Lauderdale Cottage Through the 20th Century to Now

Upon Charles Jordan Senior’s death, Lauderdale Cottage passed to his son and a generation later the estate was divided between his children.  In our discussions with Kathy Gatenby, a descendent of the Jorden family, we have learned that this period saw great rifts among the family. Janet Jorden, the only unmarried daughter, managed the property with her dear friend, Sarah Tolman. Sarah had been appointed the trustee of the estate and executor of Charles Jorden Jnr’s will. The Tolmans and Jordens were closely tied through business as well.

There was much pressure from Janet’s siblings to sell the property and divide the returns but Janet fought hard and eventually took out a substantial mortgage in order to buy out her brothers and sisters. She and Sarah remained at Lauderdale and eventually the property was passed to Wilfred Watts Tolman, Sarah’s nephew, upon their deaths. Through today’s lens you might assume that Sarah and Janet were more than good friends and it is said they were an eccentric pair with a great interest in health.

Wilfred Tolman and his family lived at Lauderdale and upon his death the property was again to be divided among the children. Eventually, in 2004, Nigel Tolman sold the property to Tony Baldwin who intended to turn Lauderdale into a Vaucluse Gardens.

A retirement village and aged care centre was proposed. Extensive renovations to the house, that was intended to serve as the admin and community hub, were undertaken. As part of the development process, an enormous amount of historical investigation was undertaken and it is from this work that I draw the majority of my information. There are hundreds of pages of reports pertaining to everything from alterations made during the Tolman and Jorden years to archaeological digs unearthing Indigenous middens and other hints of the past. Yet while all this was occurring the property fell into neglect with many trees dying and vandalism of the buildings and grounds.

In 2008 Tony Baldwin died, the proposal failed and Lauderdale was sold to George Giameos. Giameos Constructions proposed a multi storey development of townhouses throughout the grounds that also failed to pass through council due to Heritage concerns and vast public disapproval. Perhaps you remember these proposals?  I know there are a number of people in New Town who fought hard to save Lauderdale, and to them we are most grateful!

In 2017 our family purchased the property from Giameos Constructions. Since then we have focussed our attention on the grounds. We have undertaken a large amount of replanting, pruning and watering of the orchard and gardens. The emphasis has been on restoring the original orchard grid pattern.

There are many significant trees such as the original fig, mulberry, pears hawthorn hedges and various large ornamental and landscape trees. Where fruit trees have died due to neglect or age, we have replanted, in order to complete the rows. A large number of old varieties have been grafted onto surviving rootstock to preserve their genetic history for the future.