63 Caroline Street, SOUTH YARRA

What is significant?

The Caroline Street area was among the first developed outside of the City of Melbourne. Situated on portions of the first lots, sold in the land sales of 1840, the pattern of the streets and some of the housing demonstrates local development during the 1840s and 1850s. The subdivisions and development that created Avoca and Caroline Streets retain some of the City of Prahran¡¦s earliest houses, once owned or occupied by notable colonists. Subsequent development from the 1850s through to the inter-war years, saw the creation of a precinct characterised by two-storey detached villas and flats, providing a remarkable display of changing architectural styles, while respecting the character established in the 1850s. The area is notable for the consistently high standards of design and construction across a century of development and for large number of individually significant buildings including the former Stables to Avoca at 103 Caroline Street, nineteenth century villas at 75, 76, 78 and 83 Caroline Street and the Beaver and Purnell-designed residence at 490 Punt Road.

The key heritage characteristics of the Caroline Street Precinct are:

- The intactness of the area to its mid-twentieth century state, with few prominent infill buildings, additions or obtrusive parking structures.

- The extent to which the early history of land subdivisions and development is reflected in the street pattern and some remaining structures.

- The largely consistent detached form and two-storey scale of buildings within the area. While the built form varies in terms of its architectural expression, it consistently illustrates the highest standards of design from the latter half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries.

- The retention of some traditional street materials in Avoca Street and along Domain Road.

- The open landscaped quality arising from the wide streets, the low scale of the built form and the generous garden setbacks associated with many of the dwellings.

- The avenue of plane trees along Caroline Street.

- The large number of buildings of high individual significance as reflected in their A1 and A2 gradings.

The Caroline Street precinct is of local social, historical and aesthetic significance. Some individual buildings in this locale are significant at a State level. In some instances, these have been protected under individual heritage controls.

The area is historically significant as one of the earliest developed in the Municipality. The precinct is centred on two of the first six lots made available in the land sales of 1840 (3.3.1 Crown land sales). Developed from the 1850s onward, the area retains valuable examples of building stock from successive periods, including a very high concentration of 1850s buildings relative to that found in other parts of the Metropolitan region. Some buildings are historically significant in their own right. The diversity of periods and architectural character found in the built form is representative of the nature of development in South Yarra more broadly. This area is, historically, one of the most important in the Municipality.

The area is socially significant for the extent to which it reflects the aspirations of middle class residents in South Yarra. (8.2.1 - Mansion estates and the high ground ¡V Middle class estates in Prahran). The elevated sites, the quality of the built form, the predominance of substantial free-standing villas and maisonette developments, the wide streets and large allotments reflect the affluence of its early and current residents.

The area is of local aesthetic significance for the quality of the building stock dating from the periods between 1850 and the end of the Second World War (8.1 ¡V Creating Australia¡¦s most prestigious suburbs). It includes notable and handsome freestanding and attached houses, flats and maisonettes (8.6.3 Architect designed apartments). The street trees and undulating topography combine with the built form to produce streetscapes of outstanding quality.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House