SPRINGDALE

'Springdale', the former Martin residence, designed by H. Desbrowe Annear and constructed in 1905 at 190 Gwyther Siding Road, Leongatha South. It is set at a distance from the road obscured behind a recent brick house. It faces east, parallel with the road, and is based on a rectangular plan with a low hip roof and a symmetrical projecting gable to the east around which a splayed verandah projected from the main roof planes is formed. 
The main body of the walls of the building are sheeted in narrow hardwood weatherboards above which a wide panelled roughcast frieze is carried around the perimeter, below the wide bracketed, boxed eaves. The roughcast panelled gable verandah front projects to the east above a bank of seven casement windows with hopper above. The perimeter valance of the verandah is in a close spaced ladder frames the bottom chord of which is arched in sensuous asymmetrical curves between the posts. The verandah balustrades, which had a similar ladder frame with a swagged rail, have been removed, but lean against the side of the house. The verandah detailing matches that of the Chadwick House at 32-34 The Eyrie, Eaglemont. 
At the south west corner, the hip roof has been extended to provide service rooms. The chimneys are of brick with simple battered, rendered caps. 
Internally, the two front living rooms are lined to door head height with wide thin North American redwood panels, now very dark, which is also used throughout the main rooms for window seats, doors, skirtings, architraves, fireplace surrounds and false ceilings that are integrated into the overall design. The service areas are lined in tongue and groove boards. In the two main rooms (once known as the "Ballroom" and the "Drawing Room"), the ceilings of v-jointed boards are carried on exposed rafters sloping from the sides up to a deep central beam. A 1500mm wide sliding door, which is concealed within the wall, connects the rooms. A central hall behind the main room services the rear porch, a hallway to three bedrooms and the kitchen. 

'Springdale', the former Martin residence is of local historic and aesthetic significance to South Gippsland Shire.

Historically, it demonstrates the important phase of development associated with the expansion of the dairying industry in the early part of the twentieth century, which led to increased prosperity that enabled landowners to construct more substantial residences. (AHC criteria - A.4 and D.2) 
Aesthetically, it is a rare (and possibly unique) rural example of the residential work of the important Victorian architect, Harold Desbrowe Annear. Externally, the design is closely related to his acclaimed houses at The Eyrie, while also exploring a compact and effective form and simplified roof form. Internally, it is notable for the detailing and material palette that are typical of Annear's work. As such, it is unique within the Shire, and the Gippsland region as a whole. (AHC criteria - B.2, E.1 and F.1)