Miyako has regional significance as an example of an artists' home and

studios built for the Melbourne artists, John and Mary Farmer, in the

early 1920s from the designs of the architect Justus Jorgensen, founder

of the Montsalvat artists' colony at Eltham. Miyako was associated with

a community of artists, many of them students of Max Meldrum, who was

prominent in the Melbourne art world of the inter-war years, and who

lived at Miyako in the 1930s. An earlier house on the property, known as

Whyte's Cottage, has historical significance as the home of the artist

James Whyte, who farmed there until the property's sale to the Farmers.

Miyako is set well back from the road, situated on a substantial site which includes a mature landscaped garden. The garden on the north side of the house has areas of rock edging and brick path, however the main character is created by the mature treed setting, combining exotics and indigenous trees.

The house is two storey and generally rectangular in form. It faces north, and the main facade is simple and dramatic, with a double gable, two level verandah (now enclosed) and entry porch. The main cladding is stained timber boards (jarrah). These combined with the clinker brick piers and garden bed edging to the porch and verandah, and shingling on the gable ends and verandah balustrade, and multi-paned windows, suggest Bungalow and Arts and Crafts influences.

The property contains two studios, one inside the house and one a detached stone cottage. The internal studio is part of a large space that also accommodates a living area with a large fireplace. A pair of tall, double-hung sash windows on the south side (each with 9 pane sashes) provide natural light. The easel shelf remains along the south wall. The interior of the house features extensive use of solid timbers and linings.

The other studio is a stone cottage located on the east side of the house. The cottage is built of random curt stonework, and consists of 3 distinct sections, with an arched entry at the mid-point of the building. The roof of the cottage was damaged recently when a tree fell onto it.

The house and cottage remain substantially intact externally and internally. The main changes include the enclosing of the verandah to create a sunroom, and a single storey addition to the east side (with a deck above) which contains living spaces. There have been some internal changes to make the spaces livable, however the present owners have be careful to retain many interesting features that demonstrate the different periods in the life of the house and the influences of past owners.

There is another property also known as Miyako in Falls Road, Olinda. The house at this address is thought to have been the gardener's cottage for the present property. It was inspected as part of the study, and is described as follows: The original section of the house, which dates from the 1920s, has been surrounded by successive additions, making it difficult to ascertain its original form and extent. Currently the house has an asymmetrical plan which is dominated by a single storey, rectangular plan section, with a transverse gable roof with projecting, separately roofed rooms to either side. To the east the main rectangular plan building has an intersecting gable roofed bay and verandah, and two gable roofed rooms with a small interconnecting entrance porch to the west. To the south is a recent, skillion roofed addition, which opens onto a paved court. The roofs are lined with unpainted corrugated iron and generally have an overhand to the eaves and bargeboards. The house is clad with horizontal timber boards and the windows are generally rectangular, double hung, timber framed windows, which appear to date from the 1930s. The verandah fretwork and balustrade includes decorative, Victorian-style cast iron which does not appear to be original. The original section of the house is thought to include the bay to the east and part of the main, gable roofed section of the house.

Physical Conditions: Good

Integrity: Minor Modifications