Contents: 1. Morrison Kleeman Sales brochure 2008 2. Newsclipping; Advertisement, Morrison Kleeman, Eltham South 16 Homestead Road, Diamond Valley Leader, November 5, 2008, p7 (on reverse, p8 Advertisement, Morrison Kleeman, Eltham 45 Lavender Park Road) Designed by Robin Boyd for friends John and Esta Handfield, Handfield House was built 1961. In a letter dated 16 May 1989 to Blanche Shallard of the Shire of Eltham Historical Society, John Handfield advised that the house was designed by their friend Robin Boyd and that it was built in 1961. As of that date they had been the only occupants. They were still the owners when the house was included in the 1992 Shire of Eltham Heritage Study The 1992 Study advised: CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Designed by well-known Victorian Architect Robin Boyd after he returned from lecturing architectural students in Japan, the Handfield residence shows the influence of traditional Japanese design in its modular wall arrangements, solid and glazed panels and sliding exterior doors. The courtyard planning, floor to ceiling glass walls and the combination of single and double storey sections on the steep site illustrate quite advanced dwelling design for its time. Designed to house three generations, grandparents, their children and grandchildren, the house at the time of the 1992 study was reported to be very intact. DESCRIPTION Quite advanced design, in planning and detailing. Plan U-shaped. Single and double storied; the arms of the U are basically single storied, while the base running parallel with the Yarra River is two storied. Walls timber stud framed?, asbestos cement sheet clad. Roofs flat?. Floors timber, some concrete?. Features include the modular wall design, courtyard planning, combination of single and double storey sections, internal planning and floor to ceiling glass walls. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: Information from Mr. John Handfield. CONSERVATION GUIDELINES: Keep this residence intact. Esta Handfield died in 1995 The property was sold in 1996 Property history (source realestate.com.au) 2022 – Sold $2,240,000 September 17, 2022 by Jellis Craig - Eltham 1998 – Sold $348,500 June 20, 1998 1996 – Sold $250,000 September 9, 1996 (possibly Stockdale & Leggo) The property was offered for sale in 2008 by Morrison Kleeman with a price guide of $900,00 to $990,00 but it has not been confirmed if this sale proceeded property, eltham, houses, john handfield, esta handfield, robin boyd, 16 homestead road, handfield house, 45 lavender park road

