In Love with the cottage

Love’s Cottage and its outbuildings, in Clyde Street, St Arnaud represents one the oldest miner's properties in the town. 

The single storey, modestly scaled, Victorian vernacular cottage is characterised by a double gable roof with no eaves, clad in galvanised corrugated iron. The original stone wall construction has been surfaced with cement render possibly in the 1940s (except for the rear wall). Two cement rendered and brick chimneys adorn the roofline. The timber framed six paned windows appear to be early, with the timber framed double hung windows at the rear introduced at a later stage. The vertical boarded front door also appears to be early. Internally, the walls and ceilings vary in materials and finish from whitewashed plaster to galvanised iron and paper on hessian. exposed remnant stone wall construction.

The combined stables & boy's sleeping area

The outbuildings on the property include a blacksmith's shop, which has collapsed and is in ruinous condition. It has a gable roof form clad in galvanised corrugated iron, and remnants of bush pole structure and sawn hardwood weatherboard wall cladding.

An external toilet is situated nearby the stables and has a simple gable roof clad in galvanised corrugated iron, with early horizontal weatherboard wall cladding and vertical boarded door. It is in a perilous condition and has almost collapsed in upon itself. Other remains of small structures include a mud brick goose pen and a timber kennel.The gardens on the property reflect its layout and many early plantings, including fruit trees, agave, phlox and agapanthus still endure.

The cottage was originally built in 1868 with layers of flat stones and rubble (from a nearby mine) between timber posts, the walls are at least 12” thick. In the 1940s the external walls were surfaced in cement render. Originally a two room cottage, it was constructed by John Tyson with assistance from William Thompson. 

A kitchen and adjacent room with packed earth floors was added, and more recently a laundry and toilet annexe added to the rear. The Tysons raised 11 children on the property. 
In 1896 the property was owned by Robert and Eliza Love and their family of nine, who built a blacksmith's forge, stables and an outside toilet in the early 1900s. In 1985, following the death of Ethel Love, daughter-in-law of Robert Love, the property was bequeathed to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and classified on the historic register in 1986. In 1987 responsibility for the property was given to the St. Arnaud Historical Society.