Beautiful Tumut Accommodation, With An Impressive History – Try It, You’ll Love It.
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efton House (originally spelt Sephton House) is a late Victorian Mansion and Tumuts most renowned and admired historic landmarks. Lovingly renovated to it’s former glory and still retains original features of high ceilings, mantle pieces, picture rails, French doors, large verandas with lace work, intricate and ornate architectural detailing, large rooms and so much more. Boutique Motel Sefton house history is fascinating, please enjoy reading it.
Sefton House was built in harmony with Tumuts gold rush era in the 1890’s by Mr Harry Hoad who stems from the famous Hoad family who are of Yarrangobilly Caves fame, politicians and grandfather of Australian tennis great Lew Hoad.
Through their remarkable mateship and commitment to tennis as players and coaches on the international and local suburban courts, Lew Hoad along with Ken Rosewall, Tony Roche, Margaret Court, John Newcombe, Harry Hopman, Norman Cahill etc created the greatest golden age of Australian tennis 1950’s to 1970’s and layed the foundations for today and beyond.
Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall were born in the same month and same year 1934, they played a lot of tennis together and were known as the Golden Twins then as the Sydney twins.
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ew hoads grandfather Mr Harry Hoad was commissioned by the local Sisters with permission from England, to build one of his finest works, the magnificent jewel in the crown Sefton House for Nurse Annie Emery’s mother who set up Tumuts First Private Maternity Hospital to especially look after the rural mums who lived on distant farms. Sefton House was built in the 1890’s by the local Sisters as a private maternity hospital mainly for the rural mum’s who lived on the large farms in the region. Often it would take days by horse and cart to come into Tumut to the public hospital and only able to stay a short period of time through lack of bed availability. So the local Sisters with permission from England, had Sefton House built and named after Annie Sefton who was a pioneer in midwifery. It was constructed by Harry Hoad who was the grandfather of Lew Hoad the great Australian tennis player. This allowed the farming mum’s to come, deliver their child and stay until fully recovered before the long horse and cart trip back to the farm and continue with the relentless duties of the rural mum’s of running the household, the family, the new born and the hands on farming duties as well. People from all over the world that have stayed at Boutique Motel Sefton House since we opened it in 2007 , have been touched and inspired by the history.
Mrs Emery looked after some of the finest mums from the local district for many years. Sefton House then became a private residence for quite a while until Mrs Emery’s daughter Nurse Annie Emery re opened Sefton House as Tumuts Luxury Private Maternity Hospital. Today as you talk and meet with some of Tumuts finest and most successful residents who were born at Sefton House, their sense of pride to have been born in such a magnificent mansion and to see it beautifully renovated, is very apparent. Sefton House then converted back to a private residence for two families for many years. Sefton House was then re opened by Sister Harris as Tumuts Luxury Private Maternity Hospital, and she provided a first class facility for many years.
In 1940 Sefton House then became Headquarters for the Italian Officers Prisoners of War who escaped from Italy and were given sanctuary all over rural Australia. Sefton House was home for the many Italians who voluntarily surrendered to the allies and were welcomed and integrated into the Tumut community. Peter Stathis came to Tumut in 1930 to manage and run the Montreal Theatre which is still in operation to this day. After the war in 1948 Peter Stathis purchased Sefton House and moved in with his family, Son George and his family, wife Margaret, and children Dianne,Kerryne and Michael.
During Peters ownership, half of Sefton House was rented to the ambulance services. Sefton House then became Tumuts First Ambulance Station and housed the first Ambulance Officer and his family.Claude Wallwork, then Freddie Taylor then Joe Wignall. The grounds of Sefton House were used to park the very expensive Ambulance vehicle and when called upon the Ambulance Officer Mr Wignall would go out and pick up the patients in the Ambulance Vehicle and deliver them up to the Tumut Hospital in Simpson Street. When the new ambulance station was built in 1956 the ambulance officer moved out. Peter owned Sefton House till 1970’s when he sold it to the Tumut Bowling Club which then leased it to a government department which operated Sefton House as mission Australia employment agency.
