interviews. Other Forensic Archive coverage included several stories in the Daily Mail (UK), and articles in the Daily Telegraph (Sydney), The Herald Sun (Melbourne) and Courier-Mail (Queensland), as well as posts by the prominent blogger TwistedSifter.

Strong interest in the Surf city exhibition also contributed to increased media coverage, with a live weather broadcast from the exhibition on Ten News, stories on Channel Nine’s TODAY Show and ABC’s 7.30 NSW, plus coverage in all major metropolitan newspapers. Other highlights included a visit to Hyde Park Barracks Museum by Channel Seven’s Sydney Weekender program, promoting Redcoats and convicts; a six-page story in Australian House & Garden, profiling the HHT’s annual Foundation Dinner at Government House; and a front-page Sydney Morning Herald story in relation to the Now And Then exhibition.

controlling our costs

The financial year 2011–12 was a challenging one for the HHT with a reduction in government funding and a downturn in consumer markets. However, we balanced our budget by cutting down on programming costs and reducing staff numbers. The HHT is undertaking a radical change and is reviewing its operating model to meet future budget targets.

the hht becOmes a mOre resilient OrganisatiOn with a secure future.

Our achievements

28 Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

reducing our carBon Footprint

We aim to reduce our ecological, including carbon, footprint, by managing our properties sustainably. Measures include:

> reducing travel miles and fuel consumption by shrinking the size of our vehicle fleet and using E10 fuel;

> turning off lights, and reducing reliance on air-conditioning and heating systems when not needed;

> ensuring office waste recycling and waste reduction, and moving towards greater use of electronic filing and communications to reduce the amount of office printing;

> launching the HHT Intranet, which will result in a decrease in the number of staff needing to print and store information;

> continuing to use Forestry Stewardship Council certified printing paper, guaranteed sourced from sustainably managed plantation timber;

> wider implementation of the TRIM records management system to reduce the need for paper files;

> continuing use of the New South Wales Government electricity contracts, including a provision for 6% green power;

> continuing to partner with AGL Energy to offer commercial event clients at MOS and The Mint the option of powering their events with 100% green energy;

> progressively replacing halogen and fluorescent lamps with low-voltage energy-efficient LED fittings at various properties for both interior and exterior purposes;

> continuing to recycle and repurpose structural elements from exhibition installations to reduce our use of new materials with high embedded energy. Structures from The enemy at home exhibition were repurposed for the Surf city exhibition;

> planning capital upgrades to plant and equipment, such as air-conditioning chillers, with more energy-efficient models.

top left: Mpagency - Moet & Chandon Cocktails above left: nikon – launch Cocktail Reception. photographs © penelope Beveridge photography

awardrestaurant & catering awards (nsw)

Wedding caterer in a function venue 2011 – awarded to Vaucluse House tearooms

29Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

5wellbeing

In 2010 we began an exercise to reshape the HHT in order to meet the challenges facing both us as an organisation and museums in general in the 21st century. Those challenges included issues such as shrinking resources and the need to grow self-generated income, new approaches to museum interpretation that put audiences and experiences at the core and make greater use of the web and social media, and the need to find new audiences for some of our sites.

Since then we have put in place some new teams, and strengthened old ones. In the last two years we have succeeded in focusing on our four core roles: caring for properties, reaching audiences, generating income and corporate responsibility. Our properties have been brought together into portfolios to reduce isolation, create a more team-based approach and bring in new skills. New teams have been created to concentrate on the web and interpretation, and we have put more emphasis on generating income. During the year, 69 people were recruited to the new teams, the majority of whom were existing HHT staff.

To date, the focus has been on the bulk of the organisation: Heritage and Portfolio, and Creative Services. We now need to look at three remaining areas: Commercial and Marketing Services, Operations, and the Directorate.

developing skills and training

In 2011–12 we gave priority to compliance training in areas such as Child Protection, First Aid, Disability Awareness and Food Handling. We also continued to support staff affected by organisational change with assistance in applying for new roles and through Change Management workshops.

We support staff by offering flexible work practices including flex days and rostered days off, maternity leave, and family and community service leave. We provide opportunities for development through expressions of interest and higher duties allowances.

The HHT ensures diversity of representation on recruitment panels and internal bodies such as the Workplace Health and Safety Committee (WHSC) (formerly OH&S Committee), Staff and Management Participatory and Advisory Committee (SAMPAC), Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) and job evaluation panels.

improving workplace HealtH and saFety

We continued to implement the Occupational Health and Safety and Injury Management Plan 2009–11 as recommended by the auditors.

> WorkCover-accredited OH&S Committee Consultation training was completed by OH&S Committee members in early December 2011. This is a compliance requirement and also assisted in informing the committee of significant changes to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 in January 2012.

> Further compliance training was provided in Senior First Aid and Snake Awareness, and the gardeners received additional Skid Steer training. Under new requirements by the New South Wales Food Safety Authority, the mandatory Workplace Food Handlers course was provided for guides and public programs staff. The Food Safety Supervisor course was completed by chief guides, and venue and Elizabeth Farm Tearoom staff.

> Traffic Controller training was provided for HHT staff involved in parking and directing traffic at major public program events.

