Glen Park Homestead and its cypress avenue have high local significance

for their associations with Edwin Johns, an early district farmer who,

in the late 1890s, built his house and planted the cypress avenue.

Johns, who worked hard to clear his land and construct his house in

1898, became the foreman of the section of the narrow gauge Gembrook

railway line after his property suffered in the 1898 bushfires. Later,

the little train used to take on water at The Tanks, an area at the

southern edge of John's farm. Architecturally, the homestead is of

interest as a typical and substantially intact example of a later

nineteenth century house; regrettably, it is now in poor condition.

Glen Park Homestead is situated east of the small commercial centre of Selby, and is set back from the Black Hill Road in a semi-rural setting. The homestead is reached via a long driveway lined with mature cypresses which form a canopy overhead. At the termination of the driveway a terraced area allows access to the house and associated outbuildings, as well as offering views of the surrounding, cleared landscape. Glen Park nestles into the southern, steep slope of Black Hill and has an uninterrupted and panoramic view overlooking cleared farming land to the south towards Puffing Billy Railway line and Cardinia Reservoir.

The Homestead, which dates from the late nineteenth century, is a single storey timber building with a U-shaped plan and gabled roof. The two projecting wings extend to the north and each has a single, corbelled brick chimney to the centre. A narrow verandah connects all three sections of the building to the north, as well as providing access to the main, centrally located entrance.

There is minimal roof overhang to all sides and the verandah is simply detailed with minimal ornamentation and square section verandah posts. The gable ends are undecorated with simple timber bargeboards edging the roof. The western wing has a single, centrally located double hung window to the north face, while the eastern wing has no openings to the north.

The Homestead is currently in a poor state and has suffered significant deterioration to the exterior. The interior has been damaged by rainwater penetrating the roof, and by vandalism.

A small timber, gable roofed outbuilding to the north of the Homestead has collapsed.

Physical Conditions: Ruinous

Integrity: Intact