Date11/10/2022DescriptionThis home is an ode to Romeo's parents whose spirit is still embedded throughout the space.
Entering the home, you are met with warmth, a hint of 60s-70s charm in the choice of furniture, decorations, finishes, arid undeniable touches of their Italian heritage with unique artwork on the walls and humorous quotes.
His father emigrated to Australia in 1949 and his mother in 1951, living at his uncle’s property in St Johns Park until 1955. The family purchased an adjoining property to their uncle in 1955 living there until 1972. In July 1972, the family moved from their house at St Johns Park to Horsley Park on the outskirts of Fairfield City. Horsley Park was still all farmland, dirt roads at that time and had no sewer. There are still a few Vietnamese & Maltese & Italian farmers left in the area keeping up the old ways, but Romeo has witnessed the area change over the years with many new developments and young families coming in and building new, larger homes.
Romeo is unique in that he has had many careers and jobs throughout his lifetime, where many others would simply stick to one path. Starting out as a high school teacher at Fairvale High School in 1974, he worked in operations with Telecom (Telstra) in 1982 and in customer service at AMP in 1998; during 2004 - 2016, he went on to coach tennis at Brenan Park & finally at Club Marconi. He always had an avid passion, and talent for sports, winning quite a few tournaments in tennis as well as cricket.
Romeo's father worked at the Resch's brewery for 11 years and would travel into Redfern in the city which had many distilleries and breweries. While his mother looked after the farm and took the food to the market as well as looked after himself and his sister.
He always grew up with wine and alcohol and they would always have a bottle of homemade grappa, a type of Italian liquor, in the house. I was lucky enough to sample from this particular bottle which was around 20 years old.
Over time his father began to understand the land more and more and built around the home in such a way that was able to withstand various environmental conditions. While a humble home, small and quaint, some would describe as a little outdated, it has everything that you would need in a home to have a comfortable life. It should serve as a reminder to all of us that life and home is what you make it.
The family always had animals on their property. A few cows, many dogs, chickens, ponies, and cats. Romeo is very fond of his pet companion, and they always do the 200 metre walk up the hill together twice a day to keep up their routine.
- Renata Dominik, March 2023PhotographerRenata DominikNotesThese photographs are part of the 2022 City Photographer project.
Details
Image ColourColourTypeDigitalCopyrightPartial restriction. Please contact Fairfield City Heritage Services for image use.AcknowledgementRenata Dominik, 2022 Fairfield City Photographer. Image courtesy of Fairfield City Heritage Collection.
Romeo Menegazzi: The Hotel (11/10/2022). Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 19/01/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/4474
