Assessment Against Criteria

The following modified Victorian Heritage Council/HERCON criteria are used in the assessment of cultural heritage significance.

The houses of the Federation/Edwardian Houses Group are of local historical significance. The houses date from the period 1910-1920, and help demonstrate residential development in Lilydale in this period, including the transition from the earlier Victorian style of housing to the then (new) Federation dwellings. At this time, Lilydale was becoming a commuter suburb, a trend which was later reinforced by the electrification of the railway line in 1925 which in turn shortened the journey time to the city. This shift was also reflected in the housing which gradually evolved from the earlier, simpler and more modest forms predominantly found in rural towns, to the later Federation houses as evidenced by the dwellings in this group, and subsequently the bungalows and other interwar housing types more typical of Melbourne suburbia. The houses are additionally significant for being associated with the economic prosperity that returned to the area in the 1910s, following the economic depression of the late nineteenth century. The comparatively generous size of houses in this group reinforces this connection.

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The houses of the Federation/Edwardian Houses Group are of local aesthetic and architectural significance. The four dwellings in the group are comparatively intact and date from the later period of Federation design, which commenced around 1901 and generally continued through to World War One, and drew on earlier Victorian and Queen Anne stylistic influences. The Lilydale examples are a good cross-section of simpler Federation houses designed to a budget, and all are in weatherboard. The buildings variously incorporate typical Federation elements such as diagonal axes (planning) emphasized by a diagonal verandah and/or a corner or angled bay; tripartite hinged casement windows; verandahs with turned timber posts and timber balustrades; and dominant roof forms with gables.

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Statement of Significance

The houses of the Federation/Edwardian Houses Group are located in Clarke Street, George Street, Nicholas Street and Rouke Street, Lilydale, and all are of weatherboard construction. The properties have deep front setbacks with gardens, as well as spacious side setbacks and side driveways; the generous allotment sizes and placement of buildings within the allotments allow for views of side elevations as well as the front facades. Fences include non-original timber picket fences, including one on a stone plinth (11 George Street). The presentation of the properties is also enhanced in some cases by the presence of mature trees and vegetation (such as at 18 Rourke Street), and visible original roof forms (if not necessarily roof cladding) and original chimneys.

The houses of the Federation/Edwardian Houses Group are of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance.

Historically, the houses date from the period 1910-1920, and help demonstrate residential development in Lilydale in this period, including the transition from the earlier Victorian style of housing to the then (new) Federation dwellings. At this time, Lilydale was becoming a commuter suburb, a trend which was later reinforced by the electrification of the railway line in 1925 which in turn shortened the journey time to the city. This shift was also reflected in the housing which gradually evolved from the earlier, simpler and more modest forms predominantly found in rural towns, to the later Federation houses as evidenced by the dwellings in this group, and subsequently the bungalows and other interwar housing types more typical of Melbourne suburbia.

The houses are additionally significant for being associated with the economic prosperity that returned to the area in the 1910s, following the economic depression of the late nineteenth century. The comparatively generous size of houses in this group reinforces this connection. Aesthetically and architecturally, the four dwellings in the group are comparatively intact, and date from the later period of Federation design, which commenced around 1901 and generally continued through to World War One, and drew on earlier Victorian and Queen Anne stylistic influences. The Lilydale examples are a good cross-section of simpler Federation houses designed to a budget, and all are in weatherboard. The buildings variously incorporate typical Federation elements such as diagonal axes (planning) emphasized by a diagonal verandah and/or a corner or angled bay; tripartite hinged casement windows; verandahs with turned timber posts and timber balustrades; and dominant roof forms with gables.

Recommendations

The properties of the Federation/Edwardian Houses Group are recommended for inclusion as a serial listing in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the Shire of Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme.

The individual properties should share the same Heritage Overlay number.

Physical Conditions: The houses of the Federation/Edwardian Houses Group are located in Clarke Street, George Street, Nicholas Street and Rouke Street, Lilydale.

The houses, which date from the period 1910-1920, are on individual allotments and all of weatherboard construction. The properties also have deep front setbacks with gardens, as well as spacious side setbacks and side driveways; the generous allotment sizes and placement of buildings within the allotments allow for views of side elevations as well as the front facades. Fences include non-original timber picket fences, including one on a stone plinth (11 George Street). The presentation of the properties is also enhanced in some cases by the presence of mature trees and vegetation (such as at 18 Rourke Street), and visible original roof forms (if not necessarily roof cladding) and original chimneys.

All the houses referred to are listed and illustrated in the Schedule of Properties.

Houses of this type generally date from the period of 1901 through to World War One, and sometimes later, and are known as Federation' after the earlier period, or 'Edwardian'. They typically draw on both Victorian and Queen Anne elements of building design and form, but are less ostentatious than the earlier buildings. In Lilydale, the examples cited here date from the later period of this building style.

Australian Federation houses stem in part from reforms in public and church buildings between 1885 and 1900.46 These included the direct expression of internal space and building materials, abolition of facades if possible, and conspicuous acknowledgement of Australia's circumstances and climate. Composition became asymmetrical, often episodic and internally varied. Houses first responded to these changes around 1888-90, when the recurring form began emphasizing diagonal axes and a dual expression of spatial hierarchy, where an L-shaped spine, suggesting more closed rooms and spaces, framed a more 'mobile' corner, implying internal openness and freedom in movement.47 This was often emphasized by a diagonal push in verandah line (see 70 Clarke Street), and accentuated by a corner tower or angled bay (see 11 George Street). The Lilydale examples included here are a good cross-section of simpler Federation houses designed to a budget; and all are in weatherboard. The round arches often seen in Federation house verandah friezes and window shaping, deriving from their public and church origins, are less evident here. A favourite Federation theme was grouping three hinged casement windows in a cluster, and this is found in Lilydale, except for 5 Nicholas Street and 18 Rourke Street. Of these 18 Rourke Street is unusual, having a near-symmetrical roof and chimney placement over an asymmetrical front elevation, with a side entry and porthole. Other typical Federation elements evidenced here include verandahs with turned timber posts and timber balustrades; and dominant roof forms with gables.