Diane Summers

Diane Summers is passionate about history and heritage and wrote about her connection to Windsor Hall, Mount Lawley, the family home for 100 years.

 "To honour my family and inspired by a passion for WA’s heritage, in 2023 I undertook major conservation works of Windsor Hall at 36 Queens Crescent, Mount Lawley. For the first time, works were guided by a Conservation Management Strategy, overseen by heritage architects at Element and carried out by skilled craftsmen from Colgan. Works focused on tackling water ingress and damp, roofing and drainage, cracking, repointing of chimneys, and masonry repairs. With four levels of scaffolding for the roof-to-ground works, the entire house was repainted at the same time. We undertook paint analyses, and a heritage colour palette was approved by HCWA. Interior works included repairs to cracking, sanding and oiling of the original jarrah floors. For the first time since 1904, the living room ceiling was painted, revealing fine decorative ceiling rosettes and cornices.

Windsor Hall was built 120 years ago for prominent lawyer, Richard ‘Dicky’ Haynes, by Melbourne architect H.J. Prockter. A rare residential example of expressive Federation Free Style, the house displays the architectural splendour and superior craftsmanship of Western Australia's Gold Boom. Today, it is one of a handful of mansions remaining in Perth and an integral part of the Queens Crescent’s streetscape. Dicky Haynes arrived in Perth in 1885, the year that gold was discovery in the colony. A skilled barrister, he forged a reputation as a social radical. He was described as ‘defending murderers and ruffians with a quick wit, sharp mind and irreverent tongue’. Haynes was a Kings Counsel, member of the Legislative Council, mayor of North Perth, and Consul for Norway. Haynes entertained Perth’s elite in the elegant formal living and dining rooms of Windsor Hall.

After his death in 1922, the new owner refurbished the house with art deco light fittings and Arts and Crafts style touches, including hand blown glass doors between formal living and dining rooms. Social tennis being a popular evening pastime, the sloping rear garden was landscaped for floodlit tennis courts.

In 1937, my grandfather Stephen Kellow arrived from Kalgoorlie and fell in love with Windsor Hall. Over the next 90 years, the house was the lively hub of our extended family. My great grandmother occupied the front rooms upstairs. Young adult cousins and grandchildren lived at different times in the “upstairs flat”. My grandparents, Stephen and Evelyn, raised their two children in the spacious rooms downstairs.

In 1942, the Western Australian Emergency was declared following the Japanese bombing of Darwin and air raids on Broome. Windsor Hall was requestioned as the officer’s club for III Army Corps. The names of the billeted officers are neatly inked into the drawers of an oak wardrobe in the master bedroom. Stephen and Evelyn returned after the war.

After the deaths of my grandparents, the house passed to my mother, Margaret Summers, who cherished the house for the next 30 years. She was particularly proud of being awarded the Barrie Baker special recognition by the City of Stirling a few months before she passed away in late 2021. The journey of restoration has been fascinating. The vibrant history of Western Australia and the unparalleled craftsmanship is evident everywhere in the house: from the solid brick and limestone walls to the delicate stained glass windows and decorative ceilings. I sincerely thank the City of Stirling, Mayor Mark Irwin, and HCWA for their generous support in restoring Windsor Hall. Today, the house stands proud as a beloved landmark on Queens Crescent, ready for a new chapter in its long life."