Art Nouveau Stained Glass Detail of the Former Dental Surgery of Doctor L. C. Bayer - Corner Gellibrand and Dennis Streets, Colac
Built in 1915 for local dentist, Doctor L. C. Bayer, in the prominent location opposite Colac's centrally located Memorial Square (known then as Market Square), stands this sprawling red brick residence.
Like other prominent buildings around Colac owned by the professional classes, such as “Glenora” and “Lislea House”, this building served two purposes; it was built for use as a stylish residence for Doctor Bayer as well as his dental surgery. The house, believed to be first brick veneer house built in Colac, has been constructed in the popular Federation Queen Anne style, which was mostly a residential style which was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement in England, but also encompassed some of the more stylised elements of Art Nouveau, which gave it an more decorative look. It has a very complex roofline, including a splendid corner bay window topped by an ornamental tower, half timbered gables, stylised Art Nouveau panels of stained glass in both the windows and doors and exaggerated chimneys with ornamental detailing.
Queen Anne style was most popular around the time of Federation. With complex roofline structures, ornamental towers of unusual proportions and undulating facades, many Queen Anne houses fell out of fashion at the beginning of the modern era, and were demolished.
Doctor L. C. Bayer, L.D.S. studied at the Melbourne Dental Hospital and University. His advertisements in the Colac Herald state that his surgery (Colac telephone exchange number 151) kept the hours of half past nine to five o'clock weekdays (excepting Tuesdays) and Saturdays until one o'clock, or by appointment. On the first and third Tuesday of each month, Doctor Bayer saw patients in the nearby town of Beeac, whilst on on the second and fourth Tuesday he saw patients at yet another nearby town called Birregurra.
As the descendants of Doctor Bayer no longer live in the house, it serves as the Colac branch of Legacy House. Legacy is a charity providing services to Australian families suffering financially and socially after the incapacitation or death of a spouse or parent, during or after their defence force service.
Located approximately 150 kilometres to the south-west of Melbourne, past Geelong is the small Western District city of Colac. The area was originally settled by Europeans in 1837 by pastoralist Hugh Murray. A small community sprung up on the southern shore of a large lake amid the volcanic plains. The community was proclaimed a town, Lake Colac, in 1848, named after the lake upon which it perches. The post office opened in 1848 as Lake Colac and was renamed Colac in 1854 when the city changed its name. The township grew over the years, its wealth generated by the booming grazing industries of the large estates of the Western District and the dairy industry that accompanied it. Colac has a long high street shopping precinct, several churches, botanic gardens, a Masonic hall and a smattering of large properties within its boundaries, showing the conspicuous wealth of the city. Today Colac is still a commercial centre for the agricultural district that surrounds it with a population of around 10,000 people. Although not strictly a tourist town, Colac has many beautiful surviving historical buildings or interest, tree lined streets. Colac is known as “the Gateway to the Otways” (a reference to the Otway Ranges and surrounding forest area that is located just to the south of the town).
Art Nouveau Stained Glass Detail of the Former Dental Surgery of Doctor L. C. Bayer - Corner Gellibrand and Dennis Streets, Colac
Built in 1915 for local dentist, Doctor L. C. Bayer, in the prominent location opposite Colac's centrally located Memorial Square (known then as Market Square), stands this sprawling red brick residence.
Like other prominent buildings around Colac owned by the professional classes, such as “Glenora” and “Lislea House”, this building served two purposes; it was built for use as a stylish residence for Doctor Bayer as well as his dental surgery. The house, believed to be first brick veneer house built in Colac, has been constructed in the popular Federation Queen Anne style, which was mostly a residential style which was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement in England, but also encompassed some of the more stylised elements of Art Nouveau, which gave it an more decorative look. It has a very complex roofline, including a splendid corner bay window topped by an ornamental tower, half timbered gables, stylised Art Nouveau panels of stained glass in both the windows and doors and exaggerated chimneys with ornamental detailing.
Queen Anne style was most popular around the time of Federation. With complex roofline structures, ornamental towers of unusual proportions and undulating facades, many Queen Anne houses fell out of fashion at the beginning of the modern era, and were demolished.
Doctor L. C. Bayer, L.D.S. studied at the Melbourne Dental Hospital and University. His advertisements in the Colac Herald state that his surgery (Colac telephone exchange number 151) kept the hours of half past nine to five o'clock weekdays (excepting Tuesdays) and Saturdays until one o'clock, or by appointment. On the first and third Tuesday of each month, Doctor Bayer saw patients in the nearby town of Beeac, whilst on on the second and fourth Tuesday he saw patients at yet another nearby town called Birregurra.
As the descendants of Doctor Bayer no longer live in the house, it serves as the Colac branch of Legacy House. Legacy is a charity providing services to Australian families suffering financially and socially after the incapacitation or death of a spouse or parent, during or after their defence force service.
Located approximately 150 kilometres to the south-west of Melbourne, past Geelong is the small Western District city of Colac. The area was originally settled by Europeans in 1837 by pastoralist Hugh Murray. A small community sprung up on the southern shore of a large lake amid the volcanic plains. The community was proclaimed a town, Lake Colac, in 1848, named after the lake upon which it perches. The post office opened in 1848 as Lake Colac and was renamed Colac in 1854 when the city changed its name. The township grew over the years, its wealth generated by the booming grazing industries of the large estates of the Western District and the dairy industry that accompanied it. Colac has a long high street shopping precinct, several churches, botanic gardens, a Masonic hall and a smattering of large properties within its boundaries, showing the conspicuous wealth of the city. Today Colac is still a commercial centre for the agricultural district that surrounds it with a population of around 10,000 people. Although not strictly a tourist town, Colac has many beautiful surviving historical buildings or interest, tree lined streets. Colac is known as “the Gateway to the Otways” (a reference to the Otway Ranges and surrounding forest area that is located just to the south of the town).