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House - Formerly known as 'Walmsley', 26 Seaby Street, STAWELL

Other Name

Walmsley

Location

26 Seaby Street STAWELL, NORTHERN GRAMPIANS SHIRE

Level

Recommended for Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

The house at 26 Seaby Street, Stawell, makes a significant contribution to the predominantly single storey, Victorian styled streetscape of Seaby Street. This house is largely intact on the exterior, and was built in 1907 for the local brickmaker and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. George Barnes. The house is one of the earliest in Stawell constructed by machine-made bricks.

The house at 26 Seaby Street is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original design qualities of a Federation style. These qualities include the gable roof form that traverses the site, together with the minor gable and broken back skillion verandah that project towards the street frontage. Other intact or appropriate qualities include the machine-made brick wall construction, slate roof cladding, single storey height, asymmetrical composition, three unpainted brick chimneys with multi-corbelled cornices, broad eaves, are a feature of the eaves, timber framed double hung windows, timber doorway, turned timber verandah columns and arched timber fretwork valances, flying gable and decorative bargeboards, oculus ventilator in the gable end, masonry window lintels and sills and the terra cotta ridge ornamentation. The front garden and trees also contribute to the significance of the place.

The house at 26 Seaby Street is historically significant at a LOCAL level. It is associated with residential developments in Stawell during the Federation (c.1895-1915) period. In particular, this house has associations with George Barnes and his wife, who instigated construction in 1907. George Barnes was a successful fruit grower, pioneering the export fruit trade to England in the second half of the 19th century, as well as pioneering machine-made bricks from 1906 as part of the Stawell Pressed Brick Company. Barnes also served the community for many years as a Councillor, with a period as Mayor in 1910-11. The house at 26-28 Seaby Street is scientifically significant at a LOCAL level. The house is constructed of some of the earliest machine-made bricks in Stawell, representing a new technological development for the period.

Overall, the house at 26 Seaby Street is of LOCAL significance.

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