A HISTORIC Williamstown house linked to composers Rodgers and Hammerstein is crumbling down and its desperate owner can’t afford to fix it.
John Molyneaux, 87, lives in the 1859 two-storey bluestone house on the south-west corner of the Strand and John Street.
It is the only house in the Strand that is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as a building of state significance.
It was built for ship chandler Captain William Probert, a partner in the Probert and Verdon firm. Sir George Frederic Verdon lived in the building, which he named Abberton House, until he went to England as agent-general for Victoria in 1868.
Mr Molyneaux’s father and grandfather lived in the home before him.
“My father, he was a master mariner, and my grandfather lived here from ’32 to ’40 and he brought the American fleet up in 1908,” Mr Molyneaux said.
“At one stage, in about the middle of World War I, a Captain Blanchard lived here and he was in the pilot service the same time as my grandfather.
“And one of Blanchard’s daughters married Oscar Hammerstein, the impresario.
“Recently, Oscar Hammerstein III came down here and had a look around.”
Dorothy Blanchard, the daughter of Henry James Blanchard, grew up in the house before marrying Oscar Hammerstein II. Her husband co-wrote The Sound of Music and other famous musicals with Richard Rodgers.
The house has also been recognised as significant and received classification by the National Trust. But now the house is falling apart and Mr Molyneaux hopes to “patch it up”.
“It’s a darn nuisance having it on the register as far as I can see,” he said.
“Because I’m 87, I’ll just see my time out here. I’d like to think my children can unload it without much trouble. I hope there’ll be someone with a good sense of humour and plenty of sons.”
In 2010, Hobsons Bay Council demanded that a structurally unstable bluestone fence be fixed. Mr Molyneaux said the council was again “on his back” after part of the rendered finish at the front tumbled down.
“They’re circling again and I’m just trying to keep them at arm’s length by doing the best I can,” he said.
“It’s such a difficult place to maintain, you see. It’s terribly awkward to do any maintenance.
“It’s not like a little weatherboard house — if there is a malfunction it’s significant because it’s all bluestone and if that caves in you’re in trouble.”
He believes the state should help with maintenance since the property is heritage-listed.
Mayor Angela Altair said Mr Molyneaux had a point. “I have some sympathy for him because if you have a property that is on a heritage register you are very restricted with what you can do with it.
“We have to look at what we can do to help, including sourcing any state funding that can help to at least make it safer.”
According to Heritage Victoria, the house is said to have been built from basalt quarried from the Strand. Its roof is covered with slates reputedly from Carnavon in Wales and the roofing timbers are cedar.
Heritage Victoria spokeswoman Kerry Taylor said the house was Mr Molyneaux’s responsibility. “Ongoing maintenance and repair work is in the interest of the owner to carry out to maintain the value of their property and to avoid more costly remedial repairs.”
