The beautiful Nareeb Gates are back in place at D Gate. They have recently been restored to their former glory with the aid of generous donors, a project the Friends’ Trust Fund was also pleased to contribute to. Apart from the refurbished, shiny gold decoration, one of the gates’ most striking features are the tall gas lamps adorning both pillars. They will also shine again – but not with gaslight!
These ornate gates were manufactured in England, probably in the 1870s, started life in Melbourne with the land boom of the 1880s, and became part of one of the many grand Victorian estates recalled now only in the names of streets and courts around South Yarra, Toorak and nearby suburbs. The early ownership of the Nareeb estate at 166-170 Kooyong Road, Toorak, was changeable. It began in 1875 when 5 acres of land were sold to a Western District squatter named Josiah Watson. He chose not to develop the property and in 1883/84 sold it to piano manufacturer Octavius Beale, who built the mansion then known as Sommariva in 1888, under architect William Salway. Beale moved to Sydney and between about 1890 and 1906 the estate, under the name of Oma, changed hands between John Grice, Frederick Cato and John’s twin brother James Grice. In those years Oma was described as standing in ‘fine well planted grounds with handsome, elaborate scroll-work entrance gates (set in ornamental brick walls) opening onto a serpentine drive.’ (Stonnington History News, newsletter no.36, Oct-Nov 2001). In 1906 the estate was purchased by Walter Simmonds and renamed Nareeb. Simmons had become wealthy through property purchases and gold interests around Stawell in western Victoria. Among his properties for a few years had been Nareeb Nareeb at Glenthompson.
Nareeb in Toorak entered a period of stability and remained in the family’s ownership until the death of Miss Gertrude Simmons in 1964, when the 5-acre property was sold by the trustees. The National Trust had classified the house as ‘interesting, preservation desirable’ but fortunately Gertrude Simmons had asked that the gates be given to the National Trust to ensure their preservation, for the enjoyment of future generations. The mansion was opened to the public to raise funds for the National Trust in December 1964, with many thousands of Melbournians paying the 3 shilling fee and passing through the gates to see the historic property. The furnishings and fittings were sold at auction on site by Leonard Joel Pty Ltd a few days later. The property itself was sold, demolished and subdivided, becoming what is now Nareeb Court.
The gates were originally deemed significant as an excellent example of ironwork from the 1870s and presented to the RBG by the National Trust in 1966. They were officially declared open in November 1967 and are now listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as being ‘of historical significance as a symbol and a reminder of Melbourne’s heritage of large mansion estates, few of which now remain…… No other similar set of 19th century residential gates have been identified by heritage surveys in the City’. What stories those gates could tell!
