May Gibbs is one of Australia’s most renowned illustrators, artists and children’s authors. Her iconic stories have captured the imaginations of Australians for over a century. May, who lived from 1877 to 1969, drew inspiration for her bush fantasy world from her youth spent in the West Australian bush, but also her later years in the harbourside suburb of Neutral Bay.
‘Nutcote,’ designed for May Gibbs by prominent architect B.J. Waterhouse and built by F.E. Gray, was the artist’s home from 1925 until her death. May’s brief for Waterhouse was to design a house which would have ‘compactness, convenience and charm’. Nutcote was one of the smallest residences ever designed by Waterhouse, reflecting May’s lifestyle and priorities.
May’s beloved gardens, ‘my outdoor studio,’ and the view over Sydney Harbour from the house, provided a rich source of creativity. She created an English style garden with roses, hedges, lawns and fruit trees. Some of the original plantings, including roses and hydrangeas, survive today. May retained existing native trees and shrubs when building the house, but did not add new native plantings, preferring to study bush flora on her many camping trips.
On her death at age 93, May left her home to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) which, under its charter, was unable to hold property. The house and contents were sold at public auction in 1970. The subsequent owners intended to develop the site and submitted various townhouse style proposals to North Sydney Council during the 1980s.
In 1987, May Gibbs’ cousin Marian Shand, together with her husband Neil Shand and other friends, formed the May Gibbs Foundation to advocate and raise funds for the preservation of Nutcote as a museum. The community battle to save May’s home became a nationwide campaign: ‘Save Nutcote for the nation’. North Sydney Council had been aware of the heritage significance of Nutcote since at least 1981, owing to its inclusion in the North Sydney Heritage Study, and its classification by the National Trust in 1986 made an authoritative statement about its heritage value.
During the 1980s the significance of May Gibbs’ contribution to Australian identity and culture became increasingly realised through various publications and exhibitions. The first biography of her life, Maureen Walsh’s May Gibbs: Mother of the Gumnuts -her Life and Work, was published in 1985. An exhibition, May Gibbs and her Fantasy World, held at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, was curated by Robert Holden and 120,000 people attended. This increasing awareness of May’s work in the public consciousness was fuelled by demand for Australiana at the time of the 1988 Bicentenary. The renewed popularity of the ‘Gumnut babies’ from Gibb’s popular work Snugglepot and Cuddlepie strengthened the campaign. The foundation secured widespread support among contemporary figures of Australian children’s literature, artists, politicians and the media.
The May Gibbs foundation succeeded in saving the house, which had remained largely unaltered, protected by a permanent conservation order, and was also successful in having it placed on the register of the national estate.
Council purchased the site for $2.86 million in March 1990 and leased the building to The Nutcote Trust. The trust worked with Howard Tanner and Associates to restore the house to its late 1920s appearance. Some sources of evidence for this work included the diaries of May’s husband, James Ossoli Kelly and photographs taken by Harold Cazneaux for The Australian Home Beautiful magazine in 1926.
Nutcote opened to the public on 1 May, 1994 with artist and illustrator Elizabeth Durack officiating at the ceremony. It has operated as a house museum commemorating the life and work of May Gibbs for the past 30 years.
Nutcote is open for guided tours Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 3pm. Visitors can enjoy the house museum, shop and café surrounded by delightful gardens.
Historical Services, North Sydney Council.