Historical information

Founder of Montsalvat
Reproduced Page 106 of Pioneers & Painters, edited by Alan Marshall (1971)
Note: print in book and print copy are mirror imaged

There was probably little earth building done in the district in this century until 1934, when Justus Jorgensen, architect and artist, bought land in Eltham and with his students and followers commenced to build the fascinating complex of buildings now know as ‘Montsalvat’. These buildings and his use of materials, both local stone and earth, and reclaimed materials, were to have a remarkable influence on the Eltham district-particularly in the period following World War II.
The first building at ‘Montsalvat’ was a picturesque house of or rammed earth with a high-pitched roof. Jorgensen has used a variety of building materials but it is possibly his use of earth, both pise-de-terre and mud brick, which has had the most influence on the environmental building in Eltham in the post war years. By the end of the 1940s, an impressive array of adobe and pise buildings had been completed. – Alan Marshall, 1971, “Pioneers & Painters”

Significance

This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as the 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.'
It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.

Physical description

Digital image
4 x 5 inch Clr Reversal (3)
Print 21 x 16.5 cm (printed in mirror image)