In 1838 Warringal Village was subdivided into nine portions (ranging in size from one to two square miles), with one of the largest portions, number 5, being purchased in 1840 by settler James Watson. He named the land Rose Anna Farm, after his wife Elizabeth Anna Rose. However, in April 1843 Watson encountered financial difficulties, was charged with fraud and was successfully sued. His company became insolvent and he was subsequently forced to subdivide and sell lots of the farm. Up until the early 1890s, four-fifths of the farm remained as an intact estate. However, in 1901 the
Hurstbridge railway line was extended from
Heidelberg to run to
Rosanna, and in 1902 was further extended through to
Eltham. This led to further subdivision and sale of lots. The Rosanna Post Office opened on 12 March 1914, closed in 1917 and reopened in 1926. In 1949 the shops along Lower Plenty Road, west of the railway crossing, consisted of a fuel merchant, post office, storekeeper, fruiterer, butcher and an estate agent. Numerous houses were being built, and two dairy farmers were east of the crossing. Ten years later there were 24 shops, including clothing and homewares. The growth of the local shopping centre signified the housing growth. In the next ten years housing spread outward from the railway line, and a three-fold increase in rates made the golf club move eastwards by 3 km.
Historical Buildings The former fire station on Lower Plenty Road, Rosanna is a late work by the renowned Government Architect
Percy Edgar Everett (1934-1953). Rosanna Fire Station is an excellent example of the work of Everett whose contribution to the design of public buildings in the Inter War period was exemplary. It is sited at an angle to the corner and is composed of a series of pavilions with flat roofs. The central part of the building was designed as accommodation for the fire trucks, has a raised roof and two sets of timber doors between rounded concrete pillars. The remainder of the building has a lower profile and contains accommodation for offices and a residence. Of cream face brick with timber framed modern windows, the building appears highly intact despite being adapted for a new use as a neighbourhood house. The building is composed of several parts with discrete low pitched roofs, and this combined with the angled siting give a very distinctive appearance to the building which is still highly intact. The building has some social significance as a fire station for over thirty years before adapting to a new community use as a neighbourhood house. The house at 35 Douglas Street was built in 1958 for Joseph Simpson and designed by architect
Robin Boyd, is of local aesthetic significance to the City of Banyule. Robin Boyd (1919 - 1971) was one of the leading exponents of modern architecture in Melbourne during the 1950s and 60s. This house is a representative example of the small residences built by Robin Boyd for private clients where he provided open plan living and passive solar designs at a time when this was rare in mainstream building. It is well designed for the sloping site and incorporates a lower ground floor at the rear, however this has been altered by additional glazing. The Joseph Simpson house is a relatively intact example of Boyd's design work and displays many of the typical features of his work. In
The Age's Liveable Melbourne report in 2019, Rosanna was ranked as Melbourne's 99th-most-liveable of 307 suburbs. The suburb was described as, "Rosanna, located 12 kilometres north-east of the CBD, is very accessible by bus and has decent access to trains. Among other strengths are the low crime and generous tree cover across hilly streets". ==Demographics==