Brook Hill dairy farm (formerly Olinda Yarra) including the buildings

and site, at 25 MacIntyre Lane, Coldstream.

Brook Hill dairy farm, at 25 MacIntyre Lane, Coldstream, is of local

historic, scientific and aesthetic significance.

Of historical significance as one of the sole remaining physical

examples of a dairy farm complex from the period of the region's history

when the Lilydale-Yarra Glen area was one of the largest milk-producing

areas in Victoria. RNE criterion B.2

Of scientific significance because 'Olinda Yarra' was the largest and

most advanced dairy farm in the region, and substantial elements of its

original plantings remain intact. RNE criterion D.2

Of aesthetic significance as a representative example of a large,

substantially intact Edwardian/Queen Anne villa in a rural setting with

mature trees. RNE criterion E.1

Brook Hill dairy farm contains a group of original and early farm buildings including the homestead, stables milking sheds and two silos.

The Edwardian Bungalow/Queen Anne style weatherboard house has a complex and picturesque terracotta tiled roof with ridge ornaments, exposed rafters at the eaves and slender roughcast chimneys with corbelled brick caps and terracotta pots. The roof extends over the front verandah supported on timber posts with decorative brackets and a timber fretwork balustrade. The roof has a gabled attic level balcony above the main entry with timber shingle cladding and a timber fretwork balustrade. Either side of balcony are gabled dormer windows with tripartite leadlight casements. The external walls have a timber framed roughcast frieze.

A single-storey wing on the southwest side of the house is a later addition, detailed to match the existing house. The roof has been recently reclad. There is a circular driveway in front of the house. Plantings include: a stand of rare Chilean Wine Palms near house (NT classified) and a large Bunya Bunya pine.

Outbuildings to south of house are grouped around a bluestone paved courtyard, accessed from the homestead through a wrought-iron gate with random rubble stone piers and walls. The stables are weatherboard with a gabled corrugated iron roof, bracketed eaves, a central recessed entry with a round arched opening surmounted by a bank of four multi-paned casement windows. At either side of entrance are stable doors with a timber lattice below the eaves to provide ventilation. According to a description of 1978 (Tansley), the original stalls remained inside.

There is a series of three dairy sheds (two with monitor roofs) - weatherboard with corrugated iron roofs and louvred ventilators. The original wooden cowbails have been replaced with modern steel ones. The two large stone silos were once the pride of the farm. They were used for storing hay to make ensilage or winter fodder. When the first silo was built during the early 1890s when the steam machine was used for lifting the grass. Each silo is 14 ft. x 14 ft. x 80 ft. in size, and in 1978 both were in original condition (Tansley).