Bunting brings a sense of colour to the opening of the Amelia Smythe Cottage

Rain could not stop play at the opening of Amelia Elizabeth Smythe Cottage in March 1940. Opened by Sir Winston Dugan, accompanied by Lady Dugan, the cottage was adorned with bunting that had been donated by the Fitzroy Council.

Sir Winston cut the tape with a pair of gold scissors, donated by Mr Andrew Drummond. Although there were fewer guests than usual due to the weather, the occasion was deemed a great success by The Argus newspaper.

The cottage was designed by Vernon Fick, and the builder was H Broderick.

According to Home Beautiful, the cottage was ‘modern but not modernistic. Its selected bricks range from dark brown to light red, and the shingle tiles run from chocolate on the eves to dark brown on the apex.”

One of the cottage’s first occupants was a Mrs Clapham, a ‘large lady’ who had been from ‘uppercrust Western District and had come down in the world’.