Walking Tour: Mount Eagle
In an exclusive residential enclave, the walk takes us past Interwar properties, several of which could be described as ‘Art Deco’ or ‘Modernist’.
This part of Eaglemont was laid out between 1914 and 1916 by Walter Burley Griffin, the American-born architect who is renowned for designing Canberra as well as Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre and Newman College.
We will walk through one of Burley Griffin’s 7 private park reserves built behind the houses for the community to share, a key principle of Griffin’s utopian principles. We will see one of his larger houses which is startlingly modern for 1927.
The walk is also in the footsteps of the so-called ‘Heidelberg School’ painters who camped in a derelict house that once stood in rural isolation and where they drew inspiration from the landscape and from each other during the 2 ‘Golden Summers’ of 1888 to 1890, developing an Australian version of Impressionism.
An absolute highlight of the walk will be a tour inside one of the 3 pioneering Australian Arts and Crafts houses designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear in 1903. The beautiful and faithfully restored architect’s ‘Own House’ demonstrates the shift from prevailing Italianate and Queen Anne suburban taste as it embraced innovative modern design in the twentieth century.
Walking notes: There are some sloping streets and a short descent along a rough track with steps, so the walk is not suitable for those with mobility problems.
Cost: Members $45, Non-members $50
Meet: Corner of The Eyrie and Summit Drive between 10:15 and 10:25 am for a 10:30 am start. The walk will finish at the same point.
Driving: Approach The Eyrie from the west (note it is not accessible from the east).
Parking: The Eyrie should have kerbside parking available.
Train: Eaglemont Station on the Hurstbridge line with a 900 metre uphill walk to the starting point.
Bring your water bottle and dress for the weather.