‘Innesfallen’, 13 Kembla St, Wollongong
Street address: 13 Kembla Street, Wollonngong
Deposited Plan : Lot 1 DP 153685
GPS Coordinates -34.41873, 150.89917
Innesfallen is a single-storey house on the south-east corner of Kembla and Gipps Streets, Wollongomg. The house was built in built in 1909 for Edward and Ellen Collaery. The original house was constructed of double brick with a corrugated steel hip roof to the main building and a gabled pediment at the front entrance. Tear portion of the house has gabled ends on both north and south sides. Brick piers were used throughout, with terracotta vents used extensiviely in the sub floor and extemal brick walls. Lintels above all external doors and windows are arched supporting two rows of arched bricks on end. At the front the open verandah extends the width of the house and returned on the western side for approximately 3/4 of its length. Two sets of French doors lead to the open verandah on the northern or front side. There was no ceiling lining on the verandah. The support posts on the verandah were of decorative timber. Scrapings of paintwork show the original colour as green. There are indications that the verandah had a timber balustrade. The verandah floor was of tongue and groove timber; the bottom of the timbers was channeled for ventilation. Black slate thresholds were used for the three front steps, which lead to a glass paneled front door. Slate thresholds were also used for all eight external doors, including the four French doors.
The house has been extended and the western side verandah partially enclosed.
The land was part of the 300 acre grant made to Charles Throsby Smith in 1821. Smith subdivided the southern part of the estate in 1834 when the private town of Wollongong was surveyed. He died on 29 September 1876. In 1879, the balance of the Smith Estate from Smith St north was sold in allotments. Harry Marr purchased the large area between Kembla, Gipps, Corrimal and Campbell Sts. He subsequently subdivided the land and Lot 1 Section 2 of the subdivision was auctioned. It was purchased by Jane and Margaret Waugh, the spinster sisters of the Presbyterian minister in Wollongong, Robert Hope Waugh.
The Waughs left Wollongong in 1884 (Illawarra Mercury 25 Nov 1884 p2) and Samuel Middleton Gannon purchased the land in 1890 for 143 Pounds and 5 shillings. In the same year, Gannon was forced to sell his household furniture (Illawarra Mercury 3 June 1890 p3) and in December he was in court for bankruptcy. (Illawarra Mercury 4 December 1890 p2). By this time he was living in Coogee and during his bankruptcy trial revealled that bis land was mortgaged to John Davidson and H S Gannon of Goulburn. Samuel Gannon was a racehorse owner, Justice of the Peace, council alderman and secretary of the Wollongong Turf Club during his time in Wollongong.
In 1897, the land was transferred to James Pargeton Cooper, grazier. It was purchased in 1900 by the manager of the Commercial Bank in Wollongong, Walter Graham Robertson for 139 Pounds and 4 shillings. In 1886, Robertson had been gazetted as Captain of the Wollongong Battery Volunteer Artillery and was later promoted to major. He died on 8 June 1928 at his home, 'Wyumba' at the Cross Roads (Corner of the Crown St and Mt Keira Rd) aged 85.
The land was next sold to Ellen Collaery, wife of Edward Collaery, grazier for the sum of 285 Pounds and 10 shillings in 1907 (Illawarra Mercury 27 March 1909 p11). Ellen (Eleanor) Collaery (1858-1944) was the daughter of Michael Kenny and Eleanor Bourke of Wollongong. She married Edward Collaery (1848-1921) in 1875. The Collaery's had extensive property interests including a farm at Bellambi. The Collaery’s built the house in 1909 (Illawarra Mercury. 12 June 1909 p16). The Collaery's may have built the house for their own use but there is no record of them having lived there.
It was subsequently purchased by Richard Henry Bell, school master and his wife, Emily, for the sum of 745 Pounds in 1914. After their deaths (in 1928 and 1937), the house was transferred to their daughters, Gertrude Eunice Bell and Hallie May Bell, spinsters, as tenants in common. Hallie May Bell sold the house after her sister’s death, to Elsie Robinson, wife of Arthur Dean Robinson, surveyor,
in 1955, and it was next transfrered to Arthur and Margaret Evans for 5,800 Pounds in 1958. It was then sold to George Robert Jarnes, Medical Practitioner, and Kiriaki James, his wife, for the sum of $42,500 in 1975. The next owners were John and Sharon Kemp, from 1983. Timothy and Alice Shanahan owned the house from 2002 ($650,000). It was sold again in July 2014 for $1,605,000
John Shipp. 7 July 2017