Late Victorian Timber Residence Series

The houses of the Late Victorian Timber Residence Series as described are located in Albert Street, Beverin Street, Bridge Street, Grant Street, Kent Street, Vickers Street and Yarrowee Street, Sebastopol. They are on individual allotments and are non-contiguous in location. The residences date between 1880 and 1910. The significant elements of each place include the external fabric including the chimneys, verandahs, building (and roof) form and materials, early outbuildings to the rear of the main dwelling, the early front fences and pathways, mature gardens and trees (in particular the mature trees and Canary Island Palm at 160 Albert Street and 73 Yarrowee Street, and the Canary Island Palms at 168 and 193 Albert Street), the generous front and side setbacks, side driveways and views to the side elevation of the residences from the public realm. The houses all have a high degree of integrity externally, and almost all are in good condition. The places included in this serial listing are:

77 Albert Street

102 Albert Street

155 Albert Street

160 Albert Street 

168 Albert Street 

193 Albert Street

208 Albert Street

230 Albert Street

240 Albert Street

280 Albert Street

140 Beverin Street

3 Bridge Street

100 Grant Street

114 Grant Street

1 Kent Street

7 Kent Street

62 Yarrowee Street

73 Yarrowee Street

101 Vickers Street

103 Vickers Street

The houses of the Late Victorian Timber Residence Series are of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance to the township of Sebastopol and the City of Ballarat.

The houses of the Late Victorian Timber Residence Series are of local historical significance. The houses date from the period of the 1890s through to 1910, and help demonstrate residential development of the middle class in Sebastopol in this period, and the preferred or typical residential housing types. The houses are also significant for being associated with a particular phase of growth and development in Sebastopol, the second deep lead mining boom. Following a lean period of gold mining in the 1870s and 1880s, a new 'boom' period was experienced in Sebastopol from 1886-1909, reflecting accurately the approximate period of development represented by the houses within the Series. The prosperity of the new leads re-invigorated existing commercial and social enterprise, and the growing prosperity of the township brought new residents and businesses - small scale manufactories opened. (Criterion A)

At this time, Sebastopol was consolidating from a small rural settlement, with a fluctuating population to an integrated rural township, with its own services, infrastructure and social and cultural identity. The development of these late Victorian residences reflected the stabilization of the population, as evidenced by the construction of permanent, non-relocatable residences, built with stone and brick footings, with elaborate decorative chimneys and verandahs, often carefully sited on large allotments with attractive gardens. This shift was also reflected in the housing which gradually evolved from the earlier, simpler and more modest forms predominantly found in rural towns, and evidenced by some of the dwellings in this group, to the later Federation houses and then bungalows and other interwar housing types more typical of Ballarat's satellite towns and suburbs. (Criterion A and D)

While they are typically modest in design and architectural expression, and constructed of timber, they are nevertheless comparatively intact examples of common nineteenth century housing types, albeit some were constructed in the first years of the twentieth century. The subject properties include examples of double-fronted houses with front verandahs and symmetrical arrangements of windows and central door, this being one of the simplest nineteenth-century Victorian house types; and houses with an L-shaped plan and a projecting room to one side, which reflects an early Federation approach. (Criterion E and D)