57-59 Burwood Road

West Hawthorn village, comprising the buildings and public domain infrastructure generally constructed between 1869 and c.1920, and located at 57 - 107 and 60 - 86 Burwood Road. West Hawthorn village is comprised of buildings representing a narrow period of development from the 1870s to 1900 and has examples of late Victorian two storey shops that are consistent in scale and form with minor variations in detail and embellishment. The two hotels facing Elgin Street address their corner location and provide three dimensional form to the precinct. The former tea warehouse at 107 Burwood Road is considered to be individually significant for its early construction date and integrity, particularly on the Power Street elevation.

West Hawthorn village is of local historic, aesthetic and social significance to the City of Boroondara.

West Hawthorn village is of historic significance in representing the transformation of Hawthorn from a rural village in the 1850s to a thriving Victorian town by the 1890s. It represents a continuous land use as a commercial centre from the 1850s, and one that predates the construction of the railway in 1861. Whilst the street now largely comprises buildings from the 1880s and 1890s, the former tea warehouse of 1869 at 107 Burwood Road predates other buildings in the precinct. (RNE Criterion A.4)

West Hawthorn village is of historic significance as a commercial centre that demonstrates the strategic location of Burwood Road as the earliest river crossing on the Yarra, followed by urban consolidation as a result of the railway, and decline following the railway extension to Glenferrie and the electric tram route into Power Street. (RNE Criterion A.4)

West Hawthorn Village is of aesthetic significance as a representative example of a Victorian commercial streetscape containing shops and hotels from the period 1881-1891. The comparatively narrow period that is represented by the present buildings is unusual in the context of Boroondara where a mix of periods and styles is more usually represented in commercial streetscapes. The groups of shop rows are relatively intact and have common elements of siting, scale, fenestration and ornament. (RNE Criteria D.2, E.1)

West Hawthorn village has strong social values as a shopping centre serving the local community since the 1850s. (RNE Criterion G.1)

Group

Commercial

Category

Shop