A temperance history surprises The Mole

Leaning on the bar recently at the Mountain Heritage Hotel Spa and Retreat, it came as bit of shock to hear that many people do not know that the Temperance Movement played a big part in the building of Mountain Heritage Retreat in 1908 and The Mole though that a ghost might appear to snatch that very nice sav blanc right out of The Mole’s hands!

The Temperance Movement was driven by respectable church going people who were philosophically opposed to what they saw as the evils of alcohol and would never be seen in licensed premises or public houses.

This created a large market for unlicensed premises which did not serve alcohol, variously referred to as coffee palaces, private hotels, boarding houses, or guesthouses and back in 1890, an advertisement appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald calling for the public to support the building of a coffee palace in the Mountains, now the Ritz Nursing Home. 

The advertisement said, “…………growing demand for accommodation of a superior class is being every day more and more felt in the Blue Mountains townships and it will supply a long felt want and enable respectable families to avail themselves of the advantages of a home.”

The coffee palaces and grand guesthouses offered similar elegance, size and facilities as the licensed grand hotels, but patrons were somewhat more isolated from the evils of alcohol, with the proprietors taking their responsibility very seriously and often acted as chaperones to younger clientele to make sure the moral integrity of their establishment was upheld.

The largest and most famous of the grand guesthouses was The Mountain Heritage, then known as The California [pictured right] and built in 1908 by Herbert James Preston Esq., a wealthy Sydney businessman whose many interests included Australian representations for the Swiss based coffee and chocolate company Nestle. 

Preston built his “respectable” alternative to The Carrington and Hydro Majestic, and it quickly became the finest private establishment in the Blue Mountains.

In 1912 Florence May and Arthur Anderson purchased the property, with the New South Wales Government Tourist Guide that year recording it as, “Absolutely commanding the best position overlooking the Jamieson Valley, Katoomba and Leura.”   “Acknowledged as the largest and best appointed Private Boarding Establishment in the Mountains.” 

In 1923 the Andersons took over an adjacent home, “Gawler”, now the luxurious Valley View suites to the Katoomba side to the property and in 1929 they sold the now consolidated estate to a consortium. 

In September 1935 The Herald reported that The California was “the largest and most palatial guesthouse in the Southern Hemisphere, with hot and cold water in each room, a ballroom, an in house entertainer and a permanent orchestra.”

By 1939 one member of the consortium, Miss Annie Rogers, had bought out the others and during this time the property became a favourite haunt for stars of the stage, screen and radio. 

Tourism began to decline in the late 1930’s and in 1942, during World War II, the Department of the Interior leased The California to provide accommodation for female munitions workers at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory.

The charm and facilities of Mountain Heritage were strongly marketed by the government at the time in their attempt to recruit additional labour to assist in the war effort and after the war, the property was purchased by the Australian Government to house British Navy personnel and their families who were recruited by the Australian Navy to work on the new aircraft carriers HMAS Sydney and HMAS Melbourne.  During this time the guesthouse was renamed The Naval Guesthouse.

In 1955 the property was again sold, this time to the Kramer family who had run a guesthouse in the Burragorang Valley until it was flooded for the construction of the Warragamba Dam and the community were obviously happy to have the property operating and open again with the Blue Mountains Courier in 1956 saying, “Looks like the old California will be in full swing again.”  “With The California something more than a lot of empty room, Katoomba should benefit.”

Unfortunately, neither The California nor any other of the grand guesthouses and hotels in the Mountains prospered and in 1972 the Kramer’s sold the property an eastern suburbs property developer, Miss Elizabeth Garnet and like many before her, the environment of the Blue Mountains led Miss Garner to a more spiritual path with the property used as a religious retreat house for a period of time. 

The building and grounds gradually fell into a state of disrepair and during this period became a sad reflection of their former glory.

In 1979 the estate was sold to the current owners Garry and Beverley Crockett, and their continued effort to rejuvenate the building has seen it become Australia’s only remaining grand guesthouse still being used for its original purpose. [pictured left: The Mountain Heritage spiral staircase.]

In 1980 Mountain Heritage created the first winter Christmas, or Yulefest as it has become known, and in the late ‘80’s a refurbishment program was commenced with the goal of bringing the property back to the glory of it’s heyday.

In 1991 the name was changed to Mountain Heritage paying tribute to both the grand guesthouse era and the history of the property.

Corporate and political deals have again been brokered within its corridors, the rich and famous allowed to be themselves in quiet retreat, away from public scrutiny.

The completion of a five million dollar refurbishment program, coinciding with the property’s 90th anniversary in 1998, finally saw Mountain Heritage return to it’s former glory, ensuring the preservation of a piece of Australia’s heritage for the enjoyment of future generations.

The Mole was a guest of The Mountain Heritage Hotel and Spa Retreat, www.mountainheritage.com.au and Luxury Car Hire, www.luxurycarhire.com.au

A Special Blue Mountains Report by The Mole