The Chaffey Trail: Rio Vista

Quick Overview Of The History: Three years after arriving in Mildura, William Chaffey started construction of his new home "Rio Vista" in 1889.

Built in the popular Queen Anne style, no expense was spared with exotic woods, Lincrusta wallpapers and handpainted stained glass windows.

During construction of Rio Vista, the family were living just up the road at the Mildura Station Homestead. His wife Hattie died there of pneumonia, shortly after giving birth to their 6th child, and was buried in the family plot at the station. The child died only a few months later and was buried with his mother.

Rio Vista house on the left, with the Art center on the right

The Chaffey Family Move Into Rio Vista: Shortly after the death of his wife Hattie, William Chaffey moved his family into Rio Vista. His mother and sister would care for the children during his frequent visits back to America, and on one of these trips, he met his second wife (also named Hattie) and brought her back to Australia with him.

Hattie was the niece of Williams first wife, and together they had a further six children. After William died in 1926, Hattie remained at Rio Vista, until her death in 1950.

Story Of The Fountain

Almost any photograph of Rio Vista from the outside, shows the centerpiece of the front garden - the large fountain. There is a bit of sad story behind this. As far as I can piece together, this is how it goes...

In 1897, one of the youngest Chaffey children (sorry, I don't know his name) managed to slip out of the house un-noticed, and drowned in the fountain. He was only 15 months old... at that toddler stage where they can be gone in a blink of any eye, exploring new things.

After this tragedy, the fountain was disabled, and sat unused for a number of years. I believe Hattie found it upsetting to see the cause of her young sons death every day when she looked out the front of the house, so the fountain was removed and gifted to the town in 1936. It was placed in Deakin Avenue, where it still stands to this day.

So the fountain you see at Rio Vista now, is not the actual one that was in place when the drowning occured. It is in fact a very impressive recreation of the original, and was installed in 1991.

Interesting Fact: William Chaffey had 12 children in total. Six to each of his wives. Only half of them survived him after his death in 1926.

Gallery Of Stained and Painted Glass

There are plenty of stained glass windows in Rio Vista, I couldn't photograph them all. But here is a selection of ones that I particularly liked.

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