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GRASSGUNYAH

Other Name MCCOLL'S HOUSE Location 61 Coleraine - Balmoral Road, BALMORAL VIC 3407 - Property No 04 File Number 438 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/1] 23243 Grassgunyah Balmoral

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
Grassgunyah is a single storey building constructed of local hand made bricks with a timber verandah on three sides. It is located on the north side, on a sharp bend of the Coleraine - Balmoral Road, approximately 800 metres from the centre of the township. The building is conservative, simple and symmetrical, with a central passage and principal rooms to either side, reminiscent of the earliest colonial bungalows in Australia. The verandah roof is contiguous with the main hip roof. The house was built as the retirement home for James McColl an important local pastoralist who owned the property Yat Nat from 1860 until his death in 1876. The house is in poor condition, but retains a high degree of integrity.

How is it significant?
Grassgunyah is of historical and architectural significance to the township of Balmoral and the Southern Grampians Shire.

Why is it significant?
Grassgunyah is of historical significance for its links to an important early pastoralist, James McColl of Yat Nat. The house was built for he and his wife to retire in, although he never lived in the house, as he died at Yat Nat in 1876. The house is architectural significance as a late example of the early colonial bungalow form. This is enhanced by the joinery, which is particularly fine. It demonstrates detailing and dimensions more typical of the early colonial period than the 1860s.