Cooma Cottage
Encyclopedia
Cooma Cottage is one of the oldest surviving rural houses in Yass, New South Wales
. It has historic significance as a relatively intact complex of rural buildings. It has a variety of significant natural and built elements, including an example of an early tree called the Picconia, a relative of the olive and rare in Australia, which is almost extinct in its native Canary Islands.
Cooma Cottage stands as evidence of what the first settlers built for themselves, their families and servants. The handmade bricks and crafted woodwork are the result of local skills and manufacturing.
The cottage has important heritage values as the home of Hamilton Hume
for more than 30 years after he ended his travels and became a grazier. It is a valuable part of the early development of the merino wool industry in Australia.
on the 1st of March 2002. The features noted were that the house demonstrates a form, which has grown from a bungalow through a series of additions -idiosyncratic, apparently haphazard, or sophisticated - to be fully united in Palladian form. The variety and juxtaposition of building techniques and materials is exceptional. The house remains within its original unspoilt historic curtilage and retains visual links, and is integral with the adjacent landscape and early properties.
Yass, New South Wales
Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. The name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....
. It has historic significance as a relatively intact complex of rural buildings. It has a variety of significant natural and built elements, including an example of an early tree called the Picconia, a relative of the olive and rare in Australia, which is almost extinct in its native Canary Islands.
Cooma Cottage stands as evidence of what the first settlers built for themselves, their families and servants. The handmade bricks and crafted woodwork are the result of local skills and manufacturing.
The cottage has important heritage values as the home of Hamilton Hume
Hamilton Hume
Hamilton Hume was the first Australian born explorer. Along with Hovell in 1824, Hume was part of an expedition that first took an overland route from Sydney to Port Phillip near the site of present day Melbourne...
for more than 30 years after he ended his travels and became a grazier. It is a valuable part of the early development of the merino wool industry in Australia.
Architecture
The original section of the cottage is among the earliest remaining rural homesteads in New South Wales. To this colonial bungalow Hume added his own version of Palladian style wings and a Greek revival portico. The immediate landscape is virtually unchanged since the 19th century although fast-developing Yass spreads nearby and busy roads have started to intrude.State Heritage Listing
Cooma Cottage was given a heritage listing in the NSW State Heritage RegisterNSW State Heritage Register
The NSW State Heritage Register is a heritage register administered by the Heritage Branch of the New South Wales Department of Planning. It is based in Parramatta....
on the 1st of March 2002. The features noted were that the house demonstrates a form, which has grown from a bungalow through a series of additions -idiosyncratic, apparently haphazard, or sophisticated - to be fully united in Palladian form. The variety and juxtaposition of building techniques and materials is exceptional. The house remains within its original unspoilt historic curtilage and retains visual links, and is integral with the adjacent landscape and early properties.