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Victorian Row House; 31 Benjamin Street, SUNSHINE

Other Name Victorian Brick Row House, 1890-91c, Individually listed, Regional significance in 2000 study #135 Location 31 Benjamin Street, SUNSHINE VIC 3020 - Property No 135 File Number 1630 Level Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/5] 1630 - Brimbank City Council [2/5] Victoria row 31.JPG [3/5] HO136 31 Bengamin St 1.JPG [4/5] HO136 31 Bengamin St 4.JPG [5/5] Site 135 - 31 Benjamin Street

Statement of Significance

Individual place statement of significance: :
One of only five 19th century row houses surviving in the municipality,31 Benjamin Street is of regional historical and architecturalsignificance as a strong visual symbol of the speculative boom of the1880s and the new industrial suburb of Braybrook Junction. The row ofhouses is an unusual architectural feature in the area. The houses areamongst the oldest in the district.

Precinct statement of significance::
The Railway Station Estate - Wright & Edwards Heritage Area is of regional historical and architectural significance as a sub-division first developed in the speculative boom of the 1880s. This related to the industrialisation of the area and the creation of a new suburb - the township of Braybrook Junction. The few remaining houses of the early 1890s are amongst the oldest in the district and are a remarkable survival from the era of the 1890s Depression, when many newly-built houses were moved.



The subdivision is significant for its unusual (for the City of Brimbank) late nineteenth century plan with a simple grid of streets, divided into narrow allotments and with rear service laneways. The pattern was unrelieved by any provision for recreation, community facilities or other services. The earliest sold allotments were either intended to be for narrow terrace-type houses, or were subdivided. Allotments first sold in the 1920s were larger, perhaps in response to the impact McKay's subdivisions was having on aspirations of new residents. The houses tend to be simple double fronted plan, asymmetric with a projecting gable, weatherboard clad with corrugated iron roofs.



This subdivision is also significant for its diversity and the range of housing from different periods, especially the years immediately following the establishment of H.V. McKay's Sunshine Harvester Works at Braybrook Junction. The area provides an interesting comparison with H.V. McKay's housing estate, since many of his Ballarat workers moved or built homes here in the early years of the 20th century. The neighbourhood's population more than doubled in ten years, with further expansion in the 1920s -30s and during and after World War Two.