Back to search results »

Back to search page »

Harton Hill

Location 405 RYANS ROAD DIAMOND CREEK, NILLUMBIK SHIRE Level Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/1] Image27

Statement of Significance

The Harton Hills farm complex at 405 Ryans Road, Diamond Creek, is significant. The original form, materials and detailing of the c1907 farmhouse, 1930s farmhouse and the Monterey cypress drive and their setting contribute to the significance of the place. OFFICIAL The outbuildings contribute to the historical understanding of the place as a farming property but are not significant.The Harton Hills farm complex at 405 Ryans Road, Diamond Creek is of local historic and aesthetic significance to the Shire of Nillumbik.The Harton Hills farm complex at 405 Ryans Road, Diamond Creek is historically significant for its illustration of farming in the Diamond Creek district, which remained an integral part of the economic life of the district through the Interwar period. The most significant occupation of the property was by Alison Stewart Davis and Harold Carmichael Davis from 1935 until 1949, when the current c1930s two-storey brick residence was constructed and dog breeding was undertaken at the site. It is also during this period that the Davises operated a Jersey stud at the site. The site also has historic associations with orchard farming in the area which was undertaken during the Coventry family’s occupation of the site. The outbuildings on the site demonstrate the historical operation of the farm during the 1930s and 1940s. (Criterion A) The farm complex at 405 Ryans Road, Diamond Creek is aesthetically significant as an uncommon example of a substantial Interwar brick farmhouse. The two-storey nature of the building is also distinctive in the shire, where most substantial houses were single-storey. The Monterey cypress drive contributes to the setting of the place and emphasises its grandeur. (Criterion E)