VINE HILL VILLA

Vine Hill Villa, at 287 Mannes Lane, Axe Creek, including all the fabric of the red brick house and mature garden containing peppercorn trees, mulberry, river gums and palms is significant.

Vine Hill Villa, at 287 Mannes Lane, Axe Creek, is of local historic and architectural significance for the City of Greater Bendigo.

Vine Hill Villa, at 287 Mannes Lane, Axe Creek, is historically significant for its association with the settlement of European vignerons in the region. The owner, German immigrant Ambrose Lowndes was a vigneron and orchardist. He commissioned the design by Maurmann and Vine Hill Villa was constructed circa 1888. The site is also important for its contribution to an understanding of an ongoing tradition of grape growing in the Bendigo region. The extensive orchards at Vine Hill Villa presumably became the mainstay of the property after the setbacks associated with the Phylloxera vastatrix outbreak in nineteenth century Victoria. Criterion A

Vine Hill Villa, is architecturally significant for its association with Emil Mauermann, a German architect who trained under Vahland and Getzschmann at the Bendigo School of Mines. Mauermann is well known for his influence on the development of architectural practise in and around Bendigo in the late nineteenth century. One of his more notable buildings was the design of the Bendigo Art Gallery. The red brick building, with projecting gable and return verandah, is stylistically similar to many buildings constructed by the Public Works Department in the nineteenth century. This is particularly evident in the brickwork detailing and decoration and paired timber columns with curved timber brackets and the small round vent in the gable end. The chimneys are of finely detailed brickwork with rendered mouldings. The verandah has been reconstructed in recent years. The garden containing peppercorn trees, mulberry, river gums and palms gives context to the house. Criterion E