A short drive from Mornington Golf Club and less than a kilometre behind the Mornington High School lies Beleura, an extensive and historical garden and elaborate heritage house museum in similar style to the home at Ripponlea.
Built in 1863 and closely associated with its second owner, Sir George Tallis, once chairman of international theatre company, J.C. Williamson Ltd, the house contains a bedroom for Dame Nellie Melba and, as its online publicity confirms, “The house is exceptional for its collection and includes the original furnishings of its last owner, the musician/composer John Tallis.”.
Originally built on 2000 acres reaching to the southern coast of the peninsula and taking in most of what is modern-day Mornington, its remaining five-and-a-half hectares contains gardens within gardens tended by devoted volunteers. Our guide for the fascinating garden tour was a former horticulturist while our guide through the house had grown up and worked in Beleura for John Tallis himself.
Members sharing the excursion were provided with a very tasty morning tea and a light lunch between very walkable tours as they enjoyed learning yet another interesting fragment of Victoria’s eclectic, even eccentric history.