Residence, 37 May Road, Toorak

What is significant?

The Bush Inn Estate precinct, Toorak, is a residential area created during the land boom era of the 1880s.The precinct retains a large number of dwellings from this period including grand double-storey terraces and handsome villas as well as modest single-storey cottages. The 1890s depression led to a dramatic downturn in building activity leaving some parts of the precinct undeveloped. It was not until the economy recovered in the 1910s that most of these vacant lots were filled in with new dwellings,tpyically comprising gable roofed villas and semi-detached cottages in red-brick. The precinct was largely completed to its current state by c1926. Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include:

-Late-Victorian, Edwardian and interwar building stock including double and single storey terrace rows, freestanding villas, semi-detached cottages and the commercial buildings on Williams Road.

-Individually noteworthy early dwellings of high architectural quality

-The single and double-storey scale of existing built form.

-The pattern of settlement resulting in middle class terraces and villas along the Williams Road frontage and higher density streetscapes of less ornate single-storey cottages and villas in the eastern half of the precinct.

-Road layout and allotment patterns resulting from late-nineteenth century subdivisions.

-Built form from two distinct periods illustrating development during the boom of the 1880s and the resurgence of development after the economic recession in the Edwardian period.

-Intactness of the area to its c.1926 state arising from the very low proportion of modern infill.

-Intactness of individual buildings to their original states. Dwellings typically survive with their presentation to the street largely unaltered retaining verandahs and decorative detailing. The area is notable for the absence of prominent additions and alterations.

-The consistent, modest scale of the built form in May Road, Mell Street and the eastern half of Evelina Road.

-The detached form of the early dwellings, other than the terraces and semi-detached cottages, with generally uniform (within each streetscape) front setbacks and modest side setbacks.

-Face brick (including unpainted polychrome brickwork), render and timber materiality.

-Roofscapes with parapets, chimneys, and pitched roof forms in corrugated galvanised iron, slate or terracotta tiles.

-Bluestone kerbs and channels (to the extent that they survive).

How is it significant?

The Bush Inn Estate precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance.

Why is it significant?

The Bush Inn Estate precinct is of local historical significance as an example of the urban development which transformed the inner suburbs of the municipality during the land boom of the 1880s. The precinct also illustrates the effects of the 1890s depression whereby many speculative residential estates created in the 1880s near railway lines were left incomplete until the second major phase of rapid residential growth occurred in the Edwardian period (Historic Theme: 3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940).

In addition, the precinct provides a vivid illustration of the modest standards of accommodation and amenity available to the late Victorian working class compared to the much more ostentatious built form which underscores the aspirations of the wealthy middle class of the 1880s (Historic Theme: 8.2.1 Mansion Estates and the Higher Ground - Middle Class Estates in Prahran).

The Bush Inn Precinct is of aesthetic significance as a substantially intact collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. It includes handsome single-storey Victorian villas and double-storey terraces as well as more modest forms of housing on small blocks. The dramatic contrast in scale and grandeur between the large double-storey terraces and villas found close to Williams Road and the smaller cottages in the eastern part of the precinct is an important aspect of the area's character.

The aesthetic significance of the precinct is further enhanced by the presence of many individually noteworthy buildings, including the Victorian terrace row at 200-210 Williams Road, the towered Italianate villa at 3 Evelina Road and the distinctive Edwardian Free style villa at 220 Williams Road.

The precinct also contains a small number of interwar dwellings which are generally sympathetic to the surrounding Victorian and Edwardian building stock in terms of their architectural form, materiality and scale. As such, these interwar dwellings make a valuable contribution to the early character of the precinct.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Villa