Muriel Stott (1889–1985) was probably the first woman with her own architectural firm in Australia, opening it in 1917. Between 1916 and 1930, she designed houses in Victoria and the surrounding area. Her most noted design is a house built for the Moran family in 1926 called "Little Milton".

Biography

Muriel Millicent Stott was born in 1889 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, Australia to Annie (née Twyford) and Leonard Sydney Stott She began her training at the firm of Fisher and Bradshaw and completed her articles (certification requirements) in 1916. She spent the following year in the employ of J. J. Meagher, during which time she built 2 to 3 commissions of her own. One was a brick house on High Street in East Malvern and another brick home in Malvern. In 1917 she renovated a house in Malvern and designed a timber

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

located in Castlemaine. In 1917, she opened her own practice, probably becoming the first woman with her own architectural firm in Australia. Stott was hired in 1918 to design a timber residence in

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...

on Coonara Street called ''Rainbow End''. The house was built for friends of her family, the Morans, who would later have her build her most noted commission. In 1919 after finishing Rainbow End, Stott built a brick home in Hawthorn. In 1920, she made a trip with her father to the United States and upon their return, built a home in 1921 at the corner of High Street and Malvern Road in East Malvern. In 1923, Stott registered as an architect and in 1926 built another dwelling for the Moran family. The house, known as ''Little Milton'' is on Albany Road in

Toorak Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 2021 census. The name ...

. She built the property in conjunction with Stephenson & Meldrum and when completed, the home was featured in ''Australian Home Beautiful''. The house may be named after

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

in Oxfordshire, and has some similarities to the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

Great Milton Great Milton is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,042. The School Great Milton church of England primar ...

. The design features a two-story brick façade topped with a pitched gable roof tiled in terra cotta. The entryway is accessed through a Tudor arch, leading into a grand hallway with parquet flooring. The lower floor has a large living room, dining room, galley kitchen and billiard room and the upper floor contains five bedrooms and baths. The gardens were designed by landscape architect

Edna Walling Edna Margaret Walling (4 December 1895 – 8 August 1973) was one of Australia's most influential landscape designers. Early years and migration Walling was born in Yorkshire and grew up in the village of Bickleigh in Devon, England, sec ...

. On 20 August 1998 the property was listed in the Victorian Heritage Register. Little Milton may have been her last commission, as though still advertising as an architect, Stott never joined the Victorian Institute of Architects, and no commissions have been identified after 1926. In 1931, she went to Europe and met Desmond Leech, whom she married in 1932. Leech was a mining engineer from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa and in 1933 she moved with him there. She designed her home at 39 Currie Street, Oaklands, Johannesburg, which was her last known design. Leech died in 1946 and Stott subsequently married James Davies, an Englishman, in 1955. She died in South Africa in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stott, Muriel 1889 births 1985 deaths Australian women architects 20th-century Australian architects Architects from Melbourne 20th-century Australian women