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STONE COTTAGE (NAREEN)

Other Name

AVONDALE

Location

Nareen-Chetwynd Rd NAREEN, Southern Grampians Shire

File Number

448

Level

Stage 2 study complete

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The stone cottage and remnant garden is located approximately 500 metres south west of the intersection of the Chetwynd-Nareen Road and the Nareen Road, near the hamlet of Nareen. The cottage is typically that of a pastoral selector, symmetrically arranged, of four rooms with a passageway. It is constructed from coursed random rubble bluestone, and has a central four-paneled door with twelve pane double hung sash windows arranged either side. A timber verandah, now collapsed, has been attached to the front of the house, which faced north east overlooking the nearby creek. Two brick chimneys are symmetrically arranged at either end of the cottage, and the roof is a simple hip, clad in corrugated iron. A substantial timber extension (perhaps a detached kitchen) has been removed from the western side of the house, although the footings and timber stumps remain to show its extent. The garden that surrounds the cottage indicates the remains of a typical selector's garden, with a number of fruit trees, subsistence garden, and a range of ornamental shrubs, bulbs and trees. A large Stone Pine (Pinus pinea) is located to the south of the cottage.

How is it significant?
The stone cottage is of historical significance to the Southern Grampians Shire.

Why is it significant?
The stone cottage located on the Chetwynd-Nareen Road is of historical significance for its long association with the Healey family, typical Irish selectors, who retained ownership of the original land taken up by Martin Healey in 1876. This land remained in the family until the last of the Healey family for about 100 years. The cottage is of further historical significance because it reflects the major change in land ownership brought about by the land Selection Acts of the 1860s, particularly in the Nareen district.

Group

Farming and Grazing