Back to search results »

Back to search page »

ROYSTON

Location Henty Highway, BRANXHOLME VIC 3302 - Property No 0670 File Number 564 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/4] 23299 Royston Branxholme 0625 [2/4] 23299 Royston Branxholme 0623 [3/4] 23299 Royston Branxholme 0624 [4/4] 23299 Royston Branxholme 0626

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
Royston is a single storey bluestone house to the south of Branxholme, set on a substantial rise overlooking the Arrandoovong Creek valley towards Mount Napier. The house was built in 1868 for Catherine McPhee who was said to be the mistress of George Coldham Junior, the younger son of the owner of nearby Audley Homestead. No architect has been associated with the design, nor any building contractors. The house was altered and extended by the Gough family in the early twentieth century, long term settlers and hoteliers in Branxholme. Substantial plantings which date from the Edwardian period survive in the garden, and provide a fuller picture of the way the house and garden were designed to compliment each other. The house was further altered after 1954. While the house is in good condition, its pre World War Two integrity has been compromised. Beyond the house, a set of original timber stables survive, in good condition, with a good degree of integrity, and a workman's cottage also survives with a relatively high degree of integrity.

How is it significant?
Royston is of historical significance to the Southern Grampians Shire.

Why is it significant?
Royston is of historical signficance as an example of a house and garden deliberately laid out to capture a view (to Mount Napier), which was incidentally the same view her (said) lover would have seen from his nearby property, Audley Homestead. It also represents a different sensibility, that of the a private space for its owners (the garden in front of the 1860s wing). The earliest parts of the house and garden, along with the timber stables and workmans cottage represent a previous way of life, and the twentieth century alterations to the house illustrate changing focus away from the picturesque towards the practical. It is of further historical significance for its associations with the original owner, Catherine McPhee, and her connection through George Coldham to the Audley Homestead.