There has been a continued improvement in Workplace Health and Safety performance compared to previous years. For example, as at June 2012 there were only two significant ongoing incidents, compared with three in June 2011, and we have no potential public liability claims. An additional Return to Work Coordinator has joined Human Resources to help better manage Return to Work Injury Management plans for Workers Compensation claims.

keeping Better records

In December 2011 we commenced a program to implement the latest HP TRIM records management system throughout the organisation. TRIM will assist the organisation to meet key criteria in the State Records Act 1998, manage intellectual property centrally and electronically, reduce dependency on network/share drives and pave the way for the HHT to become a paperless environment.

We have commenced a project to transfer all records stored at our Pymble storage facility to the Government Records Repository, so we can decommission the records space at Pymble.

Our achievements

the wellbeing Of Our staff imprOVes

30 Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

6

and researched and refined her project proposal. Ankita said, ‘The bursary placement was the most interesting, exciting and enjoyable experience of my life. It was absolutely incredible and exactly what I needed for my project. I couldn't have asked for more’.

researcHing tHe past

A fascinating and little-known aspect of the HHT’s properties are the sheet-music collections at Throsby Park, Rouse Hill House & Farm and Meroogal, consisting of approximately 1200 pieces and dating from the 1820s to the early 20th century. A mix of serious classical pieces and popular songs and ballads, a typical example is ‘The bird song’ by John Winterbottom, an Australian composition sung by Emma Waller in 1855 at the Royal Victoria Theatre and found in the sheet music collection at Throsby Park.

We engaged Dr Graeme Skinner, musicologist and expert in 19th-century Australian music, to assess these collections, and he identified a number of Australian

Through a range of programs and projects relating to our sites and collections, we promote the value of conservation, challenge assumptions about the past and encourage more people to discover their own past.

During the reconstruction of the Hyde Park Barracks guardhouse domes, we developed a public project to share with visitors our knowledge about the domes’ history, as well as the conservation techniques and building processes. A series of public events and the making of a film were funded by the National Heritage List Sites Promotional Program administered by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. These events detailed the process of reconstructing the twin guardhouse domes, with curators, artisans and historians explaining for the general public the traditional building methods and materials used in the original 1817–19 construction. The public programs demonstrated the analysis of historic building fabric, construction techniques and traditional trades, as well as the relationship between the guardhouse domes and others designed by architect (and former convict) Francis Greenway.

A key component of the reinterpretation project being developed for the Justice & Police Museum is historian Jane Kelso’s ongoing work reviewing historic documents and plans for the site. We have carried out further historical research to source other plans and documents from archives and libraries to inform our decisions about the interpretation and management of the site.

sHaring our specialist knowledge

We ran several specialist workshops and seminars that shared our knowledge and research with an audience of professionals and the general public, including: Colonial gastronomy, Handmade timber house, Domestic designs, Government House portrait collection, Australian houses of the 50s and 60s, and Sandstocks and commons. One of these programs, Paper-staining: wallpaper-making, past and present (February 2012), gave visitors and scholars the opportunity to learn about the history and conservation of wallpaper and view pieces from the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection held in the vault. It also included a visit to the Porter’s Paints wallpaper factory, which is normally not open to members of the public.

In the inaugural year of the Project Bursary Competition, the $500 bursary was awarded to Ankita Kapoor, a student from Pymble Ladies College, who completed a week-long placement with the HHT in January 2012. During the week she met a number of specialist staff

knowledge we use Our knOwledge and expertise, and wOrk with Others, tO change the way peOple think abOut heritage and the past.

31Historic Houses trust AnnuAl RepoRt 2011–2012

publications not held by any other institution in Australia. Dr Skinner emphasised the significance of finding multiple albums of bound sheet music belonging to known individuals.

The importance of these music collections has been clearly established, and the enthusiasm for them shown by the other institutions collaborating with us on the project, as well as by scholars and performers, shows their strong research, interpretive and programming potential.

A new HHT-wide interpretation initiative has been developed called Eat your history. A response to the assets of our properties (gardens, kitchens, cellars, dining spaces) and collections (cookbooks, appliances, trade catalogues, furniture), and to the popularity of food-based programs (eg Colonial gastronomy), this initiative moves beyond a limited colonial focus to explore and share Sydney’s rich food history through a new blog, programs, visitor experiences, collection projects and an exhibition to be held at the Museum of Sydney.

making researcH and knowledge accessiBle to tHe community

In managing its diverse portfolio of sites and collections, the HHT has amassed a wealth of knowledge about buildings, interiors, gardens, domestic life and technology, and social history. We aim to share this knowledge with as broad an audience as possible through our publications, website, exhibitions, events and lecture series.

In developing the new visitor facilities at Rouse Hill we created a documentary-style film that draws together the many strands of regional history, geography, the Rouse dynasty and colonial culture evident at the site.

Our Web and Screen Media Team is continuing to build an archive of video documentation of programs and talks, and is increasing the amount of HHT information accessible via the internet.

The HHT’s 15 years of curation at Sydney’s Government House, Australia’s oldest state government house, is chronicled in the book Government House Sydney, which was launched at the site in November 2011 by Her Excellency The Governor of New South Wales Professor Marie Bashir. The book draws together for the first time research carried out at Government House in architectural history, historic interiors, Australian furniture, soft furnishings, garden history and social history, and presents them in an accessible and entertaining way.

right: Scott Hill in the kitchen garden at Vaucluse House. photograph © James Horan Below: our Web & Screen Media team filmed HHt Guide Jacqui newling at Vaucluse House for the Eat your history blog. photograph tim Girling-Butcher © HHt

Our achievements