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RIVERSIDE HOMESTEAD COMPLEX

Location Falkenbergs Road, WANNON VIC 3301 - Property No 1529 File Number 908 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/15] 23400 Riverside Barn 0175 [2/15] 23400 Riverside Garden 0178 [3/15] 23400 Riverside Garden 0179 [4/15] 23400 Riverside garden [5/15] 23400 Riverside garden [6/15] 23400 Riverside garden [7/15] 23400 Riverside main entrance [8/15] 23400 Riverside original site [9/15] 23400 Riverside original site [10/15] 23400 Riverside side entrance [11/15] 23400 Riverside side garden [12/15] 23400 Riverside Side verandah [13/15] 23400 Riverside stables 0185 [14/15] 23400 Riverside Woolshed 0176 [15/15] 23400 Riverside woolshed 0177

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?
Riverside Homestead is located on the east side of Falkenberg's Road about 5.5kms south-west of Wannon overlooking the Wannon River valley. It is a single storey timber house with an irregular plan and demonstrates a late interpretation of the Italianate style with Queen Anne influences. No architect or builder has been associated with its construction. The original occupants were Wilhelm and Ellen Falkenberg. Wilhelm was the son of a Prussian migrant, Johann Falkenberg with South Australian connections and an English migrant, Ann Hallam who selected land successfully at Byaduk. The Falkenbergs were, at first, apiarists but this was superseded by a very successful sheep and cattle-breeding program, which led to prizes, top prices and general recognition for the excellence of their flock and herd. Their sons Stanley and John continued to manage the property. The house is set within a garden unusual for its circular plan but typical of its late nineteenth and early twentieth plantings. The house and garden were substantially improved in the Interwar years and remain substantially intact to that period. The house is in good condition. The house is surrounded by the usual outbuildings, which complete the complex. Substantial outbuildings, including a large woolshed, complement the homestead.

How is it Significant?
The Riverside Homestead complex is of historic and architectural significance to the communities of Wannon and Byaduk and to the Southern Grampians Shire.

Why is it significant?
The Riverside Homestead complex is of historic significance because of its associations with the Falkenberg family of mixed Prussian and British descent who succeeded both at Byaduk and at Wannon. Their success in sheep and cattle breeding is particularly notable and this is reflected in the woolshed. The Riverside Homestead is of architectural significance for reflecting that success over several generations and specifically for its unusual circular garden and for its picturesque form and setting.