The Oaks former Shotts

The former 'Shotts', now 'The Oaks', an Edwardian Queen Anne villa with Old English and Art Nouveau references, at 83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is significant. It was built in 1905 as the home of William Cattanach.

Significant fabric includes the:

Original built form and roof form, gable ends, terracotta roof tiles with ridge cresting and finials, and original chimneys;

Parapeted bay, unpainted face brick walls, verandah with turned timber posts and ornamental timber fretwork and brackets, pattern of fenestration; and half-timbering to gable ends, detailing to parapeted bay, window and door joinery, leaded glass window panels, and unpainted face brick walls.

The infill of the front verandah to create the library and the skillion-roofed addition at the south-west corner of the house are not significant.

How is it significant?

83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is of local architectural (representative), aesthetic, and associative significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?

The former 'Shotts' at 83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is a fine representative example of an Edwardian Queen Anne villa with a strong English influence, a type that is rare in Moonee Valley. Instead of the spreading horizontals typically seen amongst Queen Anne villas in Australia, 'Shotts' is dominated by steep verticals including the tall pyramidal roof enclosing a small attic level and the steep gables to three elevations, including the floating gable to the front facade with decorative trusswork on a brick ground in lieu of the typical half-timbering. Other features typical of the style are the terracotta tiles, ridge-capping and finials to the roof, the casement windows with leadlight highlights, and the timber verandah posts and fretwork, here in a Japanese-inspired pattern of verticals and horizontals. The house is aesthetically significant for its high quality and unusual details, particularly the parapet with Art Nouveau bas-relief above the corner bay window, and the overblown Art Nouveau leadlights around the front door. (Criteria D and E)

The place is historically significant for its close association with William Cattanach, who commissioned the house in 1905 and resided there with his wife until about 1919. Cattanach was at the height of his career at this time, and was appointed a founding member of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission the following year, and Chair of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission in 1915. He is recognised in the Australian Dictionary of Biography for his substantial contribution to the development of Victorian water resources, the expansion of irrigation, the subdivision of large holdings for closer settlement, and the development of the fruit industry. The high quality of the design and detail of the house expresses Cattanach's elevated social and economic standing at that time. (Criterion H)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House