Former Healesville West Post Office

The property at 3 Old Chum Creek Road, Chum Creek, includes a large 1920s spreading double-storey bungalow residence, constructed of fibro cement sheet with painted timber strapping and hipped and gabled roof forms. The roof is of cement tile, there are chimneys, and shallow gables to the most visible facades. The gables are infilled with cement sheeting and painted vertical timber strapping with the apex infilled in painted timber latticework. A long return first floor verandah has infill glazing and screens, and a large modern timber deck with timber balustrade is on the west side at first floor level. The ground floor, or elevated undercroft area, has walls of painted vertical timber planking and small timber-framed windows which sit forward of the walling. The house is set on a large vegetated sloping allotment, with vehicular access from Heath Road to the rear of the property and also from the corner of Old Chum Creek Road. A sign to the corner of the property, at the road junction identifies it as the old post office. The focus of significance is on the historic dwelling.

How is it significant?

The property at 3 Old Chum Creek Road, Chum Creek, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance.

Why is it significant?

The property at 3 Old Chum Creek Road, Chum Creek, is of local historical significance. The subject dwelling was constructed in 1926-7 by Alexander (Alick) and Lyn Eddie, and in 1928 the Eddies took up the local 'West Healesville' post office licence and ran the operation from their property. Chum Creek was originally part of the municipality of Eltham, before joining the Shire of Healesville in 1912. The hamlet had a school from 1897, a Methodist Church from the early 1900s, and a post office from 1917, originally located in another property on Heath Road. The name 'Healesville West' appears to have been assigned to the Chum Creek area in conjunction with the establishment of the post office, which operated out of the subject property until 1971. The building is significant for providing evidence of the services historically provided to an isolated and outlying Healesville settlement. The property is also of local aesthetic/architectural significance, as a large and prominent building, on an elevated corner site. It has a large and spreading double-storey bungalow form, with hipped and shallow gable roofs, and timber strapping to the gables. The generous and in this case habitable undercroft area combined with return verandah, are Healesville characteristics. The former is typically in response to sloping allotments, while the latter takes advantage of views, albeit rural views of the Chum Creek area. While there have been changes to the building, it still retains its overall 1920s form and detailing, and its prominent corner siting in the historic Chum Creek (Healesville West) settlement. The history of this property, as the local post office from the late 1920s to the early 1970s, also distinguishes it.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House