1. News clipping: Author recalls Eltham's early days; story by Linley Hartley, photo by Ron Grant; Diamond Valley News, Thursday, May 24, 1983, p26 (On reverse side, p25, "A pot for every purpose" about potter Joan Armfield with references to artis Davd Armfield) 2. Three pages typed copy of John Handfield's original letter to Blanche Shallard (of the Shire of Eltham Historical Society), 16 May 1989 detailing the Handfield family's life in Eltham and various personalities between their arrival in 1919 and departure in 1928. With a postscript that John Handfield returned in 1961 to a house designed by friend Robin Boyd and built 1961. At the time of the letter John and Esta Handfield had been the only owners. 3. Note from John Handfield to Ron Smith about a proposed talk (to the Historical Society?) to tell the story about the writing of Friends and Brothers. Proposed title of talk "You Never Know What's Around The Corner" plus several copies of book reviews • Photocopy of news clipping; The rector who created a vision; Review by Bishop Holland; Newcastle Morning Herald, c.1980 - Book review of FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, The Life of Father Tucker, Founder of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Community Aid Abroad, by John Handfield, Hyland House Publishing Pty Ltd • Photocopy of news clipping; The clergyman whose monuments continue to do good; Review by Geoffrey Hutton; Publication unknown, c.1980 - Book review of FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, The Life of Father Tucker, Founder of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Community Aid Abroad, by John Handfield, Hyland House Publishing Pty Ltd • Photocopy of news clipping; Helper of the defeated; Review by Sandy Murray; Publication unknown, c.1980 - Book review of FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, The Life of Father Tucker, Founder of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Community Aid Abroad, by John Handfield, Hyland House Publishing Pty Ltd • Photocopy of news clipping; Friends and Brothers by John Handfield; Review by Bishop James Grant; Publication unknown, c.1980 - Book review of FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, The Life of Father Tucker, Founder of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Community Aid Abroad, by John Handfield, Hyland House Publishing Pty Ltd • Photocopy of news clipping; Off and running on his third career by Stuart Sayers; Writers & Readers, The Age, Saturday 17 January 1981 • Photocopy of news clipping; Determined to succeed; Review by Roy Cassin; The West Australian, n.d. - Book review of FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, The Life of Father Tucker, Founder of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Community Aid Abroad, by John Handfield, Hyland House Publishing Pty LtdFolder of information on John Handfield, author, Elthamjohn handfield, joan armfield, david armfield, handfield family, eltham, 16 homestead road, handfield house, anne hunniford, dave lyon, esta handfield, mechanics insitute, mr bond, rechabite hall, robin boyd, rutter family, bishop reginald stephen, clem christesen, desmond annear, dr kent hughes, ethel boake, handfield street, john harcourt, kooringoorama, lady longstaff, nina christesen, peter street, shillinglaw farm, sir john longstaff, stanhope, yarra braes, a. copeland, alf baker, baker's cottage, ballakian, belackian, beulah alice rutter, bill withers, bird brothers cash grocer and fruiterer, blacksmith, burgoyne grocery store, butcher, david rutter, donald rutter, e. copeland, edward gadd, ernest james andrew, fanny withers (nee flinn), hubert rutter, jack baker, jack ryan, june rutter, margery withers, newsagency, oakley, ronnie baker, silver street bridge, tessie baker, walter withers, burke and wills, father g k tucker, frederick oliver handfield, friends and brothers (book), muriel elizabeth handfield (nee cochran), ss victoria, st laurence and community aid abroad, stanhope house, theodore louis hopton handfield, book review

Captions for photographs in "Living in Australia"Original manuscript for the captions for "Living in Australia", Pergamon Press, 1970Typewritten (c copy), quarto, 16 pagesmccaughey court, lyons house, mcclune house, menzies college, shelmerdine house, john batman motor inn, black dolphin, marks house, lawrence house, boyd house, walsh st, baker house, troedal house, purves house, fletcher house, handfield house, kaye house, domain park flats, robin boyd, manuscript

