House, 1 Albert Street, ST ARNAUD

The house at 1 Albert Street is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original and early design qualities of a rudimentary Federation villa style. These qualities include the asymmetrical composition, the single storey height, the central hipped roof and projecting gabled and hipped roofs, the return broken back verandah, and the gable roof form of the semi-detached addition. Other intact or appropriate qualities include the unpainted and lapped galvanised iron roof cladding, the unpainted brick walls, the weatherboard wall cladding, the shingled and strapped cement sheet wall construction, the wide eaves and exposed rafters, the unpainted brick chimneys with cement rendered or corbelled tops, the timber framed casement and double hung windows arranged singularly, in banks or as boxed windows, the rendered bases and heads to the boxed and bay windows on the south side of the house, the timber verandah decoration (turned timber columns, valances, brackets and balustrades), the decorative gable infill, and the unusual bevelled chimney breast on the semi-detached addition. The surrounding landscaping and rear gabled and weatherboard garage also contribute to the significance of the place.

The house at 1 Albert Street is historically significant at a LOCAL level. It is associated with the early owner, Leonard McKechnie, and more particularly, with the Melbourne architects, Alfred B. Blakely and Ernest W.M. Crouch, who designed the house in 1909. McKechnie's associations with the property also resulted in the construction of the semi-detached addition before the late 1930s.

Overall, the house at 1 Albert Street is of LOCAL significance.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House