Waller House

It's always so interesting to visit a house once occupied by artists. Waller House in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe is such a place. It's now in the hands of the National Trust which is a good thing to know because it's always difficult to preserve artists' residencies/studios so having Waller House in the hands of the National Trust is the closest one can get to having something important preserved.

Waller House is where Napier and Christian Waller spent a great deal of their life together. Their murals, mosaics and stained-glass artwork can be found in prominent buildings in Victoria, especially in Melbourne like the Melbourne Town Hall and the State Library of Victoria. 

For information about visiting Waller House click National Trust  

Napier Waller has mosaics on the facades of a number of buildings around Melbourne CBD, it's like an outdoor gallery. Sometimes it's difficult to notice them because the height of the trees can partially obscure the view. He was also a wonderful printmaker and draughtsman

As well as a muralist, Christian Waller was also a wonderful illustrator, and printmaker. She was in high demand and her stained-glass work can be found in over 20 churches in Victoria and New South Wales.

Here are some pics of their house and studio, so much of it like it was when the were living there.

The driveway to the welcoming sign

 

The main room to the house

Waller's self portrait drawing

Workroom where the glass was cut 

Napier Waller's drawing sitting by a table

Christian Waller's design for a stained-glass work

Tools and odds and ends

Another studio used by Napier for large scale mural work

A view from this studio

Christian's niece, Klytie Pate, came to live with the Wallers when Klytie's father died. She assisted around the studio but she eventually became a prominent ceramicist. 

A painting done by Napier on the wall of Klytie's bedroom.

The gardens were a beautiful addition to the house and studio. 

Volunteers now tend to tend to them with great pride.