Rockdale: 96 Punt Road, Windsor. Melbourne, Victoria

Rockdale is an attractive freestanding double storey former middle class home in the Italianate terrace style.  Like many of the grand homes along this stretch of Punt Road close to St Kilda Junction it is set back from the street.  Despite its obvious grandeur, Rockdale is unfortunately not afforded any heritage protection under the City of Stonnington planning scheme.

The terrace is highly decorated in rendered brick, however it has been significantly modified, the “modernisation” dating to sometime before the 1950s resulting in the removal of its cast iron lacework, replacement of its support column with concrete and enclosing its upper storey verandah in aluminium framed glass.

Currently adaptively re-used as an office/dwelling, it survived through the mid 20th Century as a 13 room guesthouse. ¹

Nevertheless, Rockdale retains many of the features of a classic Melbourne terrace, including the classical symmetry of a tall parapet graced with segmental pediment and crowns featuring the name of the terrace emblazoned on it that hides a large hip and gable tiled roof and chimneys.  The prominent parapet is flanked by large scrolls and a typical Italianate balustrade and entablature with urns capping the party walls which are heavily vermiculated and decorated with twin scrolls at each level.  Below the cornice is a frieze with bracketed mouldings and double scrolls.  The corrugated iron roofed verandah bullnoses out and blind arched openings on the upper storey may at one time, like the ground level, been open to provide views up and down the parade.

The ground level doorway and window are notable for their flat arched mouldings, decorative sidelights and leadlight patterning allowing generous light into the principal rooms.

I don’t have any information on the date of construction or achitect, however given the presence of late Victorian and early Edwardian details it would appear that this house dates to the early 1890s.   It is quite possible that the original style of the terrace was unpainted red brick and render and that its current beige invasion paint scheme originates to its postwar makeover.

One would hope that this terrace could not only be preserved but its original features reinstated and this example of boom style architecture be restored to its former glory.

Hortonbridge Terrace: 61-69 Victoria Street, Potts Point. Sydney, New South Wales

This grand triple storey row of five houses erected in 1890 situated near Potts Point’s famous McElhone stairs is currently known as Waratah Apartments with a serviced apartments complex integrated behind the facades.

The state heritage listed terrace is notable for its rich classical styled embellishment.   Victorian row houses such as this heralded Pott’s Point’s status as the ‘Regent’s Park of Sydney’.

Architecturally this beautiful terrace features a double storey bullnosed verandah with a corrugated iron roof and screen of rich cast iron lacework decoration in the filligree style with fringe, brackets and a fine panelled lacework balustrade.  The upper balcony is column free, however a classical cast iron column defines the entryway at ground level.  The party walls wave out from the main facade and feature acanthus scroll decorations.  The second storey of each house features two large french doors each with fanlights for ample light provision.  Classical pilasters and entablature provide visual separation to the upper level which has two double hung windows with prominent bracketed ledges.  A frieze defines the parapet and the mid terrace has a raised parapet with a cartouche featuring the terrace name and date, however I haven’t been able to find any reference to the origins of the unusual naming of “Hortonbridge”.

The terrace is notable for its ground floor decoration, particularly its window arrangement and bold Palladian motif with large segmental pediments propped up by rendered classical columns flanked by sidelights with deep moulded ledges.  A horizontal moulding visually connects the doorway which has a round arched decorated fanlight window above a distinguished four panelled Victorian door.

In the 1970s, developers planned to demolish the terrace, however the National Trust NSW fortunately stepped in and classified the precinct and interim protection was granted until it was finally granted legal protection in 1981.  Development did proceed, however and as a result the terrace was been substantially modified yet the facade remains in near original condition.

Former Terrace Houses: 10 Garsed Street, Bendigo Victoria

I discovered this delightful semi-detached pair of late Victorian terraces while wandering from the train station to Bendigo’s central business district.  The first suprise of my investigation of this great little pair of rare picturesque Queen Anne/Rustic Gothic terraces was its unrestored condition, the second was its lack of any heritage status in an area which is being rapidly redeveloped.  The two are currently on one title and adaptively reused as offices.  An unfortunately placed tree makes capturing the pair in one photo impossible.

