A Short History of Rosedale

This is where my family used to live back in the early nineties. My parents, Kathy and Michael, renovated the house (with a bit of help from my brother and I as well) and it is now heritage listed. Nice work!

“Rosedale” at 8 Ellison Street Ringwood was built in 1923 by a highly regarded local builder of the time, Harry Peake.

Ellison Street, and the adjacent Haig Street, formed part of the Ringwood Township Estate which was the subdivision of the former orchard of Count Herrmann Conrad Von Horn. Von Horn had bought his orchard which fronted West Prussia Road (soon to be renamed Wantirna Road) in 1915 from pioneering Ringwood orchardist and estate agent (and later Councillor and Mayor) A.T. Miles. Miles was one of a series of orchardists and speculators who could see the strategic value of its 15 acres (six hectares) so close to the embryonic township of Ringwood and its new railway station and had bought and sold it since the 1890′s.

The Ringwood Township Estate comprised 58 lots, of which 18 lots were in Ellison Street. Number 8 is typical of these, with a frontage of 48 feet by a depth of 145 feet. Ironically it was the narrowness of the lots – too small for unit development – which has lead to Ellison Street now enjoying the best intact pre-war streetscape in Ringwood.

8 Ellison Street, Ringwood was built by Harry Peake as the home for his wife Emma, himself and family. The Peakes occupied it until selling to Alf Ibbotson, a local produce merchant in 1929. Ibbotson held it for 21 years (until 1950), followed by George and Miriam Anderson for 12 years (until 1962) and finally by Ida Pump for 27 years until 1989.

It was in 1989 that “Rosedale” received a new lease of life. Up to that stage, it was a simple six room timber bungalow typical of its era. Ida Pump’s Estate sold the property that year to Michael Sirakoff who, with his wife Kathy, coordinated an extensive, thorough and sympathetic renovation and extension of the home using local builder Kiama Homes.

It is that-nome, joyfully extended and reborn, which is now being offered for sale by its current owners.

In recognition of the heritage value of not only 8 Ellison Street but also of its neighbours at 6, 10 and 12 Ellison Street, Maroondah City Council in 2007 proposed that 6, 8, 10 and 12 Ellison Street, collectively referred to as the Ellison Street Ringwood Precinct, should be protected by a Heritage Overlay (H0100) under Maroondah Planning Scheme. That Amending Planning Scheme Overlay is expected to be finalized shortly.

“Rosedale” is a rare and valuable property. It is special not only because of its location in Ellison Street but also because of the way it contributes substantially to the integrity of the 1920′s streetscape. It is also an excellent example of how the best of the old can mix with the best of the new.