Trescowthick house

History:

Charles Trescowthick, the boot manufacturer, was the first owner of this house in 1911. His factory was in Hoddle Street Abbotsford and he had previously lived in Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe. His biography, published in c. 1903, noted his business as '.. one of the most nourishing businesses in connection with the boot manufacturing industry in the State..'. His three-storey brick factory was then described as in Roseneath Street, Clifton Hill, and equipped with all of the latest mechanical aids to manufacture the numerous boot and shoe lines stocked by the firm. Trescowthick had started his business there in 1892 in smaller premises having been trained in the leather trade previously. He also spent some time on the Wages Board of the boot trade.

The building later formed part of the preparatory school of the Christian Brothers' Parade College, and now forms part of Alphington Grammar School. The building is presently used as the school's administration building.

Description:

The house at 18 Old Heidelberg Road, Alphington, is a single-storey Edwardian villa, constructed of red brick with rendered dressings, and with a hipped and gabled slate roof. Typical of the Queen Anne style, the house is a picturesque composition of projecting half-timbered gables, tall red brick chimneys with roughcast rendered caps and terracotta chimney pots and bow windows with leadlight highlights. A verandah returns around the north and east elevations, and is supported on cast iron columns and decorated with a cast iron fretwork frieze. A distinctive ogee-roofed turret penetrates the north-east corner of the roof, above a polygonal bay window of leadlight casements. The roof has terracotta ridge cresting and terracotta finials, and gable ends are supported on decorative timber brackets.

Significance:

The house at 18 Old Heidelberg Road, Alphington, is of local historical and architectural significance. The house has historical associations with Charles Trescowthick, a prominent late 19th and early 20th century Melbourne bootmaker. Architecturally, the house is a highly distinctive example of the Edwardian Queen Anne style, substantially intact, and particularly notable for its tower and cast iron verandah details.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House