Despite most of Bendigo’s CBD and surrounding suburbs being covered by a heritage overlay, this interesting pair was somehow left off the list.  All that separates it from a great heritage building is a bit of sandblasting and the reinstatement of the missing verandah on one of the former houses (which could be copied from the existing one on the other house).

The red painted corrugated iron roof of the former terraces features two prominent deep-eaved gables at opposing ends featuring a circular cast iron patterned vent and a finial of turned wood behind which rises a tall polychrome brick chimney stack.  Another chimney stack sits atop the centre party wall. Presumably the facade was also once exposed red brickwork (quite possibly polychrome) which has been unfortunately painted over at some stage.  The sweeping party walls extend to the street and topped by bulky pyramid finial gateposts.  They frame the verandah which bullnoses out from the facade and has a fringe and round brackes in cast iron lace with central pendants.  The Victorian doors and fanlights, as well as the large double hung windows and sidelights remain intact although the security bars is not a great look.  As noted, the verandah has sadly been removed from the other house in order to c0nvert the courtyard to off-street carparking.

As the pair has not featured in a heritage study, there is a lack of information on the architect and date of construction.  My guess based on the style is that it dates to 1889 or later, possibly the early to mid 1890s.

It would be a shame if this one slipped through the cracks as restored it would be a fantastic looking asset to what is truly a wonderful heritage city.

Saltaire: 8 Thorn Street. Essendon, Victoria

Standing as a lone freestanding suburban terrace house overlooking Lincoln Park in Essendon is this landmark Victorian home in the Australian filigree style.

The polychrome brick terrace has many classical features to indicate its Italiante style, while its overall composition is distinctively eclectic.

Above a bold cornice of classical dentils with alternative brackets and modillions is the step profile arch and scroll parapet inside of which is a prominent festoon framing the name of the terrace.  The parapet hides a hip and gable slate roof, however a tall and bulky Italianate chimney can be seen clearly from the street. The party walls are topped by urns with large vermiculated panels and acanthus scrolls facing the street.  The plain party walls on either side are offset by staggered rendered brick emulating quoins and otherwise feature only the occasional metal structural brace.  The double storey verandah features a visible skillion roof with fringes and brackets in cast iron lace.  Relatively thick classical style cast iron columns provide bold symmetry to the facade and give it a focal point.

The upper storey verandah balcony has a delicate but thick repetitive fern like cast iron pattern.  The windows, doors and corner brickwords are dressed in zig-zag polychrome.  There are two large french windows on the upper storey with a large round arched door with fanlight and sidelights.  A large three panel window opening with cast iron column dividers provides ample light to the front rooms.

The Leach family lived there around the turn of the century.   Today Saltaire is remains a private four bedroom residence which retains many original features preserved through contemporary makeovers including its high celings, a formal parlour, dining room with original roses, cornices and marble fireplaces.  Sympathetic recent additions include a carport in polychrome brick and a replica palisade style fence to frame the small front courtyard while its neighbours mostly date to the 1970s.

I’m not certain of the construction date or architect, however give the style I would imagine it to date to somewhere between 1887 and 1888.  At the time it was built, Essendon was a rapidly developing township stopover between Melbourne and the Mount Alexander (now Castlemaine) gold mines and some terraces were built near the centre of the town close to the railway station.  The home has heritage protection under the City of Moonee Valley Planning Scheme, being positioned at the edge of heritage overlay HO1.

It is likely that the terrace was named for the Victorian industrial model village Saltaire by the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England.

Big thanks to reader Alastair for sending through photos and info.

Terrace Houses: 92-94 Perry Street. Collingwood, Victoria

This pair of plain looking old terraces in formerly working class Collingwood is in fair external condition but obviously visibly showing its age, moreso the house at 92 which has the appearance of subsiding with large visible cracks along its facade, nevertheless it was recently advertised by real estate agents as “structurally sound” and recently sold for many hundreds of thousands.

