Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens — Attraction in Melbourne

Heritage Hill Precinct is of local historical and cultural significance, reflecting the course of the City of Greater Dandenong’s cultural history. Laurel Lodge (1869), Benga (1936) and St James’ Anglican Church (1864) offer a glimpse into the everyday lives of a group of prominent locals who lived in the region during the late nineteenth and early-to-mid twentieth centuries.

Today Laurel Lodge and Benga offer visitors opportunities for learning, participation and creative endeavour through tours, classes and exhibitions. Additionally, they regularly welcome artists for short-term residencies to create new work that is inspired and influenced by the real and imagined histories of their temporary studios.

History of Benga House Designed by renowned architect Fredrick Ballantyne and built by Norman Taylor in the Tudor Revival style, Benga expresses the aspirations and developments in domestic housing during the inter-war period.

At the time of its construction, it was to be the largest and most expensive house built in the Shire of Dandenong for over a decade. Through it we can explore the social life of the well-to-do family who resided there for more than 50 years. Benga was:

24 squares comprising seven rooms Deliberately situated on the south-eastern corner of the site to maximise the northern aspect and to ensure that nothing would interfere with the garden's exposure to the winter sun Built on an L-plan, with the lounge, dining rooms and the bedrooms situated in the northern/sunny side of the house and the service areas, including the maid's quarters, kitchen and bathroom positioned on the southern/cool side Today, much of Benga serves as a community access gallery with beautiful, professional exhibition spaces available to artists to exhibit their works.

Benga also offers visitors an opportunity to explore life during the inter-war period through the intricate design of the house, period rooms and through access to Heritage Hill’s oral history collection.

The collection includes tapes and transcripts of more than 300 interviews with a cross-section of people from the City. These oral histories are available to researchers and anyone wishing to listen to the life stories of past and present residents. Access to the collection is via prior arrangement only.

Heritage Hill's Gardens The gardens of Heritage Hill are a part of Dandenong’s history. As well as providing attractive settings for the historic buildings they help us understand how people in the past related to their environment.

The gardens of Laurel Lodge, Benga and St James' Church are all quite different, reflecting the desires of their creators and the diverse uses to which they were put.

Domestic gardens have been an important feature of Australian life since European settlement, both as a source of food and as a place of beauty and recreation. In country towns house blocks of one acre allowed plenty of room for large trees, a vegetable plot, fruit trees, a poultry run and perhaps a cow or horse. It was also fashionable to have large garden beds full of flowers to produce a ‘show’ of massed annuals and perennials.

The Benga Garden was designed and tended to by Mrs Hart for over 50 years. It exists today as an exceptional representation of 1930s garden design with its compartmentalised areas, ornamental trees and shrubs, a formal rose garden, perennial garden beds within expanses of lawn, formally designed paths, a pergola and a sun dial.

The garden has not been significantly altered since the 1930s and is a noteworthy survival of a garden reflecting the period of its creation, designed and maintained by an enthusiastic...

If you like #Gardens & #Historic Houses then Heritige Hill in Dandenong is a must for your Bucket list, especially if you live locally, it is a little hidden gem.💎

Easily accessible on McCrae Street with plenty of Off-street parking, albeit gets busy during the week.

Heritage Hill is open on Saturday, Wednesday and Thursdays only and there is no cost involved to view the historic houses interior or roam the beautiful gardens.

There are two historic houses, the larger is Laurel lodge built 1869 and the smaller is Benga built 1936. They have both been kept really well and it was wonderful to walk through and explore. It is astonishing how well Benga house looks & is very livable even by today's contemporary standards even though it was built almost 90years ago! 🤔👍

The gardens on entering have two massive Rubber gum trees and leads around to a more cosy & well maintened garden in the rear of Laurel lodge. It is such a tranquil and beautiful green space in the midst of an urban...

The museum was generally well-organized and easy to navigate. I found some of the historical artifacts quite engaging, especially the local cultural section. However, a few exhibits felt outdated and could use some refreshment. The lighting was a bit dim in certain areas, making it harder to read the descriptions. Staff were polite, though not particularly enthusiastic. It’s not a large museum, so it didn’t take long to go through everything. Overall, a decent experience, but I wouldn’t rush...