BALVORMIE

The homestead known as ‘Balvormie’, at 20 Johnston Court, Bena, built in c.1895, is significant. This home is a double fronted late Victorian building symmetrical villa with weatherboard and timber construction, and a steeply pitched corrugates iron roof. The house features a returning bullnose verandah on both sides, supported by stop chamfered timber posts and cast-iron detailing and brackets, as well as a centred bullnose gablet. Other contributory features of the site include: 

The context for the site is significant as, although the layout of Bena has changes, the homestead is still visible at the eastern edge of the township. 

Non-original alterations and addition are not of heritage significance, other than those specified above.

Balvormie is of local historic and aesthetic significance to the South Gippsland Shire.

Historically, Balvormie is one of the earliest houses in Bena and demonstrates the early settlement and development of Bena. The house also has a tentative connection to a locally important family, the Fullers, who played a role in determining the route of the Great Southern Railway and, therefore, the establishment of Bena as a township. This railway would eventually shape the current South Gippsland Shire. (Criterion A) 
Aesthetically, Balvormie is a superior example of a late Victorian villa in a rural context. The homestead's context remains strong due to a significant setback from the roadside and remains a key site at the Eastern entrance to the Bena township. (Criterion E)