HISTORY OF ESKLEIGH
Eskleigh Home at Perth, Tasmania, incorporates the old home of Mr William Gibson and his family, which was called “Scone”. The land was originally granted to Captain John R Ritchie, but on his death it passed to his brother, Captain Thomas Ritchie. He built a house on the river bank, down river from the present house and by 1833 had a flour mill working by water power. This mill was washed away in the great floods of 1852 and David Ritchie rebuilt it, but this in turn was destroyed by fire a few days after Mr Gibson had purchased the property in 1867.
In 1870 Mr Gibson began to build his new home for which he harnessed the water power provided by the old mill race to run a generator. This provided electric light for the house and the outbuildings, and it is believed that the home was the first private dwelling in the southern hemisphere to be electrically lit.
The property remained in the Gibson family and became famous for its merino sheep. The Gibsons were generous people with a social conscience and they contributed much towards the development of Perth, including the Baptist Church.
With the death of Mr W Gibson Senior in 1943, the property came into the possession of Mr B Gibson, who found it far too large for his needs. So, through the generosity of the family and with help and hard work from many people, the old home became “Eskleigh” for the care of severely or multiple disabled adults.
THE BUILDING
The building was erected after the style of an Italian villa and the four granite pillars at the front entrance are believed to have been imported from Italy. The surrounding verandahs feature beautiful cast-iron lace embracing the monogram of William Gibson, and an original floor of Italian terrazzo.
GROUND FLOOR
The entrance hall still has the original parquet flooring around the edges, and an interesting feature is the niche facing the front door, a common feature of old Italian villas. Beautiful stained glass panels flanking the front door depict Australian flora and fauna, and these designs are also used as motifs on the painted ceiling. The doors of rooms leading from the hall still retain some of the original brass door-knobs and finger plates, and the rooms leading from the hall all have marble fireplaces.
The house has several painted ceilings, this work being done by a Mr Hargraves of London, and the finest is the room to the right of the front door. Here, the paintings depict the four seasons of the year, and the room also has a very fine cornice. The light fittings in these rooms and in the hall are the original ones used by Mr Gibson in 1870 - they were gas fittings which he adapted for use with electricity.
FIRST FLOOR
The staircase has a balustrade decorated with bosses and Tudor roses and leads up to the spacious landing, with a beautiful original light fitting in the centre of the painted ceiling. The principal bedroom is on the right and is now used as a Board Meeting Room.
The bathroom at the left at the head of the stairway has a hand-painted frieze above the old hand basins, and the door is one of several with an engraved glass panel. It is thought that the majority of the doors had hand-painted panels originally, and one can still be seen on the back of the door at the end of the little passage leading away from the main bedroom. Unfortunately, the other doors have all been painted over, but traces of the hand-painting can be seen under the paint on the inside of the main door.
A small staircase opposite the main staircase leads up to the top of the tower. On the way up, the original cisterns for house water can be seen, made of thick slate. The views from the top of the tower are magnificent.
Returning to the main landing, the passage can be seen leading to the servants’ bedrooms with a door to separate them from the main house, and a back staircase leads down to the kitchen area.
THE GARDENS
The property comprises 23 acres of ground, three of which are kept as flower gardens for the Home. Many very beautiful old trees are still flourishing, particularly the weeping elm and the weeping birch on the front lawn, and a large English oak tree near the old hot-house further up the garden. The building on the river bank to the left of the home was originally the billiard room and is now a workshop. At the end of the drive is a brick coach house, brick barn, several service buildings and a timber cottage.
ESKLEIGH
A committee was formed in 1947 to organise the establishment of the home incorporating the old Scone homestead. New wings were built at the rear of the house for the accommodation of fifty patients. Later, staff quarters were erected at the end of the drive and in 1970 a large new lounge was built connecting two wings to form a sheltered courtyard. This lounge possesses large windows from which patients have a beautiful view across the river to the fields and mountains beyond. Beneath the lounge is a workroom, since converted to a laundry. In 1979 the Haines Wing was constructed, in 1986 the original Clark Wings were redeveloped to provide private rooms and in 1991 the Lions Wing replaced two cottages, earlier erected by the Lions Club of Launceston, for use by the visually impaired.