On the crest of Stanhope Hill at Peter Street, Eltham, stands the former home of a couple, Clem and Nina Christensen who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War 2 Australia. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p109 On the crest of Stanhope Hill at Peter Street, Eltham, stands the former home of a couple, who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War Two Australia. In 1946, Clem and Nina Christensen bought the house, which had been designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear, considered to be one of Australia’s most innovative architects in the first quarter of the 20th century.1 That year the stucco building with a metal roof, built in 1910, was extended to the north and south. The main residence was built of jarrah, with stucco walls, floors of Tasmanian hardwood and rooms panelled with Californian redwood (sequoia). The property included a cottage, former stables, a dairy and meat-house. From its beginnings the property has attracted artists and intellectuals. Official World War One artist, Will Longstaff, bought the property – then 15½ acres (6ha) around 1900. Famous for his painting The Ghosts of Menin Gate, now in the Australian War Memorial Canberra, Longstaff was the cousin of another well-known painter, Sir John Longstaff. Several leading artists visited Longstaff at Stanhope including Walter Withers of the Heidelberg School, who lived in Brougham Street, Eltham. In 1919, Theo Handfield, father of author and journalist John Handfield, bought the property from Mrs Longstaff. Then in 1924 the land was subdivided and most of the estate (80 blocks) was auctioned. The next owner was related to novelist Virginia Woolf. Bishop Reginald Stephen, Warden of Trinity College, bought the house and five acres (2 ha) in 1928. He was related to Sir Leslie Stephen, the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and Woolf’s father. Novelist and music critic John Harcourt, was the next tenant, while he and his wife Fay, built their mud-brick house Clay Nuneham, at the foot of Stanhope Hill. Dr Clem and Mrs Nina Christensen, lived in the house until their deaths. Clem Christensen – who died aged 91 in 2003 – was a poet, short story writer and painter. However, he is most noted for founding Australia’s foremost literary journal2 Meanjin (originally Meanjin Papers), which he described as ‘democratic left of centre’, in Brisbane in 1940. Clem brought Meanjin to Melbourne in 1945 and remained editor until 1975. Enormously influential, Meanjin spawned and encouraged many of Australia’s best literary talents and it had an international reputation. Meanjin was the first to publish such writers as Judith Wright and David Malouf and it encouraged writers like Patrick White and Peter Carey. Nina Christensen – who died aged 89 in 2001 – was founding Editor of the Melbourne Slavonic Studies Journal and pioneered the study of Russian in Australia. In 1946 she established the Department of Russian Language and Literature at The University of Melbourne, which she led until 1977. Nina’s graduates largely staffed subsequent departments, in other Australian universities.3 However Nina’s Russian heritage and Clem’s outspoken views caused problems. They were forced to defend themselves in the Petrov inspired Royal Commission on Espionage in the 1950s, but were exonerated. The Christensens attracted and hosted many distinguished Australian and foreign writers, artists and academics, including Nobel prize-winning novelist, Patrick White and the world’s then leading cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich.4 Other writers and intellectuals who visited Stanhope were: Vance Palmer, Alan Marshall, A D Hope, Xavier Herbert, Nevil Shute, Geoffrey Dutton, Martin Boyd, Judah Waten, Bruce Grant, Dorothy Hewett and Sir Herbert Read. Painters included: Danila Vassilieff, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Justus Jörgensen, Robert Hughes and Clifton Pugh. Academics included: Manning Clark, Geoffrey Blainey, W Macmahon Ball, Richard Downing, Geoffrey Serle and scientist Tim Marshall. Politicians included: Jim Cairns, Pauline Toner, Lance Barnard, Sir Paul Hasluck, Sheryl Garbutt and performance artists included: film star Olivia Newton-John, members of the Bolshoi ballet and the Russian State Ballet of Siberia.5 Nina Christensen was honoured in 2006 at the Eltham Living and Learning Centre with the building of an amphitheatre designed by V Sverdlin.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, clem christesen, eltham, nina christesen, peter street, stanhope

Photocopy, A4, 32 pagesadobe house, anna merle davidson, clay nuneham, diamond street, eltham, fay street, florrie's cottage, george victor davidson, graeme butler & associates, handfield street, hazel's cottage, heritage assessment, houses, john harcourt, langi dorn, mcmahon ball residence, mudstone acre, muriel elizabeth handfield, peter street, pise house, rocknall, shire of nillumbik, stanhope house, stanhope street, york street

EDHS Newsletter No. 182, September 2008 In the late 1970s when our Society was the Shire of Eltham Historical Society, an offer was made to the Society regarding use of an old cottage at Christmas Hills. For various reasons the offer ultimately lapsed The cottage sat beside Watsons Creek just outside the then Shire of Eltham but following municipal restructuring it now lies within the Shire of Nillumbik. At that time some research on the cottage was carried out for the Society by Keith Chappel as part of a larger research project that he was doing. Keith's notes were taken from Lands Department records and showed that house is the subject of a permissive occupancy of Crown land comprising the creek reserve. In 1903 a Miners Right of one acre in area was granted to Edwin Samuel Birch. In 1907 Birch applied to purchase this land but was unable to because it was part of the creek reserve. The documents show that the house existed at that time. Birch died in 1932 and his daughter Honor Mary Birch was granted a permit to occupy the residence. The future of the cottage remains precarious because of its location on Crown land. In 2007 the Andrew Ross Museum began a campaign to ensure that it is preserved. It included a video presentation on the history of the cottage under the title of "This Old House- Birch Cottage". Black and white photograph Also digital scan file from original negativeWilliams Cottage Panton Hill 1969 Not to be reproduced without permission G.W. Bell Photographer Elthamhouses, cottage, early settlers, yarra glen road, smiths gully, williams cottage, watsons creek, christmas hills, birch cottage, edwin samuel birch, honor mary birch, bronny handfield collection

