The Quarters

The Quarters is a former chinoiserie fishing lodge or lakeside summer house, built around 1772 by Richard Wood. It was converted into a house around 1951, during which a gable was added to the north. The building is probably constructed of brick and is roughly rendered. It features grey slate double range roofs on the left gables and a copper felt roof on the central single storey and right dome. The left ranges have moulded bargeboards on the gables.

The structure consists of two north gabled bays that are two storeys high, a single storey central range, and a square plan lakeside range with an octagonal interior. The entrance face (north) has a two-window range with small paned vertically sliding sash windows, a central six-panelled door with a moulded surround, and a flat canopy. The west face includes two ground floor Chinese keyhole small paned vertically sliding sash windows with moulded surrounds, and four first floor small paned casements in the left double gables. The central range has an open porch supported by two stone fluted columns, with a left small paned vertically sliding sash window and a right half-glazed door.

The right square plan range features octagonal inner walls and keyhole windows on the west, south, and east faces, topped with a concave broaching leading to a concave octagonal dome of two stages, complete with a weathervane finial. A trellised verandah with a concave hipped roof faces the lakeside (south). The east face has similar features.

Inside, the octagonal walls of the dome include alternate windows and tall niches, along with moulded dados, wainscots, and ceiling cornices. All rooms have six-panelled doors with brass fittings and moulded architraves. The central and left ranges feature chamfered bridging joists, with similar doors, dados, and cornices as found in the dome. The name "The Quarters" is derived from the belief that Cromwellian troops were quartered in the grounds. A painting by Constable from around 1816 is said to hang in Melbourne, Australia.