Who was JH Esmond Dorney?
James Henry Esmond Dorney (1906-91), usually referred to as Esmond, was a highly original figure in post-World War 2 Tasmanian architecture.
Professor Philip Goad, Australia's foremost scholar of modernist architecture, believes Dorney's buildings stand out for their experimental style, their daring, and set him apart in Tasmania and Australia as a committed and highly inventive architectural individualist.
Dorney House's significance is further enhanced by Dorney's contribution as a pioneer of Australian modernist architecture.
The Dorneys and the Fort Nelson house site
Dorney House was the family home of Esmond Dorney who bought the site in 1949 and constructed family homes at Fort Nelson over the top of gun emplacements in 1949, 1966 and 1978. The 1966 house was destroyed in a 1978 bushfire and subsequently rebuilt. The Dorney family lived at the Fort Nelson site until 2006.
Dorney House, Fort Nelson and Porter Hill
The site is located within Bicentennial Park and as such is subject to biodiversity and fire management regimes. A mosaic of management burns are being implemented across Porter Hill to deliver ecological regeneration and asset protection for the heritage house / fort atop the hill.