Difficult to date, the brick render terraces may be from the 1850s and among the oldest homes in the area, small modest homes in the simple colonial regency style.   Or they may be from later but have had the majority of their details stripped.  In any case their current appearances are of two rather unremarkable Victorian terraced homes sharing a single gable galvanised iron roof with plain chimneys and a shallow parapet.  The gutter spouts are among the few details of the facade.

There are paired doors along the central halls with one double hung window for each house.

Although I’m not aware of the actual construction date, architect, architectural or historical significance, the terrace has its own heritage overlay under the City of Yarra Planning Scheme (HO130), so there is obviously a good reason for keeping it.

Comparisons

• 120-122 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Victoria

Terrace Houses: 29-33 Berry Street, Spring Hill. Brisbane, Queensland

I became aware of this small but tall row of unnamed terrace houses when Today Tonight did a story on them. Hidden in a small lane off Wickham Terrace, they are currently owned by Astor Hotel Apartments and hired out as budget accomodation. According to the segment, some guests were not happy with their apparent poor interior condition.

Multi-storey Victorian terraces are extremely rare in Brisbane (these may indeed be the few existing) and this style, with front gables, attics and basement levels is even rarer. The style bears similarities to some inner Sydney rows. One of the most interesting architectural features is the attic level roofscape of the houses features a prominent timber bargeboard with crossbeam and single window. Another interesting feature is the mix of verandah decoration. While both of the two storey verandahs on each house feature a modest vertical panel balustrade, the upper storey has iron lacework including a modest fringe and round brackets with fashioned timber posts but in contrast the first storey features a deep arched lattice screen supported by classical cast iron corinthian capital posts. The verandah roof is skillion style and framed on each side by prominent party walls adorned with acanthus scroll corbels at each floor level. The whole facade is rendered.

Entry to the houses is via a rising elevated stair with small courtyards leading to basement levels framed by a solid rendered fence with pyramid posts and cast iron palisade. The doors and halls are paired on the 33 and 31, while 29 is set apart but shares a chimney with 31 indicating that the row may always have been short.

I’m not sure of the date or architect, but I’d guess somewhere between 1887 and 1889.

Many thanks to Michael for the photo and further information.

Terrace Houses: 22-28 Blackburn Street. Adelaide, South Australia

This unnamed row of four double storey ashlar bluestone terraces in the Regency style includes “Wisteria Terrace” which operates as a bed and breakfast.  The others remain used as houses.  They form an important terraced city streetscape and are very typical of those in Adelaide, however with some distinctive features.

One of the most interesting features is the cantilevered timber framed balcony.  This architectural technique was typically used in Sydney to make use of space above footpaths.  In this instance it provides a column free cast iron fence framed courtyard space, solid looking though precarious.  The iron lacework treatment is also interesting.  Like many Adelaide terraces its use is somewhat subdued, however in this case the curved corner brackets contrast with the almost wrought iron sparse look of the balcony insert panels of which there are three per house.  The verandah roof above is a skillion, again another rare feature.

This row features an exposed low pitched hipped roof above a short parapet with the two middle terraces sharing the mid section gable and projecting party walls.

The hall entries are paired and surrounded by bold plain rendered rectangular moulds with small fanlight above the door.  The single double hung windows and French doors above are also distinguished by rectangular moulds.

I was not able to discern the date of construction or architect although my guess based on the style would be sometime in the 1870s, probably by one of many speculative builders in Adelaide at the time.  The houses carry a local heritage listing with the City of Adelaide (H0200876).

328-344 Kings Way. South Melbourne, Victoria. Image Copyright Belucci's Restaurant. Used with permission

This is one of my favourite Melbourne terraces and one of the only ones remaining along Kings Way.

While the landmark triple “boom style” storey terrace is within its own heritage overlay HO177, unfortunately last month there was an application to demolish the terraces and then reconstruct them facade only (a seemingly acceptable practice in Port Phillip). They seem destined to be replaced by a 14 storey apartment tower.

The terraces have been used commercially for many years, the most recent being Belucci’s Italian Restaurant which appears to pride itself on its heritage premises, using the top levels and balconies for functions and dining.

