XV continued: Montsalvat.
A minor building in an appealing hamlet, with features of, say, certain timber-framed cottages from England with close spaced timber studs, plaster panels, diamond lattice windows, half timbers and dormer windows. Here accommodation is available for artisans. Is this example akin to a poor artist's garret?

More trivia. A scholar, Betty Roland lived in this colony in the 1960s. As a writer she was into plays, comic strips and journalism and was a follower of the left wing. She had worked in London and had been in Moscow in the thirties with a Marxist associate, Guido Baracchi.
Guido Baracchi has been described as a privileged cosmopolitan as well as a dedicated romantic who loved woman and politics. He worked at founding the Communist Party in Australia. Between times there were a series of partners. Jeff Sparrow has written a biography: Communism: A Love Story  and a review in The Age suggests.....
"He reminds us of what we have lost and of what we might gain by learning to love the quest for justice once more."

 

XIV continued: the artists, the muse and still dithering in Montsalvat

 Montsalvat leitmotif.

 

xiii continued: Montsalvat.

Another group of buildings are rustic in mudbrick and pise.

XII continued: Montsalvat.

More trivia. Max Teichmann was an acquaintance of Lily Jorgenson and he married her niece.
He had been a leading member of the 'Monash Soviet'. (What a change from the corporate image presented today.)
Teichmann introduced Jenny to philosophy which she made her career. Her writings are listed on the web. They built their mud brick house outside the gate of Montsalvat.
He was up in arms about unbridled capitalism and there is more about him here.

XI continued: Montsalvat

The Long Gallery and aMuse nearby.

X. continued: Goth and Montsalvat.

Rising above a lily pond and garden is a small chapel, like a detailed model. On its walls, paintings of the crucifixion seemed excessive in number and perhaps there was a reason.
One of Jorgensen's last paintings was a crucifixion with Jorgensen himself on the cross.
The feudal master, Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat, died in 1975.
In accordance with the provisions of his will Monsalvat was administered by a trust and continued as an artists' colony and function centre.

Lower photos: The harmonium was a large example. A side chapel is shown.

IX continued: Great Hall at Montsalvat.

We don't have any old castles or chateaux or anything built prior to 1770 so this reproduction is an unusual site for us to see. A theme park?

From ancient times, prior to the Europeans, the Aborigines left few marks on the landscape and did not use long-lasting buildings, (although, possibly, a patch of stone ground-works were found but the details elude me).

VIII continued: the master, the artists, the muses and Montsalvat.

Sonia Skipper, artist and builder, was declared a 'National Living Treasure' by the South Australian State Government. She had moved to Renmark in later years with her life partner. She died in 2008. A memorial service and later a retrospective were held at Montsalvat.

As young women pioneers of the artists' colony, Sonia and her sister, Helen, found that their grandmother thoroughly disapproved of their liaisons and she purchased a cottage beside Montsalvat for her two unwed granddaughters and children to live.
Sonia Skipper published an autobiography of her interesting years titled My Story.
Ref The Age.

VI. continued: the master, the artists, the muse and Montsalvat.

Great Hall dinners where celebs met round the refectory tables had Jorgensen pontificating over philosophy and matters of interest. A regular who's-who of artists and thinkers rolled up to exchange ideas and to socialise.
For one, as a child, the eminent classical guitarist, John Williams, strummed away for the assembled groups and spent time there as a friend of the younger generation.

VI continued: 'Wotan', the 'Hall of the Gibichungs', 'Erda', Montsalvat and the Shire of Nillumbrik.
(Nillumbrik really is the local shire)

Jorgensen went all medieval, or was it gothic, with fanciful plans for the Great Hall and we can go on exploration of this resulting grand fantasy illuminated by mullioned Tudor windows.
Major feats of recycling were ahead of their time and resulted in a wealth of features and a blend that works well. The stone windows, gargoyles and hugh fireplaces were thanks to Whelan the Wrecker (into demolitions) who became involved and salvaged grand old pieces from city buildings.

On site, as well as painting, Jorgensen taught Sonia Skipper how to build and she eventually trained other workmen. As an artisan she carved stone and wood and used a range of building techniques as a pioneer of the colony.

V. continued: the master, the artists, the muse and Montsalvat.

The Skipper family were arty folk who moved to the artist colony in 1934 and it was their eldest, Helen, who became Jorgensen's mistress.
Second daughter Sonia also developed her art and talents after early influences from the tonal school and the annual artists camp at San-Remo and the tutoring at Montsalvat. Sonia found a lover in Arthur Munday and she and her sister both had their first born within hours of each other.

It is said that Jorgensen's wife, Lily, turned from work in medicine to that of psychology and that she suffered from MS. Medical treatment or any weaknesses were frowned upon by the 'master' and she remained uncared for in her later years until friends intervened and she moved away to the city.
Whether this last information is reliable is hard to say. It is contained in a site with extensive good photos of Montsalvat here.

IV. continued. the master, the artists, the muse and Montsalvat.

About the time of the birth of his and Lily's son Max, Jorgensen had begun an affair with one of his followers Helen Skipper. This relationship lasted for the rest of his life, produced two sons, and occasioned some notoriety in surburbia and the press.
Jorgensen gathered around him a group of friends and followers at the artists' colony. He gave them the opportunity to learn to paint and to master the crafts...carpentry, sculpture, metalwork, tiling and slating. He also offered them the chance of a freer, more meaningful life - a measure of heightened self-knowledge and the possibility of happiness, including sexual fulfilment. Australian Dictionary of Bilgraphy

Helen and children lived in one cottage while Jorgensen continued to live down the hill with his wife Lily.
Perhaps people invariably believe that anyone living a different kind of lifestyle must be up to no good. How wrong they were! We were a most moral and responsible lot, almost puritancial in fact. From The Age quoting from My Story by S Skipper.

III. continued: impresario, artists, muses and Montsalvat.

Justus Jorgensen married Lilya Smith in 1924 and they travelled to Europe to further his interests in art. Lily qualified and worked as a doctor and supported her husband.
They returned to Melbourne and Jorgensen taught in his studios and became independent of the painter, Max Meldrum. He usually shunned exhibitions and hype.
Lily bought land at Eltham (1935) and with the assistance of friends and students, husband Jorgensen began the artists' colony of Montsalvat.

(The bush at Eltham was renowned for providing endless painting possibilities; restrained colour and subtle tonal modulations were features in stark contrast to our overexposed landscape.
A recent Tonalism exhibition at Newcastle Regional Gallery gave us examples in the works by Clarice Beckett and others of the illusive and hazy effects from that school.)

II. Continued: Impresario, artists, muses and Montsalvat.

Justus Jorgenson founded the artists' colony of Montsalvat in Victoria. He was born in 1893 in East Brighton, Melbourne and his cultural heritage was Norwegian.
Justus became articled to his uncle, an architect, and qualified as a draughtsman.
After working briefly in a government office, he learned painting at the National Gallery School in 1915-17. He later joined artist, Max Meldrum and soon became his assistant.
From Australian Dictionary of Biography.