Uploads from raaen99, tagged goldrush, with geodata

Art Nouveau Frieze Tiles - Vincent Street, Daylesford

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:16:23 -0800

raaen99 posted a photo:

These beautiful, cobalt blue majollica glazed frieze tiles, featuring a stylised Art Nouveau leaf and flower motif, appear on a former butcher's shop front in Vincent Street, Daylesford; a former Gold Rush town in country Victoria, now famous for its natural spring mineral spas.

Detail of an Art Nouveau Frieze Tile - Vincent Street, Daylesford

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:16:23 -0800

raaen99 posted a photo:

Detail of an Art Nouveau Frieze Tile - Vincent Street, Daylesford

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:16:23 -0800

raaen99 posted a photo:

The Hand Painted Stairwell Ceiling of Reid's Coffee Palace – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:45:09 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Reid's Coffee Palace (another name for a temperance hotel) was built by German immigrant John Reid on the site of his New York Bakery next to Ballarat's central railway terminus. Reid's Coffee Palace, which along with the bakery, and the Provincial Hotel across the street, were part of the franchise operated by John Reid.

Reid's Coffee Palace was built in two stages. The first was in 1886, with Melbourne architects Tappin and Gilbert and contractors Taylor and Ellis. The extensions were undertaken by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy in 1888. The verandah would appear to have been built about ten years after that around 1898 - 1900.

The building itself is a very example of the Classical Revival style. Internally the stairwell with its wonderful front doors, vestibule tiling, hand painted ceiling and wall panels, clerestory, glazing and entrance arch are perhaps of greatest importance.

I had read about the wonderful stairwell with its hand painted ceiling featuring the four seasons, and wall panels of exotic destinations, so I decided to try my luck and see if the hotel concierge was agreeable to me photographing it. He was most obliging and allowed me unlimited access.

The Coffee Palace remained extraordinarily intact, both internally and externally until the property was finally sold by the Reid family in 1977. The original fixtures and furniture was sold off and the whole building redecorated internally and externally.

John Reid emigrated from Germany to America, where in New York (the desination of so many European immigrants) he entered the baking trade. In 1855 brought the techniques and specialities he had learnt in New York to the burgeoning Victorian goldfields to feed the hordes of hungry miners, most of whom had never known anything like what John served. He established a New York bakery in the adventageous spot next to Ballarat's busy railway station, where the bakery remained until he decided to open his own coffee palace.

The term coffee palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia.

Detail of the Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows of Reid's Coffee Palace – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:28:22 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Reid's Coffee Palace (another name for a temperance hotel) was built by German immigrant John Reid on the site of his New York Bakery next to Ballarat's central railway terminus. Reid's Coffee Palace, which along with the bakery, and the Provincial Hotel across the street, were part of the franchise operated by John Reid.

Reid's Coffee Palace was built in two stages. The first was in 1886, with Melbourne architects Tappin and Gilbert and contractors Taylor and Ellis. The extensions were undertaken by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy in 1888. The verandah would appear to have been built about ten years after that around 1898 - 1900.

The building itself is a very example of the Classical Revival style, and features some fine Art Nouveau detailing including these beautiful stained glass windows which may be seen from the side of the building facing the railway line.

Internally the stairwell with its wonderful front doors, vestibule tiling, hand painted ceiling and wall panels, clerestory, glazing and entrance arch are perhaps of greatest importance. The building is intact, other than recent repainting and signs and two shopfronts of the 1920s. Internally, only major items of interest have survived. The combination of the stairwell with the balcony verandah make this an important building of the coffee palace era and unique on a state wide basis.

The Coffee Palace remained extraordinarily intact, both internally and externally until the property was finally sold by the Reid family in 1977. The original fixtures and furniture was sold off and the whole building redecorated internally and externally.

John Reid emigrated from Germany to America, where in New York (the desination of so many European immigrants) he entered the baking trade. In 1855 brought the techniques and specialities he had learnt in New York to the burgeoning Victorian goldfields to feed the hordes of hungry miners, most of whom had never known anything like what John served. He established a New York bakery in the adventageous spot next to Ballarat's busy railway station, where the bakery remained until he decided to open his own coffee palace.

The term coffee palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia.

Detail of the Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows of Reid's Coffee Palace – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:28:30 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Reid's Coffee Palace (another name for a temperance hotel) was built by German immigrant John Reid on the site of his New York Bakery next to Ballarat's central railway terminus. Reid's Coffee Palace, which along with the bakery, and the Provincial Hotel across the street, were part of the franchise operated by John Reid.

