The Amess Family Era
Samuel Amess, former mayor of Melbourne, purchased the property in 1872, as a refuge away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Amess was an accomplished builder and stonemason who designed and oversaw the building of several of Melbourne’s notable buildings, such as Custom’s House, Melbourne Post Office, Ballarat Railway Station, and Kew Asylum. In light of this, the house he built on Churchill Island was just as well designed. It was modelled in the then popular Italianate style, however instead of the usual brick, stone, and slate, he used timber and corrugated iron, as all the building materials had to be transported by boat!
The house itself was modest for a wealthy man but designed for practicality - to be the ultimate summer retreat. It has eight external doors and two outdoor passages, so that visitors gained maximum benefit from the sea air, and the children’s room had its own external door so the children could come and go as they pleased without disturbing the adults. Samuel Amess established a heard of Highland Cattle from Scotland as a reminder of his homeland, and grew onions, planted trees and created an orchard. He also built a brick half cellar that he used to store cool items such as butter and meat.
The Amess family had many visitors to the island, some who stayed a short while and some who stayed for months or so at a time. Each visitor would leave a note in the Visitors Book, of which Churchill Island still possesses a copy. This gives many insights into the types of activities the Amess family and their visitors would get up to – many of the comments mention walking, shooting, fishing, boating, cards, charades and cooking. This book has comments written by several of Melbourne’s elite, indicating Amess’ social and political status.