The Electrified 1920s Servants' Call Bell Board in the Kitchen of Billilla Mansion - Halifax Street, Brighton, Melbourne

            Whilst now empty of most of its original features, the kitchen of Billilla with its white tile dado running half way up the wall still features a few fascinating pieces that remind us of what the room must once have been used for and sounds like.

On the wall, next to the kitchen door, the servant's bells still hang.  Long retired, the original servants' bells were replaced by an electrified bell board, which in itself is fascinating.  Carefully picked out in gold lettering are the names of all the different rooms and doors of the house: everything from rooms you might expect to have bells such as the drawing room, sitting room, billiard room and dining room, to areas you might be surprised have a bell, such as bathrooms, the tower and the servants' bedroom.  The one room noticeably missing from the board is the nursery, which does still have a working servant's bell.  By the 1920s, when this board was installed, Mr. Weatherly was deceased and all of Mrs. Weatherly's children were grown up and had their own rooms.  Miss W (Violet the eldest daughter), Miss Gladys and Master Lionel all have their names against bedrooms.  It is likely that the nursery was repurposed as the work room noted in the bottom row of bells.

Also in the kitchen remains one small Victorian era coal fired stove, made by the Ideal Domestic Company.  

Built in High Victorian style in 1878 for successful gold miner Robert Wright, Billilla mansion was originally a thirteen room mansion erected on seven and a half acres of land.  

When economic boom turned to bust in the 1880s, the property was purchased in 1888 by wealthy New South Wales pastoralist William Weatherly who named it Billilla after his land holdings and established a home there for his wife Jeannie and their children Violet, Gladys and Lionel.  

The house was substantially altered by architect Walter Richmond Butler in 1907, extending the house beyond its original thirteen rooms and adding the Art Nouveau façade seen today. 

After William Weatherly's death in 1914, his wife, who was much younger, remained living there until her own death in 1933.  She bequeathed the property to her daughter, Violet, who maintained the home with reduced staff until her own death in 1972.  

The property was purchased in 1973 by the Bayside  Council who subsequently used Billilla as a historical house with guided  tours, a wedding and events venue, a school and finally in 2009 as an artist's precinct in the property's outbuildings.  Billilla is a beautiful heritage property retaining many of its original features thanks to its long private ownership still incorporating a stately formal garden and the magnificent historic house. 

Billilla, at 26 Halifax Street, Brighton, is one of Melbourne’s few remaining significant homesteads, built on land which had originally been owned by Nicholas Were.  The house has a mixture of architectural styles, featuring a Victorian design with Art Nouveau features and has exquisite formal gardens, which retain much of their original Nineteenth Century layout.

Billilla retains many original Victorian elements and a number of outbuildings still stand to the rear of the property including the butler’s quarters, dairy, meat house, stable garden store and coach house.

Billilla was opened to the general public as part of the Melbourne Open House weekend 2022.

Billilla was used as a backdrop in the 1980 Australian Channel 10 miniseries adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott's "Water Under the Bridge".  It was used at the Sydney harbourside home of Luigi, Honor and Carrie Mazzini.

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / North Brighton (show map)

Taken on: July 30, 2022

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/3.2, 1/15 sec, 7.2mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	0.067 sec (1/15)
Focal Length:	7.2mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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