The property at 57 Warburton Highway, Lilydale (otherwise known as Heatherlie) is significant. Specifically the form, scale, detailing and siting of the c.1938 Interwar Old English style residence, along with the formal entrance pine (Pinus) tree lined driveway, c.1939 front boundary wall and entrance gate, and remnant 1884 bakery and worker’s cottage, is of local significance. Later alterations and additions, and any tree plantings other than the pine drive plantings, are not significant.

Heatherlie is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the township of Lilydale and Yarra Ranges Council more broadly. It also has associative significance as a residence designed by the reputed architect Bernard Sutton and one of the few remaining landscape designs by the prominent landscape gardener Paul Sorensen.

 

Heatherlie is historically significant to the township of Lilydale as a late nineteenth century homestead site that dates back to 1884 and still retains remnant outbuildings and plantings from this period. Evident as an expansive piece of land with a surviving workers cottage and bakery, as well as a formal entrance pine (Pinus) tree lined driveway from this period, the property not only illustrates the scale and operation of the late nineteenth century property but the lifestyle of more affluent families who settled in the area. Its substantial grounds, which have remained largely intact, also provide an insight into the town’s settlement patterns prior to suburban development. The main interwar era residence serves to illustrate the proliferation of English Domestic Revival architectural styles in the Yarra Ranges Shire throughout the interwar period.

 

Heatherlie is aesthetically significant for its visually striking and highly intact two-storey Interwar Old English residence set on heavily landscaped grounds. Key features contributing to its aesthetic value include it steeply pitched gabled roof forms, picturesque asymmetry, entrance portico contributing a

sense of formality and elegance, brickwork quoining, rectangular massing, balanced fenestration and raised sitting on a retaining wall. The visual appeal of these architectural features is further enhanced by Heatherlie’s carefully landscaped grounds, which comprise a mixture of mature ornamental plantings, wrought iron gateway with stone boundary wall that matches the landscaping around the residence, and formal entrance pine (Pinus) tree lined driveway. (criterion E)

Heatherlie has associative significance as a residence designed by the reputed architect Bernard Sutton, who was known for his interwar revival designs across Victoria during the interwar period. Its grounds also comprise one of the few remaining landscape designs by the prominent landscape gardener Paul Sorensen, who was celebrated for his signature use of stone walling and skilful incorporation of mature trees and shrubs in garden design. (Criterion H)