Pictorial – Yantaringa

The remnant grounds at Yantaringa are notable for their connection with significant public figure, Sir Herbert Olney MLC, and for original garden’s success in public competitions of the day. Olney was inspired by a visit to Queensland, and on return, with the assistance of an unknown landscape gardener, his miniature wonderland was laid out. His wife Annie was very active in fundraising for charities through events at the intriguing property, while Olney staged bowling tournaments for similar purposes.

Images and information for this pictorial are drawn from three principal sources:

  • Trevor Pitkin collection (contemporary images, 2022-2023)
  • Title information from Landata
  • Heidelberg Historical Society (3 Olney era images: late 1920s early 1930s for bowling green era and a post-bowling green era image, apartments at Yantaringa Court 1940s)

Additional background on this property can be found in AGH Journal Vol 36, No 1, July 2024 p36.

The images have been grouped as follows:

  • ‘Development Path’ - the various stages the property has passed through from bare allotment through to the present
  • ‘Olney Years’ - the garden at its peak, an ‘Ivanhoe Elysium’, winning garden competition; later the addition of apartments in the mid 1930s changes the grounds significantly
  • ‘Contemporary’ - the garden today, following an AGHS working bee to make visible again the hard landscaping elements of the 1920-30s

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Pictorial curated by Trevor Pitkin.

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