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House & Dairy
30 Hicks Street, LARA VIC 3212 - Property No 282236

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Greater Geelong City

House & Diary - 30 Hicks Street, Lara

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE

What is Significant?

The dwelling at 30 Hicks Street, Lara, has significance as a predominantly intact example of a Victorian styled dwelling in Lara and as one of the more intact surviving Victorian dwellings in the Lara area. The fabric that contributes to the Victorian design includes the hipped roof forms, front bullnosed verandah, symmetrical composition (especially defined by the red brick chimneys and the central front doorway and flanking timber framed double hung tripartite windows), front four panelled timber door with sidelights and paired eaves brackets with diamond panelling between. The dwelling appears to have been built in 1886 upon the marriage of the first occupants, David and Mary Walker (nee Tayler). It was first owned by Walker's father, Robert Bell Walker, longstanding and successful lime merchant who established the Waverley Lime Company at Lara in 1878. David Walker took part in the business from its inception and with the death of his father in 1899, he carried out the lime operations. Lime from the Waverley Lime Company was distributed across Australia and most particularly to Melbourne, where it was used in the construction of public buildings and structures, as well as private properties.

How is it Significant?

The dwelling at 30 Hicks Street, Lara, is architecturally and historically significant at a LOCAL level.

Why is it Significant?

The dwelling at 30 Hicks Street is architecturally significant as a predominantly intact example of a Victorian style (Criterion D), being the only surviving example in this part of Lara and one of the more intact of the eight known modestly-scaled Victorian styled dwellings in Lara today.

The dwelling at 30 Hicks Street is historically significant for its associations with the development of housing in Lara during the boom of the Lime industry in the 1880s (Criterion A). In particular, the dwelling is historically significant for its associations with David Walker and his father, Robert Bell Walker, who established the highly successful Waverley Lime Company at Lara in 1878 (Criterion H). David Walker continued on the business after the death of his father in 1899, and on his passing in 1945, the Lara Lime Company was managed by David Walker's son, Albert Alexander, until the later 20th century.

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- Physical Description 1
  
  House & Dairy - Physical Description 1
  
  DESCRIPTION
  
  The dwelling at 30 Hicks Street is set on a contextually substantial triangular allotment and it has a frontage to Hick Street. The front of the property is bound by an introduced timber post and woven wire fence with a scrolled metal gate. The front garden comprises a row of recently planted standard roses with shrubbery behind, and open grassed areas, perimeter gardens and a diagonally aligned footpath. High solid timber paling fences within the site screen the front garden setting from other parts of the property, with trees along the western boundary providing further screening. On the southern boundary (fronting Bates Road) is a combination of high solid timber paling fencing, timber post and woven wire (front portion) and more rural timber post and wire fencing (to a height of approximately 1200 mm) at the rear. Also at the rear of the dwelling are some mature cypress trees that appear to be senescent. Some of these trees appear to be the only legacy of the 19th century landscaping on the site, and while they provide a noticeable backdrop to the dwelling when viewed from the front, they make no redeeming contribution to the front garden setting. There are a number of shallow-pitched and gabled outbuildings at the rear (east) and north-east of the dwelling that appear to have been more recently introduced. Distant from the dwelling to the north is an introduced swimming pool. Also near the northern boundary is an early gabled stone outbuilding which may have been a dairy.
  
  Of particular interest is the single storey, symmetrical, horizontal timber weatherboard, Victorian styled dwelling. It is characterised by a hipped roof form at the front, with double hipped (M) roof forms at the rear and a front bullnosed verandah. These roof forms are clad in recent corrugated sheet metal. Early features of the roofline are the pressed red brick chimneys with corbelled tops and the narrow eaves having paired timber brackets and diamond motif panelling. The symmetry of the design is accentuated by the early central doorway and the flanking early timber framed double hung tripartite windows. The central four panelled timber door with timber framed sidelights also appear to be early. The front verandah is supported by introduced turned timber posts (of similar design to the posts extant in 1998) and introduced decorative timber brackets. There are early timber framed double hung windows on the north and south walls, as well as rear skillion wing. The pergola at the rear has been introduced.
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Greater Geelong - Lara Heritage Review Phase 2
  
  Author: D. Rowe & W. Jacobs
  Year: 2013
  Grading:
- Show:
- Former Corio Shire Hall
  
  Greater Geelong City
- Old Shire Hall - Lara
  
  National Trust
- Lara Avenue of Honour
  
  Vic. War Heritage Inventory