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STATION HEIGHTS ESTATE PRECINCT

Other Names

Merlynston (Station Heights Estate) , War Service Homes

Location

3-63 and 2-54 MASHOOBRA STREET, 3-33A GALEKA STREET, and 47-57 and 54 ORVIETO STREET, COBURG NORTH, MORELAND CITY

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/4]
Station Heights Estate
[2/4]
Mashoobra Street Precinct,
[3/4]
Mashoobra Street Precinct,
[4/4]
Mashoobra Street Precinct,

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Station Heights Estate precinct is an inter-war residential area comprising houses constructed between 1923 and 1930 in Mashoobra Street, 3-33a Galeka Street and 47-57 & 54 Orvieto Street, which formed part of the Station Heights Estate subdivision created and developed by Captain D.S. Bain. The following features and elements are integral to the significance of the precinct:

- The houses at 3-25, 29-35, 39-49 & 53-63 and 2-20, 26-30, 36, 38 & 44-54 Mashoobra Street, 3, 5, 9-13 & 17-33 Galeka Street, and 47-53 & 54 Orvieto Street.
- The front fences and, as appropriate, gates at 4, 15, 14-18, 21, 49 & 63 Mashoobra Street and 21 Galeka Street.
- The mature Canary Island Palm (Phoenix canariensis) in the front garden of 33 Mashoobra Street.
- The homogeneous inter-war character created by the consistency of form, scale, style and detailing of the contributory dwellings, the detached siting behind garden setbacks and low front fences, and the extent to which development in one period is evident.
- The relatively high integrity of the majority of dwellings when viewed from the street.

Non-original alterations and additions to the contributory places, the houses at 22, 24, 27, 32, 37, 38a, 40a, 40, 42 & 51 Mashoobra Street, 7, 15& 33a Galeka Street, 55 & 57 Orvieto Street and outbuildings are not significant.

How is it significant?
The Station Heights Estate precinct is of local historic, architectural and aesthetic significance to Moreland City.

Why is it significant?
It is historically significant as evidence of the significant growth of Coburg North during the inter-war period and for its associations with D.S. Bain as the largest of the estates he developed, thus creating the new suburb of Merlynston. The houses in Galeka Street are significant as houses built by the State Savings Bank of Victoria for the War Service Homes Commission and illustrate the important role that the Bank and the Commission played in the provision of housing after World War I. (Criterion A & H)

It is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a fine example of an inter-war residential precinct, which is notable for the consistency of its built form and the high degree of intactness from the original phase of development. The aesthetic qualities of the precinct are enhanced by the survival of early features such as front fencing, and the mature Canary Island Palm in Mashoobra Street. The houses at Nos. 2, 4, 10 and 14-18 Mashoobra Street are notable for the distinctive Spanish/Mediterranean detailing, which is rare in this part of Coburg. (Criteria B, D & E)

Group