FULHAM PARK
413 MYRTLEBANK-FULHAM ROAD FULHAM, WELLINGTON SHIRE
Victorian Heritage Register
Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The pastoral run Fulham on Thomson river west of Sale was first taken up in 1841 by Peter Imlay of Twofold Bay (Eden) NSW. In October 1853 retired sea captain John William Jones acquired the run and soon after, certainly before 1856, erected a Colonial Georgian style, two storey homestead of brick. On the basis of stylistic and detail similarities the design has been tentatively attributed to Melbourne architect John Gill.
The house is regularly fenestrated, with a single storey timber verandah and its single storey outbuildings form a sheltered courtyard with a beehive well. The verandah has been later adorned with network brackets of art nouveau origin. The homestead is sited on a rise above a bend in a creek and looks toward the Thompson River. Some elms and eucalypts are the only remnants of formal plantings on the slope down to the creek. In 1991 the ruined stables were rebuilt although the attached groom's quarters were demolished. The property has passed through many ownerships, none of them very long and was used by the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. Fulham Park was purchased by Norman Gooch in 1944 and remained in the Gooch family ownership until 1998 when it was subdivided.
How is it significant?
Fulham Park Homestead is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.
Why is it significant?
Fulham Park Homestead is of architectural importance as an early example of the Colonial Georgian style, a form rarely found in Victoria. The quality of the design is enhanced with distinctive and restrained joinery, with the entrance doorway and fenestration of particular note. The architectural significance of the house would be further enhanced if the connection with important Victorian architect John Gill can be established.
Fulham Park Homestead is of historical significance as the residence of one of the oldest pastoral properties in eastern Victoria. The house is important as the earliest substantial homestead building in East Gippsland and for its relatively intactness.
