Newtown West Heritage Area

The Newtown West Heritage Precinct, Newtown, has significance as a Victorian, Federation and interwar era residential heritage area of moderate-high integrity. Most dwellings are single storey (some being more elevated due to the topography of the sites), with hipped and/or gabled roof forms, front, side or return verandahs, broad eaves, corrugated sheet metal or tiled roof cladding, brick or timber wall construction, timber framed windows and verandah detailing commensurate with the era of the dwelling. The architectural and historical core of the precinct is 'Newtown Brae', 15 Stephen Street, the earliest surviving dwelling first built in c.1851 (extended in 1885). Subdivisions surrounding and nearby this property have occurred from the mid 19th century but building development occurred mostly during the Federation period and especially during the interwar era. In Aphrasia Street is an homogenous row of interwar Bungalows (aside from 'Brooklyn', a two storey Late Victorian brick dwelling on a large site at 132-134 Aphrasia Street). The scale and design of the dwellings in Nantes and Stephen Streets are more diverse. The streets within the precinct: Aphrasia, Stephen, Nantes and Formosa Streets, date from the mid 19th century, with residential development conforming to the rectangular layout of these streets as well as the steeply-sloping topography of the northern slope of Newtown Hill west. Formosa Street continues to serve its original purpose as a vehicular access lane for some properties in Nantes and Stephen Streets. Most allotments are regular in size and rectangular in layout, with largely regular front and side setbacks. The allotments on the north side of Stephen Street are contextually larger, the dwellings exploiting the northern views to Corio Bay and the You Yangs, with principal facades facing onto large landscaped rear yards (and not Stephen Street, where garaging is located on or near the street boundaries). The majority of the dwellings have garaging located at the rear of the dwellings. A smaller number of original or early front fences survive, being those at 112, 114 and 126 Aphrasia Street.The mature Cypresses at the front of 'Brooklyn' at 132-134 Aphrasia Street are a legacy its early setting but are of interest only. 

The Newtown West Heritage Precinct, Newtown, is historically and aesthetically at a LOCAL level.

The Newtown West Heritage Precinct is historically significant for its associations with residential development on the northern slope of Newtown Hill west from the mid 19th century until the 1930s, and is a tangible legacy of residential life during this period (Criteria A & H). The first dwelling constructed in the area was 'Woolmers' (now 'Newtown Brae') at 15 Stephen Street in c.1851. This dwelling was surrounded by four acres of gardens and trees planted by the original owner, Joseph Lewis, an illiterate English 'man of colour', former convict of Tasmania, inaugural Trustee of Queen's Park, and shrewd businessman (publican). Other land adjacent to 'Woolmers' was sold from the early 1850s. More considerable subdivisions occurred in the Federation period including the Devon Estate in 1912 (land in Aphrasia and Stephen Streets) and Newtown Brae Estate in 1912 (land once part of 'Woolmers/Newtown Brae' fronting Stephen and Nantes Street), as well as in the interwar era such as the Fernery Hotel Estate in 1922 (land at the eastern end of Aphrasia Street) and Brooklyn Estate in 1923 (land once part of 'Brooklyn', a two storey Late Victorian dwelling built as 'Hendra' for Alfred D. Price in 1891-92). This led of the transformation of the once rural area into an outlying western extension of residential Newtown with the construction of detached one and two storey dwellings in the Federation and interwar periods. 

Most properties were built for retired graziers, teachers, businessmen, sportspeople and others of the middle and professional classes. Notable residents included: Everard Noske (114 Aphrasia Street, built 1926, executive officer of Australian Cement Ltd, Fyansford); Thomas Clutton Bragge (126 Aphrasia Street, built 1923, former professional billiard player and operator of a hairdressing salon and billiards parlour in Market Square, Geelong); Alfred David Price (132-134 Aphrasia Street, built 1891-92, grocer); Donald Campbell Dunoon (12 Nantes Street, built 1924-25, retired architect); Harry Simson (14 Nantes Street, built 1925, superintendent at the Ford Motor Company); Frank Apted (16 Nantes Street, built 1932, solicitor); Misses Annie and Bridget Clanchy (18 Nantes Street, built 1926, retired sisters, teachers and principals of the Central College in Geelong, and pioneers of secondary education in Victoria); Leslie Hoffman (28 Nantes Street, built 1914, teacher, cornetist and conductor of the St. Augustine's Orphanage band); James McPhillimy (1 Stephen Street, built 1914-15, confectioner and manufacturer); Ceburn Westman (2 Stephen Street, built 1924-25, foreman and later executive of the Ford Motor Company); Harry Hooper (5A Stephen Street, built 1912, grocer), Canon Alfred Wheeler (10 Stephen Street, built 1936, Anglican clergyman); Geoffrey Strachan (11 Stephen Street, built 1935 woolbroker); Dr Albert Pillow (19 Stephen Street, built 1926, mining engineer and manager, Australian Cement Ltd); and John O. McEwin (30 Stephen Street, built 1936, manager, Dalgety and Co.). A number of the dwellings were architecturally-designed and the precinct has associations with the following architects: Alexander Hamilton, Laird and Barlow (Laird and Buchan), F.C. Purnell, D.C. Dunoon, Harold Trigg, Cleverdon and McLaughlin, J. Gordon Williams and Irwin and Stevenson. Builders of multiple dwellings in the precinct included: Burn Brothers, J.R. Crisp, M.J. Denno, J.C. Taylor and Sons, F.R. Pilley, F.J.M. Stock and Richard Wellard.

The Newtown West Heritage precinct is aesthetically significant for its demonstration of Victorian, Late Victorian, Federation and interwar era design qualities (Criterion D). This is reflected in the notable number of substantial and well-built and detailed dwellings and in the more typically smaller-scaled houses that reflect the eras in which they were built. In addition are five dwellings of more elevated aesthetic significance (Criteria D & E). They are: 'Newtown Brae', 15 Stephen Street, which is a large and elaborate example of the Victorian Italianate style; 'Hendra/Brooklyn', 132-134 Aphrasia Street, comprising a substantial and unusual example of a Late Victorian design type; and the dwellings at 11, 26 and 30 Stephen Street, being large and locally rare examples of interwar Georgian Revival styles. The mature Cypress trees near the front boundary of 132-134 Aphrasia Street have aesthetic interest as part of the front setting of the 'Hendra' property. 

 

The Newtown West Heritage precinct is aesthetically significant for its demonstration of Victorian, Late Victorian, Federation and interwar era design qualities (Criterion D). This is reflected in the notable number of substantial and well-built and detailed dwellings and in the more typically smaller-scaled houses that reflect the eras in which they were built. In addition are five dwellings of more elevated aesthetic significance (Criteria D & E). They are: 'Newtown Brae', 15 Stephen Street, which is a large and elaborate example of the Victorian Italianate style; 'Hendra/Brooklyn', 132-134 Aphrasia Street, comprising a substantial and unusual example of a Late Victorian design type; and the dwellings at 11, 26 and 30 Stephen Street, being large and locally rare examples of interwar Georgian Revival styles. The mature Cypress trees near the front boundary of 132-134 Aphrasia Street have aesthetic interest as part of the front setting of the 'Hendra' property.