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Whitehall is an historic guest house located at the 'back' (ocean) beach in Sorrento, a holiday town on the Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia.
Sorrento became a popular holiday destination when paddle steamers began regular trips across Port Phillip Bay from Port Melbourne in 1875. The 'back beach', across the narrow peninsula facing the ocean became accessible in 1890 when a steam tram operated from there to the Sorrento foreshore and pier. [1] At the same time the large Back Beach Palace was built at the terminus, facing the beach. [2] It was joined in 1904 by the Whitehall Guesthouse across the road, built for James Dunlop Allen, who ran it with his daughter until 1949. [3] [4] Whitehall was one of many guesthouses in Portsea and Sorrento, but by the 1950s it was the last one operating in Sorrento.
During World War II it was made available to families of servicemen by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who then purchased the property [5] in the summer of 1950 to provide accommodation for families of former Royal Navy men, but by 1952 advertised it for sale after paying £31,400. [6] It was purchased by the Dunkley family whose oldest son had just completed service with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. [6] In 1983 it was sold to Dr. Ian McGoldrick, [7] who later sold in about 2010 to architect Kevin Greenhatch, in partnership with Ros Harvey. In 2016 they sold it, but the purchaser passed away and it was put up for sale again in 2017. [8] In 2023 it is still operating as a 31 room conference venue and guesthouse, possibly 'the largest and oldest still operating guest house in Victoria'. [8]
Whitehall originally had accommodation for around 120 people. Most rooms contain a single or double bed and a set of drawers and wardrobe. Bathrooms were originally all communal, with a men's and women's on each level. The first floor rooms facing Back Beach Road have windows onto the full-length balcony. A narrow passageway between rooms provide verandah access to all guests. Downstairs, the rooms facing the road are larger, and like those above them, had fireplaces. At either end of the ground floor is the lounge room and the billiard room, both with fireplaces. The dining room and ballroom share the transept, perpendicular to the rest. At the rear, under a separate roofline is the kitchen, servery, laundry, staff eating area, preparation area, store rooms and refrigeration including a cool room replete with solid wooden door with a long metal lever arm to press the door closed ensuring an airtight seal. Outside were several wooden garages, a workshop, a room housing a potato-peeling machine, and washing mops. Behind them stands a limestone row of rooms used up until the 1970s as sleeping quarters for male staff. In the 1960s the Dunkleys built female staff quarters parallel to the men's, set into the hill.
Limestone is a soft material, easily worn away by wind and rain. To prevent deterioration to the southern wall, the national park next door was planted out with pines and cypress, which were removed after 40 years in a campaign to reinstate indigenous plants.
Port Phillip or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completely surrounded by localities of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan Greater Melbourne in the bay's main eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula, and the city of Greater Geelong in the much smaller western portion north of the Bellarine Peninsula. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 km2 (750 sq mi) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 m (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion from the mainland in the area between Pearcedale and an area north of Frankston. The area was originally home to the Mayone-bulluk and Boonwurrung-Balluk clans and formed part of the Boonwurrung nation's territory prior to European settlement.
Sorrento is a coastal town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 103 km (64 mi) south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Sorrento recorded a population of 2,013 at the 2021 census.
Frankston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 41 km (25 mi) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Frankston recorded a population of 37,331 at the 2021 census.
Dromana is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 57 km (35 mi) south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Dromana recorded a population of 6,626 at the 2021 census.
Flinders is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 73 km (45 mi) south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Flinders recorded a population of 1,130 at the 2021 census.
Rosebud is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately 61 km (38 mi) south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Rosebud recorded a population of 14,381 at the 2021 census.
Rye is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately 94.5 km (58.7 mi) south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Rye recorded a population of 9,438 at the 2021 census.
"The Rip", also known as "The Heads", is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the bay of Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport into Port Phillip and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two largest cities. Because of large tidal flows through the relatively narrow channel from the bay to the ocean, and a high rocky seabed, The Rip is a dangerous stretch of water and has claimed numerous ships and many lives. Geographically, it is the roughly triangular area of water between the land points of Point Nepean on the Mornington Peninsula, Shortlands Bluff and Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula, with these three forming The Heads.
The Mornington Peninsula Freeway is a freeway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that provides a link from south-eastern suburban Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula. Whilst the entire freeway from Dingley Village to Rosebud is declared by VicRoads as the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, the section between EastLink in Carrum Downs and Moorooduc Highway in Moorooduc is locally and commonly known as Peninsula Link. The entire freeway corridor bears the designation M11.
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula, separates Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait. The peninsula itself was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wadawurrung nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. Early European settlements were initially centred on wheat and grain agriculture, before the area became a popular tourist destination with most visitors arriving by paddle steamer on Port Phillip in the late 19th century.
Sullivan Bay lies 60 km (37 mi) due south of Melbourne on Port Phillip, one kilometre (0.6 mi) east of Sorrento, Victoria. It was established as a short-lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins, who named the bay after the Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, John Sullivan.
The Mechanics' Institute, Sorrento is a building classified by the National Trust of Australia and located at 827 Melbourne Road, Sorrento, Victoria, Australia.
SS Alert was a steamship that sank off Cape Schanck, Victoria, Australia on 28 December 1893. The ship was built for the gentle waters of Scottish lochs and was almost 51 m (167 ft) long and weighed 247 tonnes.
South Channel Fort, also known as South Channel Island, is a 0.7 ha artificial island in southern Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east of the town of Sorrento. It was part of a network of fortifications protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip.
The Shire of Flinders was a local government area encompassing the extremity of the Mornington Peninsula, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 324 square kilometres (125.1 sq mi), and existed from 1874 until 1994.
The Breakers Hotel is a historic landmark 14-story hotel on East Ocean Avenue in downtown Long Beach, California. Opened in 1926 as a luxury oceanfront resort hotel, it is set to reopen in 2023 as the Fairmont The Breakers, Long Beach. The building has gone through multiple changes of ownership and has been renamed at various times the Hilton, the Wilton, and the Breakers International Hotel. It has had a history of financial problems and closures and also operated for many years as a retirement home. The building has been designated as a Long Beach Historic Landmark.
McCrae Homestead is an historic property located in McCrae, Victoria, Australia. It was built at the foot of Arthurs Seat, a small mountain, near the shores of Port Phillip in 1844 by Andrew McCrae, a lawyer, and his wife Georgiana Huntly McCrae, a portrait artist of note. The homestead is under the care of the National Trust of Australia, and is open to the public. Volunteers who are knowledgeable about the history of the house conduct tours and answer questions.
Sorrento Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 10-16 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.