Reid's Coffee Palace was built in two stages. The first was in 1886, with Melbourne architects Tappin and Gilbert and contractors Taylor and Ellis. The extensions were undertaken by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy in 1888. The verandah would appear to have been built about ten years after that around 1898 - 1900.

The building itself is a very example of the Classical Revival style, and features some fine Art Nouveau detailing including these beautiful stained glass windows which may be seen from the side of the building facing the railway line.

Internally the stairwell with its wonderful front doors, vestibule tiling, hand painted ceiling and wall panels, clerestory, glazing and entrance arch are perhaps of greatest importance. The building is intact, other than recent repainting and signs and two shopfronts of the 1920s. Internally, only major items of interest have survived. The combination of the stairwell with the balcony verandah make this an important building of the coffee palace era and unique on a state wide basis.

The Coffee Palace remained extraordinarily intact, both internally and externally until the property was finally sold by the Reid family in 1977. The original fixtures and furniture was sold off and the whole building redecorated internally and externally.

John Reid emigrated from Germany to America, where in New York (the desination of so many European immigrants) he entered the baking trade. In 1855 brought the techniques and specialities he had learnt in New York to the burgeoning Victorian goldfields to feed the hordes of hungry miners, most of whom had never known anything like what John served. He established a New York bakery in the adventageous spot next to Ballarat's busy railway station, where the bakery remained until he decided to open his own coffee palace.

The term coffee palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia.

Detail of the Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows of Reid's Coffee Palace – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:28:57 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Reid's Coffee Palace (another name for a temperance hotel) was built by German immigrant John Reid on the site of his New York Bakery next to Ballarat's central railway terminus. Reid's Coffee Palace, which along with the bakery, and the Provincial Hotel across the street, were part of the franchise operated by John Reid.

Reid's Coffee Palace was built in two stages. The first was in 1886, with Melbourne architects Tappin and Gilbert and contractors Taylor and Ellis. The extensions were undertaken by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy in 1888. The verandah would appear to have been built about ten years after that around 1898 - 1900.

The building itself is a very example of the Classical Revival style, and features some fine Art Nouveau detailing including these beautiful stained glass windows which may be seen from the side of the building facing the railway line.

Internally the stairwell with its wonderful front doors, vestibule tiling, hand painted ceiling and wall panels, clerestory, glazing and entrance arch are perhaps of greatest importance. The building is intact, other than recent repainting and signs and two shopfronts of the 1920s. Internally, only major items of interest have survived. The combination of the stairwell with the balcony verandah make this an important building of the coffee palace era and unique on a state wide basis.

The Coffee Palace remained extraordinarily intact, both internally and externally until the property was finally sold by the Reid family in 1977. The original fixtures and furniture was sold off and the whole building redecorated internally and externally.

John Reid emigrated from Germany to America, where in New York (the desination of so many European immigrants) he entered the baking trade. In 1855 brought the techniques and specialities he had learnt in New York to the burgeoning Victorian goldfields to feed the hordes of hungry miners, most of whom had never known anything like what John served. He established a New York bakery in the adventageous spot next to Ballarat's busy railway station, where the bakery remained until he decided to open his own coffee palace.

The term coffee palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia.

Detail of the Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows of Reid's Coffee Palace – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:28:44 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Reid's Coffee Palace (another name for a temperance hotel) was built by German immigrant John Reid on the site of his New York Bakery next to Ballarat's central railway terminus. Reid's Coffee Palace, which along with the bakery, and the Provincial Hotel across the street, were part of the franchise operated by John Reid.

Reid's Coffee Palace was built in two stages. The first was in 1886, with Melbourne architects Tappin and Gilbert and contractors Taylor and Ellis. The extensions were undertaken by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy in 1888. The verandah would appear to have been built about ten years after that around 1898 - 1900.

The building itself is a very example of the Classical Revival style, and features some fine Art Nouveau detailing including these beautiful stained glass windows which may be seen from the side of the building facing the railway line.

Internally the stairwell with its wonderful front doors, vestibule tiling, hand painted ceiling and wall panels, clerestory, glazing and entrance arch are perhaps of greatest importance. The building is intact, other than recent repainting and signs and two shopfronts of the 1920s. Internally, only major items of interest have survived. The combination of the stairwell with the balcony verandah make this an important building of the coffee palace era and unique on a state wide basis.

