Historic Golden Point home damaged before planning protection kicked in

Golden Point's 1890 John Pearce House was already listed on a council January heritage bid with five other historic houses, but was gutted by a fire late on Tuesday.

The son of the final occupant of a partially-burnt Magpie Street home says he was sad it was "let go".

But City of Ballarat councillor Samantha McIntosh also believes it can be restored to its former glory despite Tuesday night's ferocious fire.

It was partly boarded-up and was covered in graffiti at the time of the 10.20pm blaze.

The last person to live in the home was Bill Howard, who purchased the property in 1988 and died eight years ago.

"They could have done so much with it," son Pepe Howard said.

"Opened it for accommodation, for example, and made a bit of coin from it.

"Nothing has been done to the home since Dad died. It was very dilapidated.

"While Dad was alive, Sovereign Hill approached him and said they would buy it, but he could live there for the rest of his life.

"We wanted to buy it from him but he sold it.

"I feel pretty sad - but I've been sad about the home since Dad died and Sovereign Hill got it.

"It started to look like an eyesore."

Cr McIntosh said the fire was a "sad lesson" about what happened to a heritage property when it sat vacant.

"I think we need to protect our history where we can.

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"This house could be reconstructed.

"I understand it's very damaged but there are some pretty clever tradies around."

Ballarat Heritage Watch president Stuart Kelly said he believed the home had been neglected over time.

"I would have thought this home should have had security fencing around it and Sovereign Hill should have acted sooner," he said.

"I would've thought it could have been restored pretty well externally - but internally it would have been open slather."

A Sovereign Hill spokesperson said in a statement it had planned to demolish the non-heritage features of the site (such as a metal shed) and was only weeks away from starting preservation work on the Italianate Victorian home.

Mr Howard said his father was a keen collector and ran Howards Auctions in Main Street.

"The home had a tennis court when he first bought it, but that's overgrown now," he said.

"The glass tower at the back was built in the mid-1990s. It's a five-bedroom house with one bathroom, which sounds strange now, but that's just what they did back then."

Mr Howard said one of his sisters still lived next to the property and was returning from interstate at the time of the blaze.

Cr McIntosh said the house had some significant features including a kitchen in original condition.

"It would be wonderful to see this heritage home given some respect," she said.

"When you have heritage in built form and it's activated, it protects its longevity.

"This could have been used as an art gallery or specialist trade centre or even rented out."

The home was the subject of a heritage protection debate at a February City of Ballarat council meeting.

Councillors voted to call on Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny to put permanent heritage controls on five homes - including 89 Magpie Street.

The five properties were deemed to meet the "threshold for local significance" and had "heritage values outside Ballarat's existing Heritage Overlay".

City of Ballarat development and growth director Natalie Robertson said heritage significance of the site remained despite the fire damage.

"Despite the damage to the Magpie Street property, the Ministerial exhibition will continue, and anyone may make a submission during the exhibition phase," she said.

"The Minister for Planning authorised proceeding with the Heritage Overlay amendment for the property, which is scheduled for public exhibition on June 1, 2023."

John Pearce, who lived at the home until 1924, was the son of a Cornish mining family which arrived on the goldfields in the early 1850s, according to a council report.

He was the mining manager of the North Woah Hawp Canton (1909-1916) and New Normanby (1891-1916) quartz mining companies in east Ballarat. Peace's uncle was a director of both.

North Woah Hawp Canton was established in 1882 by Chinese merchants in Melbourne and employed both Chinese and caucasian miners.

The report said Cornish miners were encouraged to come to Australia for their skills - and mainly lived around Mount Pleasant, Golden Point and Sebastopol.

The City of Ballarat was also told author Peter Cuffley lived at the home while he served as the first curator of history at Sovereign Hill.

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