Singing Waters, A Photo Essay By Phil Byrne
Mountain Air Invigorates Jaded City Folks
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Singing Waters homestead in the 1970s
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Built c.1905 by the Sparkes family, Singing Water was located deep in the Strathewen valley
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Eleanor Sparkes opened her doors to guests during the First World War and began advertising her guesthouse in 1917. “While my son was in Palestine I had leisure and room to spare, so recorded my name at the Tourist Bureau.” Mrs. Eleanor Sparkes 1920
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By 1922, Mrs. Sparkes was advertising her property as Singing Water
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Singing Water took its name from the mini waterfalls on the Arthurs Creek, beyond the verandah
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“Mountain air invigorates jaded city folk.” Singing Water boasted creek frontage, 10ft verandahs and 9 guest bedrooms
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“Visitors found the only means of arriving … was to sit behind horses in the habit of taking three hours to do a dozen miles.” In 1926, locals urged the Whittlesea Council to form a road from Chadds Creek to Mrs. Sparkes’ guesthouse
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“We have over thirty acres of apples and peaches.” Mrs. Sparkes supplemented her supplies via her sons’ trips to town selling the produce of their farming
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In its heyday, Singing Water offered views, shooting, fishing, bushwalking, milk, honey, log fires, verandah sleep-outs, fern gullies and seasonal fruit. Guests enjoyed Singing Water’s fine gardens. It even had its own tennis court
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Eleanor Sparkes cooked meals for her family and guests using the old wood stove. Many were fond of her home baked scones. Mrs. Sparkes chopped her own wood and had one of three telephones in the area.
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Mrs. Eleanor Sparkes passed away at Singing Water in 1942. Her daughter, Vera McKimmie, pictured here with husband Robert, took over the property as hostess until around 1949. Vera lived at the property until her death in 1968
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After Vera died, Singing Water sat derelict for a number of years. It was slated for demolition by the relevant authorities in the early 1970s
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In 1972, Vera’s granddaughter Rosemary McKimmie took over the property in an effort to save it from demolition
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Rosemary and her family spent many years restoring the guesthouse. The verandah sleep-outs were removed and the kitchen was dismantled and completely rebuilt
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Re-christened, Singing Waters, the iconic guesthouse was given a new lease on life.
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Five generations of the McKimmie family lived at Singing Waters before it was reluctantly sold in the late 1990s.
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Then a share of Strathewen’s heritage was entrusted to new caretakers, who also fell in love with the property
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Singing Waters welcomed guests - old and new - at parties, weddings, holidays, honeymoons and Christmas time ‘Carols By Candlelight’.
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3:30pm Black Saturday. 7 February, 2009. The final photograph of Singing Waters. Singing Waters had survived many bushfires, including the 1939 Black Friday blaze...
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With the destruction of Singing Waters on Black Saturday, Strathewen lost a piece of its rich history
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Yet, as the water sings again …
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The memories live on.