The Coffee Palace remained extraordinarily intact, both internally and externally until the property was finally sold by the Reid family in 1977. The original fixtures and furniture was sold off and the whole building redecorated internally and externally.

John Reid emigrated from Germany to America, where in New York (the desination of so many European immigrants) he entered the baking trade. In 1855 brought the techniques and specialities he had learnt in New York to the burgeoning Victorian goldfields to feed the hordes of hungry miners, most of whom had never known anything like what John served. He established a New York bakery in the adventageous spot next to Ballarat's busy railway station, where the bakery remained until he decided to open his own coffee palace.

The term coffee palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia.

The Former East Ballarat Free Library - Barkly Street, East Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:29:41 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Situated at 25 to 29 Barkly Street in the Victorian provincial city of Ballarat, the former East Ballarat Free Library is to this day, still an imposing building. When it was built in 1867, it must have been even more imposing, as it would have been one of only a few permanent structures in the area, which was filled with tents as the are was hit by goldmining fever.

The East Ballarat Free Library is not only imposing, but has an unusual design using polychromatic brickwork to define separate highly individual elements of the facade, rather like much of the Methodist Church architecture built during slightly later periods. The library is the only known work of the architect C. Ohlfsen Bagge, and dates from 1867. At that date it represents an early use of coloured brick-work in Victoria. The building is of architectural importance as an early example of the polychromatic Gothic Revival style which survives substantially intact with a number of fine interiors including the spiral staircase, the original library, the hall and the pine-lined rear rooms. The construction of the front section of the Barkly Street was completed in 1869. C. Ohlfsen-Bagge acted as honorary architect and the interior design and supervision as carried out by J. J. Lorenz. The builders were Boulton and Fyfe and the interiors were completed by Fly Brothers.

Established in 1862 the East Ballarat Free Library was amongst the earliest of Ballarat's social and educational institutions and when housed in its own building in Barkly Street, the library built up an outstanding collection which was second in Australia only to the State Library of Victoria . It served as a focal point for educational purposes; the school of design founded there in 1870 advancing to become the Ballarat East branch of the school of mines in the 1900s. The library was officially closed in 1973 after a life of 111 years. The books were taken to the Camp Street Library and the Ballarat Historical Society's exhibits were moved from Camp St to the Old Ballarat East Library. In 1980 the Ballarat School of Mines Council presented a proposal to the Ballarat City Council regarding occupying and managing the East Ballarat Free Library as a School of Traditional Crafts. The proposal included maintaining the building in optimum condition. In 1983, land formally occupied by the East Ballarat Free Library in Barkly St was gazetted as a reserve for educational purposes and allocated to the Ballarat School of Mines. In 1987 the former East Ballarat Library reopened after extensive renovations and repairs, as the Management Training Centre of the Ballarat School of Mines.

The 1862 - 1912 Jubilee Window of the Former East Ballarat Free Library - Barkly Street, East Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:26:59 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

The Tower of "Bailey's Mansion" a Boom-Style Victorian Italianate Mansion - Corner Drummond and Mair Streets, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:58:06 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

"Bailey's Mansion" is a magnificent boom period mansion built in 1883 for successful mine manager William Bailey on the corner of Drummond and Mair Streets, in the provincial Victorian city of Ballarat.

William Bailey was born in 1827 in Wellington, Somersetshire, and came to Australia in 1848. He landed at Melbourne and was employed at a wine and spirit merchants however he remained only a short time, and he also had a short stay of eight months at the Ampitheatre Station, Lexton, when he was made manager at the Mt Cook Station, Werribee. He left Mt Cook Station in 1851, having been bitten, like so many others, by gold fever. After initially being involved in mining he entered into partnership with Wilson Brothers in the operation of general stores. Bailey returned to mining with the Staffordshire Reef Company near Smythesdale where he remained for three years as manager before accepting a similar managerial position with the Egerton Mining Company where he was occupied for the next 12 years. The mine was owned by the renowned Learmonth family. Bailey was a loyal manager and when the Learmonths decided to sell the mine he arranged the sale. As a reward the Learmonths paid him a five per cent commission on the sale amounting to 675 pounds, a very sizable sum even in those days. At the time of the sale the returns from the mine had been diminishing, and when the Learmonths paid him his sizeable commission they were unaware that they had rewarded him for arranging the sale of a mine of which he was actually now a part owner. Fortunately, almost immediately after the mine was sold its returns increased dramatically and William Bailey was left a very wealthy man.