Architecturally the two main terraces are extremely interesting with its symmetrical design and eclectic mix of styles.  Arguably the most interesting aspect of this terrace is its spectacular mansard roof, complete with classical arched dormer windows with pediments double hung arched windows and prominent ledges.   The facade and dormers are adorned with a mix of motifs including Egyptian style crests, wreaths and celtic like engravings in stucco on the thick party walls which sit upon a base of bluestone.  There is a frieze of three festoons below the eaves of each house.  The cast iron lacework fringes consist of a single straight band with a pendant at the midpoint and round brackets on either side.  The cast iron balustrade features a repeating arch pattern like the fringe rich in detail.  The ground level features two large faceted bays with extremely tall arched windows in each bay and a tall arched window which would have been a doorway since converted.

I’m not cetain of the date or architect, however my guess based on the style of the building would be somewhere between 1889 and 1892.  The modern roof cladding is somewhat unsympathetic and possibly dates to the 1960s, it is my guess that the roof was originally tiled in slate with possible cast iron features.

There is a third terrace which also features the faceted bay of the taller two, however consists of just a single storey without any iron lacework.  This building may have been originally part of the row or possibly even built sometime later any time up until the 1920s.  I’d love to hear from anyone who knows but in any case it is apparently to be totally demolished.

For many years the building and facade had been neglected.  Even today in its reasonably well maintained state, its colour scheme is unsympathetic and its gutters are in obvious disrepair.

Assuming that the demolition and development goes ahead, one would hope that the facade reconstruction is of a higher quality than other reconstructions in the Port Phillip area (such as the nearby Red Bears Hotel) which have not been great, with pre-cast concrete replacing bricks and mortar.  I’d like to think that this one would be done in such a way that it is reasonably faithful to the intricate worksmanship of the past.

In the meantime if you are interested in checking out this row in person, I would suggest booking a meal at Beluccis Italian Restaurant while it is still there.

Terrace Houses and Corner Shop: 27-33 Moncur Street, Woollahra. Sydney, New South Wales

This interesting row of three double storey terraces plus splayed corner shop.

The corner shop has been altered at some stage. At the time the photo was taken the original render had been stripped back to expose bare bricks, however this has since been replaced and painted over. While the bare brick treatment that was common in fashionable 1960s renovations looked quaint it exposed porous brick and grout which made them susceptible to water ingress. The regency style corner shop is notable for the large decorative urns which grace its parapet as well as the fine brackets on its cornice, Georgian style door and window mouldings and corner balconette.

The terraces are Italianate, similar to many in Melbourne dressed with cast iron lace with semi-circular brackets, straight fringe and balustrade.

The shop which dates back to 1873 ¹ has become a fashionable address and home to Baccini & Hill for many years and more recently SugarLove Weddings & White Designs.

Freestanding Terrace: 34 Park Place, South Yarra. Melbourne, VIC

This freestanding boom style terrace in great condition was originally built in 1891 by Alfred Taylor and is part of a subdivision with direct frontage to beautiful Fawkner Park.

The terrace itself is an flamboyant composition with typical Melbourne features including a high parapet of classical entablature with a triangular pediment topping a festoon in moulded stucco and flanked by scrolls and a balustrade.  Urns on either side complete the Italianate silhouette.   The party walls are clearly defined and feature another pair of urns with lions heads on the upper storey and female heads on the lower storey staring out over the park with wide scrolls in between.  A bold cornice sits between the party walls and is propped up with dentils and a frieze of classically inspired mouldings including floral paterae.

The verandah is a double storey cast iron lacework affair with a set of elaborate brackets at each level and a low pitched roof which is completely obscured.  Below a deep lace frieze is a very fine fringe and brackets of a dense pattern with pendants in between.  A cast iron column breaks the symmetry and defines the space over the doorway and splits the paneled balustrade.  There are three french windows on the upper storey, but the ground floor holds the majority of detail, with a large decorative six panel door with patterned fanlight and sidelights in a flat arched composition.  Two tall flat arched Italianate windows break front and are further defined by a bold patterned string course moulding.

A cast iron palisade fence and ornate gateposts frames a spacious front courtyard area.

The terrace house is included in the City of Melbourne’s heritage overlay HO6 which covers all of Fawkner Park.