VCAT says no to wedding venue at Banyule Homestead
Plans to turn one of the state’s oldest surviving houses, Banyule Homestead, next to the Yarra River in Heidelberg, into a wedding venue have been rejected by VCAT.
The elegant 1846 property’s Toorak owners applied for a permit to host up to 160 people, obtain a liquor license, build 48 car parks, convert an existing garage into a kitchen and provide acoustic fencing after purchasing the property at 60 Buckingham Drive for $5.2 million in 2015.
The eight-bedroom mansion on about 9100sqm was built for Sydney overlander Joseph Hawdon and designed by colonial architect John Gill, and has been used as the backdrop for Shaun Micallef series The Ex-PM.
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The elegant mansions looks out across the Yarra River.
Banyule Homestead sold in 2015 for $5.2 million.
It’s considered of historical significance to Victoria for its link to Hawdon.
Heritage Council of Victoria documents state it’s architecturally significant as “one of the earliest surviving houses in Victoria” and “a rare example of a pre-gold rush house in Melbourne to have retained a substantial part of its original appearance and setting”.
Inside the stately Banyule Homestead.
It’s also “a rare example of the use of the Elizabethan style in Victoria, and the only known example of the adoption of this style by Gill.”
VCAT members concluded the plan was not suitable for the neighbourhood.
This article from the Herald Sun originally appeared as “Banyule Homestead plans slapped down by VCAT”.