For the princely sum of £1,400, William Bailey had a Victorian Italianate mansion, complete with tower, designed by architects Caselli and Figgis. William Bailey and his wife Emily had eight children between 1861 and 1876, so the mansion, described as "one of the most palatial homes in Ballarat" was extended further and had an extra wing added, but in the same style.

The mansion features many architectural elements used in Italianate style houses of the period beyond the typical prominent tower, including; Corinthian columns, arcaded loggias, grouped openings, the use of arches and stuccoed wall treatment. When William built the mansion it originally had cast iron verandah posts, frieze and corner brackets along the loggias, both up and downstairs. The present heavy Ionic columns being a later modification which are not so in keeping with the overall design of the house.

Originally, "Bailey's Mansion" sat amid large and decoratively ornamental gardens, most of which have since been consumed by subsequent divisions of the land and residential construction in the early years of the Twentieth Century.

It was in his beloved mansion that William Bailey died in 1906 after catching a chill, dying a happy and still wealthy man, leaving an estate of some £10,000.

After the Great War (1914 - 1918), like so many other wealthy families of the boom period, the Baileys "gilded age" had come to a shattering end. Rates, death duties and income tax had deminished the family to far more moderate means. The "servant problem" also left them unable to live on such a grand scale as William and Emily had done. They could not sell the mansion, as no-one had the means to maintain, or the wish, to live in an old mausoleum of a bygone age in the new century. There was also a local belief that it was haunted by Bailey's ghost, which made it impossible to sell. "Bailey's Mansion", now deserted, fell into dereliction.

Salvation arrived for the grand old house in 1915 when the Catholic Church acquired it for a mere £4000, £10,000 less than its original cost and a bargain, even in the depressed property market immediately after the First World War. The church restored "Bailey's Mansion" and used it to form the St John of God hospital in Ballarat. It is still an intergal part of the hospital today, the grande dame surviving as a testimony to the wealth and tenacity of its original owner.

"Bailey's Mansion" a Boom-Style Victorian Italianate Mansion - Corner Drummond and Mair Streets, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:58:38 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

"Bailey's Mansion" a Boom-Style Victorian Italianate Mansion - Corner Drummond and Mair Streets, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:58:21 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery - Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:49:17 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, located at 40 to 48 Lydiard Street, has been associated with the history of Ballarat since the town's formal inception in 1852. The gallery was constructed in 1890 on land that was originally part of the Government Camp, Ballarat's official centre of government administration during the Gold Rush days of the 1850s. It was from this larger site that troops were mustered on 2 December 1854 prior to their march on Bakery Hill to quell the Eureka Rebellion. The most significant symbol of that rebellion, the original Eureka Flag, today hangs in the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, a bequest from the family of Trooper John King in 1895. The flag, like other sites and artefacts associated with the Eureka Stockade, serves as a prominent and tangible link to one of the most celebrated and significant moments in Australia's history.

The gallery is historically significant in its own right, as the first public art gallery to be constructed in an Australian provincial city, which is indicative of Ballarat's status as a town of great wealth and prosperity in the late Nineteenth Century. As such it is also the oldest continuously used provincial art gallery in Australia. The idea for a public gallery in Ballarat was inspired by an exhibition of art works in Ballarat City Hall in 1884. This was followed by an allocation of two thousand pounds in 1886 for the acquisition of art and construction of the building. The notion of a fine art gallery for Ballarat was championed by James Oddie (1824 - 1911), one of Ballarat's wealthiest and most influential residents, and inaugural Chairman of the Ballarat Municipal Council (1856 - 1858).

The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery is a substantial two storey building constructed between 1887 and 1890 in the Free Classical Style. The design for the gallery was completed by local architects Tappin, Gilbert and Dennehy. The first stage of the building was officially opened by Alfred Deakin on 3 June 1890. Externally, it displays a flamboyant and artistic character, symbolic of both its function as a gallery and the prosperous era in which it was constructed. Engaged Corinthian columns on the upper level create a facade of three bays. Within each of these bays the original fenestration has been infilled. The roof is decorated with a balustrated parapet and triangular pediment, below which are the words "FINE ART GALLERY" in gilt lettering. The lower floor features rusticated pilasters, which echo the Corinthian columns of the upper.

