Name: Nutcote
Location: 5 Wallaringa Avenue, Neutral Bay, NSW
Nutcote was the home of May Gibbs and her husband J.O. Kelly, constructed for May Gibbs to designs by noted architect B.J. Waterhouse in 1925. The house, a modest Inter-war Mediterranean style cottage, was designed specifically for May Gibbs, with the studio as the most important room in the house. Here, Waterhouse did a lot with a small space, with a delightful harbour view through trees through a splayed corner window, where May produced her Bib and Bub comic strip from 1924 until 1967.
The Nutcote property contains two built elements: the Main House in the middle of the allotment and the former Garage/Flatette on the Wallaringa Avenue frontage. Now owned and managed by North Sydney Council and leased to The Nutcote Trust, the house is presented as a house museum associated with the life and works of May Gibbs, while the former garage and flat provides the reception, shop and café. The place is listed as a heritage item on the NSW State Heritage Register.
A revised and updated Conservation Management Plan was prepared for the place, providing guidelines and policies that addressed improvements to the street interface, managing events and activities, improving amenity, and upgrading equitable access.
Photograph: May Gibbs in her garden at Nutcote with the cottage behind in 1930. Courtesy of Stanton Library, North Sydney Council
