78 Wattle Road Hawthorn

78 Wattle Road is a single-storey double-fronted rendered brick Victorian villa with a verandah to the north (front) and east (return) elevations. The house retains its unpainted ruled and rendered finish. The roof is a hipped form, with shallow eaves supported by evenly spaced moulded cement brackets. It is clad in aged slate and there are four rendered brick chimneys which also retain their original unpainted finish. The verandah is set upon a plinth of rough-faced bluestone with original vents and retains timber flooring, cast iron balustrade, paired columns and brackets and frieze of painted cast iron lace. The rendered facades have tripartite full-length sash window groupings framed by pilasters with stop-chamfered detailing set to either side. To each elevation to the verandah there is a brassfinish gas bracket with shade, which appears to be an original feature.

There is a flight of shallow smooth bluestone steps off the side driveway which leads up to the verandah. To the south (left) of the steps there is an entry porch, set within a tower element with a balustrade parapet with cast cement urns at each corner. The entry porch adjoins a canted window bay facing east with painted timber-framed double hung sash windows to each face. The west elevation is of unpainted rendered brick to the chimney breast, and from this point, is of unpainted Hawthorn brick.

78 Wattle Road is of historical and aesthetic (architectural) significance to the City of Boroondara.

78 Wattle Road is a highly intact and representative example of a substantial Victorian villa of the late 1880s. It is considered to be one of the best-preserved houses of this period in Hawthorn, but it is also distinguished by richness and crafted care in its detail. Its intactness sets it apart from other examples in the municipality and greatly enhances its aesthetic qualities. It is a handsome and richly detailed design which retains its original unpainted render and an array of original features and fabric, including original cast iron verandah columns, frieze, brackets and balustrade.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House