Historical information

Belle Vue property in Livingstone Road, Eltham was once owned by Society member Jo McCormick. Jo was a valued member of our committee and dear friend of many of our members until her death in 2009.

Belle Vue is the farmhouse of a property that is now a significant part of suburban Eltham, just a short distance north of the town centre.

Originally purchased by pioneer Eltham farmer Henry Stooke, the present-day old farmhouse sits within an extensive suburban residential area.

The history of the property is largely based on a heritage assessment prepared by consultant Lorraine Huddle for Nillumbik Shire Council. Additional information from our Society records reveals Belle Vue farm comprised about 56 ha (140 acres) extending northerly from the northern boundary of Holloway’s 1851 Little Eltham subdivision.

On the present day map the southern boundary was just north of Elsa Court and Grove Street. The western boundary was the Diamond Creek and extended northerly to Main Road where it turns easterly towards Research. It was traversed by the main road to Kangaroo Ground and beyond and from 1912 by the railway to Hurstbridge.

From 1895 the farm was owned by William Williams and his wife Mary Ann. In 1914 -15 they built a new house now known as Belle Vue. They sold the land in 1920 and residential subdivision began soon after that.

Belle Vue remains today on a substantially subdivided and very much reduced size residential lot in Livingstone Road. The house and many old trees on the site were subject to a heritage overlay under the Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Despite that overlay, the development and subdivision of the original land resulted in most of the heritage listed trees being removed.

Physical description

10 x 15 cm colour print