The Oaks former Shotts
83 Holmes Road MOONEE PONDS, MOONEE VALLEY CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The former 'Shotts', now 'The Oaks', an Edwardian Queen Anne villa with Old English and Art Nouveau references, at 83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is significant. It was built in 1905 as the home of William Cattanach.
Significant fabric includes the:
Original built form and roof form, gable ends, terracotta roof tiles with ridge cresting and finials, and original chimneys;
Parapeted bay, unpainted face brick walls, verandah with turned timber posts and ornamental timber fretwork and brackets, pattern of fenestration; and half-timbering to gable ends, detailing to parapeted bay, window and door joinery, leaded glass window panels, and unpainted face brick walls.
The infill of the front verandah to create the library and the skillion-roofed addition at the south-west corner of the house are not significant.
How is it significant?
83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is of local architectural (representative), aesthetic, and associative significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
The former 'Shotts' at 83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is a fine representative example of an Edwardian Queen Anne villa with a strong English influence, a type that is rare in Moonee Valley. Instead of the spreading horizontals typically seen amongst Queen Anne villas in Australia, 'Shotts' is dominated by steep verticals including the tall pyramidal roof enclosing a small attic level and the steep gables to three elevations, including the floating gable to the front facade with decorative trusswork on a brick ground in lieu of the typical half-timbering. Other features typical of the style are the terracotta tiles, ridge-capping and finials to the roof, the casement windows with leadlight highlights, and the timber verandah posts and fretwork, here in a Japanese-inspired pattern of verticals and horizontals. The house is aesthetically significant for its high quality and unusual details, particularly the parapet with Art Nouveau bas-relief above the corner bay window, and the overblown Art Nouveau leadlights around the front door. (Criteria D and E)
The place is historically significant for its close association with William Cattanach, who commissioned the house in 1905 and resided there with his wife until about 1919. Cattanach was at the height of his career at this time, and was appointed a founding member of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission the following year, and Chair of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission in 1915. He is recognised in the Australian Dictionary of Biography for his substantial contribution to the development of Victorian water resources, the expansion of irrigation, the subdivision of large holdings for closer settlement, and the development of the fruit industry. The high quality of the design and detail of the house expresses Cattanach's elevated social and economic standing at that time. (Criterion H)
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The Oaks former Shotts - Physical Description 1
The Edwardian-era red brick villa with terracotta roof known as 'The Oaks' at 83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is located on the south side of the arterial road, near a large local community centre. The residence comprises two levels, one a small attic storey.
Like other houses in that block between Grandview and Hopetoun streets, the solid brick villa is situated on a large allotment surrounded by established gardens. The house is well set back from the street boundary, along which has been erected a recent medium-height red brick and metal fence. To the rear of the allotment is a bluestone right-of-way.
The villa is of a substantial scale, with face red brick walls and a very high-pitched hip and gable roof that dominates views from the street. With two main points of access, from the either ends of the street boundary, the impressions from the two directions are somewhat different, due to the asymmetrically placed design elements. Built in the Queen Anne style, the unusual parapeted bay on the south-west corner of the house, at an angle to the main axes of the house with roughcast render and floral relief, has hallmarks of the Art Nouveau style and amplifies the picturesque character of the overall design. This element, and the overall design, strongly suggests that the house was designed by an architect, though the name of the architect has not been identified.
The form and line of the pyramidal roof is complex. The main roof of terracotta tiles, with ridge capping and the finials of the same material, sweeps down in a single declivity to cover the verandah, with just a slight flattening of pitch. The residence has tall red brick chimneys with brick ribs that run down from the brick lip at the top and are topped with terracotta pots. There is a gabled dormer on the front slope of the roof. All gable ends have decorative timber trusswork with exposed red brick underneath. The front gable sits above the verandah, giving it a floating form. The ends of rafter beams are visible under the eaves of the front verandah that returns around the southeast corner of the house. The verandah has timber frieze of alternating panels of vertical and horizontal slats, and fretted timber brackets supported by the turned timber posts. The main entrance is on the east side of the house. The half-glazed moulded door is set with a massive highlight and a sidelight with original leadlight panels having Art Nouveau patterns. There is a subsidiary doorway on the north elevation. The windows are casements, and the leadlight in the corner bay appears to be original. One exception is the group of three four-over-one double-hung sash windows on the east side of the front facade. They are located in what appears to be an early addition to the house, infilling the end of the verandah. The west side of this infill is finished in render, painted to match the brick (the front face is hidden beneath plantings). As is apparent from real estate plans, a projecting bay window sat beneath the parapeted bay at the north-east corner, but has now been enclosed by this addition on the west side.
A skillion-roofed addition sits at the south-east corner of the original building. There is also a recent studio and substantial workshop attached to the double garage accessed via the rear right of way. The footpaths and driveways to the front of the house are brick-paved and the landscaping appears to be of a relatively recent date.
83 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, is of relatively high integrity with very few changes visible to original or early elements of the place. The building retains its original building form and roof form, gable ends, verandah, parapeted bay, and fenestration.
The integrity of the building is enhanced by the high level of intactness of these main elements, which include details such as the original chimneys, terracotta roof tiles with ridge cresting and finials, detailing of gable ends, detailing to parapeted bay, window and door joinery, leaded glass window panels, and unpainted face brick walls.
The integrity of the building is somewhat diminished by infill of the front verandah and the visible rear addition, although both have been designed so they blend in and are subsidiary in bulk and height to the original residence.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley 2017 Heritage Study
Author: Context
Year: 2019
Grading:
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'DRIFFVILLE'Boroondara City
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