Lumeah

Lewisham is the quaint old inner suburb of Sydney which I explored today. I hadn't taken myself back to that neck of the woods in a neglectfully long period of time.

You see, just down from the railway station is this street which glories in a familiar name. Not far along from the sign is this beautiful old house. My great grandparents moved into this home when it must have been newly built, shortly after the First World War. So much information has been tragically lost by one means or another over the generations that I can tell you little more. But the house still shows the name it was given all those many years ago. "Lumeah".

I CAN say that this property remained in the family until my great aunt's death almost exactly 30 years ago. I was pleased to see that it looked much as I had remembered it. The new owners have sympathetically and accurately restored a few things but unless you knew the place really well, you might accept that its features are all pretty original.

This style of home is an early example of Australia's downsized version of the classic Californian Bungalow, primarily popular here through the 1920s. Iconic touches include the exposed eaves, timber shake gable ends, terra cotta roof tiles and heavily enclosed verandahs. Disappointingly the tuck pointed brickwork seems no more and the frosted glass panels at the end of the verandah show no colours but the leadlight casement windows are still to be found all around the building and tessellated tiling still decorates the garden path and verandah floor.

Not typical of the period, the old property featured a driveway and garage. All still there. I overdosed on nostalgia for some short while before finally turning away.