"Osborne House"

A Listed - State Significance

STATEMENT OF SIGNFICANCE

'Osborne House' stables and courtyard in Swinburne Street, North Geelong, were designed by leading Melbourne architect Webb & Taylor in 1857 for pastoralist Robert Muirhead, a former overseer with the Clyde Company. This mansion originally built as a two storey bluestone structure with Barrabool freestone fressing and single storey Doric colonnaded verandah in the Victorian Italianate style,was extended in 1910. 'Osborne House' with attendantstables and enclosed courtyard, is one of Geelong'f finest early mansion houses. It was later occupied as a townhouse for powerful Western District pastoralist JL Currie and finally as the Shire of Corio Offices.

RECOMMENDATIONS: PROTECTIVE MEASURES

Geelong Regional Commission Register

Historic Buildings Council Register

REFERENCES

Shire of Corio - Shire of Corio - Osborne House - November 1967. Pamphlet published for official opening of Municipal Offices.

Geelong Advertiser - 30th May 1857, tenders for erection and completion of mansion 22nd June 1858, tenders for stables at "Osborne House"

Billis, RV & Kenyon AS - Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip

Stockland Press Pty Ltd., Melbourne 1974 - 2nd Edition

p54, Licence of John Lang Currie

p117-118 - Licences of Robert Muirhead

p134-135, Licence of Phillip Russell

Brown, PL 'Russell Philip, (1822-1892) and Thomas (1828-1920) in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Douglas Pike (ed), MUP Vol 6, p77.

Hone, J Ann, 'Currie, John Land (1818-1898) in ABD Douglas Pike (ed), MUP Vol 3 pp 510-511.

Henry, JA and Collie, NJ - Early Geelong, Do You Remember, Henry Thacker Pty Ltd. Printers Geelong, Volumes 1 & 2. Reprinted 1971.

Wynd, Ian - 'So fine a Country: A History of Corio Shire' Draft Copy, to be published in 1980.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House