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Glenard Farm Homestead

Location 40 Glenard Drive,, EAGLEMONT VIC 3084 - Property No B2463 File Number B2463 Level Regional

[1/1] B2463 40 Glenard Drive

Statement of Significance

The Glenard Farm homestead was built in c1909, on the 150 acre [62 ha] farm on the Lower Heidelberg Road adjoining the Yarra River that originally extended from Banksia Street to the Burke Road bridge. The property became known as Glenard Farm in the late nineteenth century, at a time when the Ivanhoe and Heidelberg areas were relatively undeveloped, but the area went through a period of rapid expansion after the extension of the railway in 1901. Peter Keam, described alternately as an engineer and a grazier, became a prominent property developer in the area. He purchased Glenard Farm in 1906 and constructed the existing homestead for himself soon after. It is one of the largest houses built in the area in the early twentieth century. In 1915 Keam commissioned Walter Burley Griffin to design the Mount Eagle subdivision on land owned by him, and in 1916 also commissioned him to subdivide Glenard Farm. The original homestead, now at 40 Glenard Drive, retains about an acre of land around it, and is the largest lot on the Glenard Estate. The site has been reduced in size from Griffin's original subdivision plan.
Glenard Farm is a single storey symmetrically planned Federation style house with a hipped, corrugated iron roof encompassing a verandah on three sides. The verandah is supported on turned timber posts, and the brick chimneys have terracotta chimney pots. The garden is quite large (about an acre) and some of it pre-dates the surrounding Glenard Estate. A few remnant trees are likely to be associated with the early history of the site.
Glenard Farm is significant for historic and aesthetic reasons at a Regional level. Glenard Farm has historical significance as a reminder of the early rural history of the Heidelberg district. It is significant for its association with Peter Keam, the developer of the Mount Eagle and Glenard Estates. It is also significant as the part of the second subdivision to be designed by Walter Burley Griffin and as the only house on the Glenard Estate to pre-date this subdivision.
Glenard Farm has aesthetic significance for its garden, some of which pre-dates the Glenard subdivision and which contains some significant and notable specimens.
Classified: 10/11/2004