the work of McKim, Mead & White and the American Colonial Revival style particularly impressive. It was during this tour that Wilson realised the influence of geography was crucial to the development of art and architecture. In 1911 Wilson changed his name legally to William Hardy Wilson and joined Neave to form Wilson & Neave. When Neave served in World War I, Wilson closed the practice and concentrated on writing and completing his drawings of old colonial architecture in NSW and Tasmania and building his own house, Purulia. In 1912 he built, after years of thought, his own home, Purulia, at Wahroonga, a suburb to the north of the Sydney central business district. Designed for servantless living, the house was a simple rectangle in plan with plain plastered walls painted white, a low-pitched roof covered in multi-coloured shingle tiles and with boxed eaves. The windows, simple rectangles with Georgian sashes and louvered shutters, were protected by striped canvas awnings. At a time when Queen Anne (revival) was riding high and in an area with pretensions to being the elite suburb of Sydney, its barrenness brought a deputation from outraged neighbours who claimed the values of their properties would be undermined. Wilson could not be stopped. When it was finished he had created a home of honesty, simplicity, sincerity and integrity. Wilson claimed it was not a masterpiece. But it was his. He never produced anything better and its influence was widespread. It became a prototype for all North Shore homes and, to the next generation, the epitome of respectability. Anticipating the changing domestic situation, he planned Purulia as a "maidless flat" and made the kitchen a pleasant family room. Overall, the house was very modern for its time. Describing the building of Purulia, he (Wilson) wrote: 'It is a rectangular cottage covered with an unbroken hipped roof. As the walls arose square, bleak and factory like, consternation filled the souls of neighbours dwelling in multi-angular villas. By the time the brickwork was finished their indignation could not be contained....I found an artist making shingle tiles and from him secured curved uneven, overburnt and many coloured rejects from myriads of flawless tiles. The roof of Purulia is like a venerable Persian rug of quiet and glowing colour.' Today the style of Purulia has become quite a prototype of Sydney's north shore. Features include well proportioned rooms and windows, the typical Wilson