These photos of the porch, kitchen, pot, fire and the shelves decorated with a frill of hand cut newspaper were of the Mohr home in York Street near the corner of Macaulay Court. George Bell took these just before it was demolished. (His spelling on the neg sheets.) Bronny remembers going inside and noticing it was a packed soil floor with a primitive kitchen. She cannot be sure of the domestic setup because she was so young but believes it was home to a mother on her own, one daughter her age (b.1953) but also other siblings. Information supplied by Bronny Handfield (George Bell’s daughter), 5 April 2026 Digital jpg files (3) created from scans of original negativeshouses, cottage, early settlers, bronny handfield collection, mohr family, mohr cottage, york street, eltham, macaulay court

Clem Christesen wrote a brief history of "Stanhope" which was reproduced in EDHS Newsletter No. 162 May 2005. STANHOPE HOUSE is situated on the crest of Stanhope Hill about ten minutes' walk westward from the Eltham railway station and is bounded by Peter, Fay and Stanhope Streets. The original property, comprising 15 ½ acres with a frontage on Diamond Creek, was bought in about 1900 by Will Longstaff (b. 1878, d London 1953), official war artist during World War I, who became famous for his painting 'The Ghosts of Menin Gate', France which is now in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The main residence, designed by Desbrowe Annear, was built of jarrah, with stucco walls and floors of Tasmanian hardwood The rooms were panelled with Californian redwood (sequoia). Away from house was a cottage (used as a studio), and stables, dairy and meat house. In 1919 Mr Theo. Handfield bought the property from Mrs Longstaff. On New Year 's Day 1924 most of the estate (eighty blocks) was auctioned. Bishop Reginald Stephen, Warden of Trinity College and distinguished scholar, bought the house and five acres in 1928. Dr and Mrs C.B. Christesen became the new owners in 1946 and subsequently extended the house on the north and south sides. 'Stanhope 'has had many very interesting art and literary associations. When Will Longstaff occupied it - he was a cousin of another well-known painter, Sir John Longstaff- various leading artists of the period, including Walter Withers who lived nearby, were frequent visitors. A son of Mr and Mrs Handfield, John, became a journalist and author, and now lives with his wife Esta at Homestead Road, Eltham. Bishop Stephen was related to Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), one of the great representative minds of Victorian Britain, first editor of the monumental Dictionary of National Biography and father of the famous novelist and essayist Virginia Woolf. John Harcourt, novelist and music critic, rented 'Stanhope 'while he and his wife Fay were building 'Clay Nuneham' (mudbrick) at the foot of Stanhope Hill near the creek. Nina Christesen, academic and founding editor of Melbourne Slavonic Studies, was Head of the Department of Russian Language and Literature, University of Melbourne, from 1946 to 1977. Clem Christesen, poet, short story writer and painter, founded Australia's leading literary journal Meanjin Quarterly in 1940 and remained editor until 1975. Very many distinguished Australian and foreign writers, artists and academics-from Nobel prize-winning novelist Patrick White to the world's leading cellist Mstislav Rostropovich - have visited 'Stanhope ' over the years. The extensive garden is said to be one of the loveliest in Eltham. The main entrance is by way of Diamond and Peter Streets. film - kodak gc 400-6, russell yeoman collection, scan - 35mm negative, bishop stephen, clem christesen, eltham, nina mikhailovna christesen, peter street, stanhope, theo handfield, will longstaff