A prefabricated cottage from c1854, with a later verandah and bow windows.
Fenagh Cottage (Extant) 7 Burnett Street
- Date Built: c.1854
- Owners and occupiers:
William (or Patrick) Cleary; George Watson and family
- Description:
A timber cottage that was reportedly prefabricated and imported from England c1854. The ground level has shallow bay windows to the verandah, and there is a small dromer window with fretted bargeboards for an attic room above.
According to the 1897 MMBW plan, Fenagh Cottage had a much larger site, with a croquet lawn at the left side and a tennis court at the right and a driveway leading to the coach-house and stables. The stables and tennis court are no longer there, however the coach-house and one other small building are still existing at the property. Alterations were made to the house in 1973, and the current verandah is not original, nor are the bow windows. Some repairs and restoration was funded by Heritage Victoria in 1987.
The Heritage Victoria listing from 1986 notes that "until recently, Fenagh Cottage retained some of its original Morewood and Rogers galvanised iron roof tiles." but it now has corrugated iron.
- History:
Land was originally bought by F.G. Dalgety in 1846, and was part of his estate known as Dalgety’s Paddock. The land was subdivided in 1854 before Dalgety soon moved back to England.
This particular block was bought by Henry Langlands, iron founder and politician. Along with Thomas Fulton, Langlands established the first foundry here in 1851. He sold off the block at 7 Burnett Street as he owned many other properties.
It was bought by William (or perhaps Patrick) Cleary, and by 1855 there were a number of small buildings on the land, with the first St Kilda ratebook in 1857 listing it as “a seven-roomed timber house and stables”. George Watson (of Cobb & Co; Melbourne Hunt Club, and the VRC) was listed as the occupant, who then himself bought the property in 1858 and lived there until he died in 1906. His family is recorded as still living in the property in the 1920s. It is unclear as to whether it was Cleary or Watson who “brought in sections” of the house from England. Watson (1829-1906) was born in Ballydarton, County Carlow, Ireland. Fenagh is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland, but it is unknown what connection Watson had to it.
- Gallery:
- Sources:
Richard Peterson, A Place of Sensuous Resort: Buildings of St Kilda and their People, Chapter 25
Miles Lewis Melbourne Mansions Databse 4553
- Compiled by: Sally Moore, 30.10.20. Updated Rohan Storey April 2026