One of the most significant features of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery is its collections. It contains one of the most valued collections of heritage and art objects in Australia. One of the most treasured of these is the original Eureka Flag which, although weathered and worn, stands testament to the ideals and actions of the diggers in the Eureka Rebellion. It stands as a source of intrigue, inspiration and education to all who are drawn to visit the gallery to see it. In addition to the flag, the gallery contains many fine artworks by some of the most prominent painters in Australia's history. Its exhibition spaces are graced with works by artists such as John Glover (1767 - 1849), Eugene von Guerard (1811 - 1901), Thomas Flintoff (1809 - 1891), Charles Conder (1868 - 1901), Frederick McCubbin (1855 - 1917), Tom Roberts (1856 - 1931) and Arthur Streeton (1867 - 1943).

Gilt Lettering Detail on the Front Doors of the Ballarat Old Colonists Club – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:16:40 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Built for the Old Colonists Association between 1887 and 1889, the Old Colonists Club at 16 to 24 Lydiard Street, Ballarat, is a building which is important in terms of streetscape, history and townscape and is of architectural consequence. The club forms an essential part of the streetscape and townscape of Ballarat and represents an association which is distinctively of the Nineteenth Century and unique to Ballarat.

Architecturally the interiors are largely intact. Beyond the double glass doors, the interior takes you back in time to the Victorian era. Ascending the thickly carpeted stairs, the entrance hall has an elaborate skylight with covered and ribbed surrounds lit by a rectangular lantern structure. From the roof a heavy ornate wrought iron chandelier hangs. The staircase with decorative iron balustrades and tile inlaid woodend paneling leads visitors to the club rooms on the first floor.

The front rooms above Lydiard Street are in original condition and feature beautiful pressed metal ceilings featuring elaborate Art Nouveau designs, however it is the billard room at the rear which is of the most architectural significance. The elaboarate cornices and ceiling roses combined with the original furniture, equipment and rear balcony make the interior highly significant.

Detail of the Art Nouveau Stained Glass Windows of Reid's Coffee Palace – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:28:15 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

Reid's Coffee Palace (another name for a temperance hotel) was built by German immigrant John Reid on the site of his New York Bakery next to Ballarat's central railway terminus. Reid's Coffee Palace, which along with the bakery, and the Provincial Hotel across the street, were part of the franchise operated by John Reid.

Reid's Coffee Palace was built in two stages. The first was in 1886, with Melbourne architects Tappin and Gilbert and contractors Taylor and Ellis. The extensions were undertaken by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy in 1888. The verandah would appear to have been built about ten years after that around 1898 - 1900.

The building itself is a very example of the Classical Revival style, and features some fine Art Nouveau detailing including these beautiful stained glass windows which may be seen from the side of the building facing the railway line.

Internally the stairwell with its wonderful front doors, vestibule tiling, hand painted ceiling and wall panels, clerestory, glazing and entrance arch are perhaps of greatest importance. The building is intact, other than recent repainting and signs and two shopfronts of the 1920s. Internally, only major items of interest have survived. The combination of the stairwell with the balcony verandah make this an important building of the coffee palace era and unique on a state wide basis.

The Coffee Palace remained extraordinarily intact, both internally and externally until the property was finally sold by the Reid family in 1977. The original fixtures and furniture was sold off and the whole building redecorated internally and externally.

John Reid emigrated from Germany to America, where in New York (the desination of so many European immigrants) he entered the baking trade. In 1855 brought the techniques and specialities he had learnt in New York to the burgeoning Victorian goldfields to feed the hordes of hungry miners, most of whom had never known anything like what John served. He established a New York bakery in the adventageous spot next to Ballarat's busy railway station, where the bakery remained until he decided to open his own coffee palace.

The term coffee palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia.

The Ballarat East Fire Brigade Tower - Corner Barkly Street And Princes Street, East Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:28:52 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

The Ballarat East Fire Brigade Tower, designed by prominent local architect Henry Caselli, was constructed in 1864 by William Cowland, builder, and brigade volunteer. Lack of funds prevented the Engine House from being constructed to Caselli's design, the existing Engine House officially opened in 1916, recalls the earlier 1858 wooden structure lost to a fire which it replaced.

The Ballarat East Fire Station is of architectural significance demonstrating outstanding application of brick masonry as both a decorative and structural material in the octagonal tower in particular, with its combination of arcaded corbel tables and angled bricks. The tower in combination with the boldly articulated and complementary Engine House forms an unusual and sophisticated ensemble of buildings.

