Former Malvern Dairy

How is it Significant?
The former Malvern Dairy is of local historic significance to the City of Stonnington.

Why is it Significant?
Historically, the former Malvern Dairy is significant as a now rare surviving example of the model suburban dairies established in the 1930s when tighter controls were placed on the processing and supply of milk. Small dairies were once common in residential areas of Melbourne but were made obsolete by improved refrigerated transport and the shift towards industrial scale diary production.

The former Malvern Dairy also provides evidence of the development of essential services associated with a major phase of suburban development of Malvern East in the inter-war period.

The Victorian villa demonstrates how early dairies operated as independent family-run businesses with the dairyman living on site. This tradition was discontinued in the post war period when larger, centralised dairies become the norm.

The former Malvern Dairy is architecturally significance as a good representative example of an interwar suburban dairy with somewhat unusual design characteristics that set it apart from the more common Moderne style interwar dairies. It exhibits some of the principal elements of dairy design including the loading platform at the front and the side servery. The adjacent villa is a fine example of a late-Victorian Italianate style residence demonstrating a high level of integrity. The mature Canary Island palms in the front setback contribute to the early character of the place and provide an attractive setting for the dairy.

Group

Farming and Grazing

Category

Dairy