The Ballarat East Fire Station is historically significant as one of the few remaining examples of Nineteenth Century fire stations and is possibly the oldest in Victoria. Formed in 1856, the brigade was the first to be established in Ballarat, and was progressive in its use of new fire fighting technology being the first in Victoria to use a steam fire engine and install electric street fire alarms. The Ballarat East Fire Station is of further historical significance in its ability to demonstrate the size and pre-eminence of the Ballarat region in the state of Victoria, East Ballarat forming one of its many suburbs until the early decades of the Twentieth Century.

The Ballarat East Fire Station was open to the public as part of the 2012 Ballarat Heritage Weekend, an annual two day event when buildings and private properties not usually open to the public are made available for viewing, as a way of celebrating Ballarat’s rich heritage.

Detail of the Victorian Statue of Hebe - Sturt Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:44:45 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

This statue of Hebe was a gift to the people of Ballarat and takes pride of place in Sturt Street, Ballarat. Donated by wealthy local gentleman John Permewan, Hebe forms a pair with the statue of Ruth. The white marble statue stands proud on a granite base. It was sculpted by English born Australian Charles Summers (1825 - 1878) and presented in 1899.

"Clowance", a Late Victorian Villa - Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:01:39 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

"Clowance" is a smart five bedroom Victorian villa that may be found in the provincial Victorian city of Ballarat.

"Clowance" was built between 1892 and 1893 for mine manager Isaiah Pearce and his family to the design of local architect W.E. Gribble. "Clowance" is a single-storey, red brick building with cement render decoration on the windows, a patterned, slate hipped roof and dichromatic brick, Tudor style chimneys. The villa has projecting, rendered bay windows, the eastern one with a battlemented parapet, the northern one with a raised pediment. Verandahs with ogee curved roofs are on the east and north facades, and the last bay of the east verandah has an entry porch with an encaustic tile floor. "Clowance" is an innovative example of a transitional design between late Victorian and Federation styles with a notable combination of features and fine external and internal detailing. Notable elements include the patterned roof, bay windows and distinctive timber detailing on the verandahs and bargeboards. The verandahs have cast iron posts in pairs joined by a segmental arched timber valance instead of the conventional cast iron frieze. The half hipped gable and barge boards have a hint of an Islamic style in the curved motifs. The exotic theme is carried over into the stepped triangular arches over the main openings.

Isaiah Pearce (1849? - 1919) played an important role in the mining industry in Ballarat. Leaving his home in Cowan, Cornwall, he arrived in Australia in 1861, just as the mining boom in central Victoria began. Isaiah met his Adelaide born wife Anna Maria Carah (1852 - 1895) in the central Victorian Gold Rush town of Castlemaine. Isaiah was involved in a number of successful mining ventures, including the North Woah Hawp mine, one of the richest and longest surviving Ballarat mines. Anna Maria focussed her attention on women's suffrage and their family of eight children (two dying in infancy). Their eldest surviving son, Joseph William (born 1886) died during the Great War in 1917 in Broodseinde, Flanders, but not before serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere in France. Isaiah Pearce was a long standing member of the Ballarat East council and was mayor in the year "Clowance" was built. "Clowance" with its highly embellished interior demonstrates the status and lifestyle of a family whose wealth was generated by goldmining in Ballarat.

"Clowance" is named after "Clowance Estate" near Camborne in Isaiah's beloved Cornwall.

Today "Clowance", which is heritage listed, has new life, not as a private residence, but a luxury bed and breakfast which is very popular amongst visitors staying in Ballarat.

The Alexandra Tea Rooms – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

nobody@flickr.com (raaen99) — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:49:27 -0700

raaen99 posted a photo:

The Alexandria Tea Rooms at 26 to 34 Lydiard Street in the provincial Victorian city of Ballarat, was apparently constructed for the Commercial Club in 1872.

The building is designed in the conservative Classical Revival style. The iron verandah is distinctive in design and the balustrade panel motif is most unusual and may be of local origin. The use of the triple window motif for the windows at first floor level is unusual. A double storey cast iron verandah faces the building, with paired columns at each end and supporting the central gabled section, a motif repeated in the balustraded parapet. The iron verandah balustrade is distinctive. Roman Doric pilasters and columns face the ground floor and a triple window motif is repeated above.

The Alexandria Tea Rooms forms part of an important streetscape of Lydiard Street in the centre of Ballarat's business district and is part of the townscape of historic Ballarat. It is historically important and is of architectural consequence for its detailing and verandah.