Waldaira

What is significant?
'Waldaira', at 17-19 Ethel Street, Malvern, is significant. This substantial Queen Anne residence was built in 1891-92 for accountant James Urquhart and family. The designer was Irish-born architect Charles Douglas Figgis (1849-95), who practised in Ballarat and Melbourne.
The two-storey brick house stands on its original double allotment behind a large front garden which retains a number of mature specimen trees.
The high brick front fence and the rear addition are not significant.

How is it significant?
'Waldaira' is of local architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.

Why is it significant?
'Waldaira' is architecturally significant as a very fine example of a substantial early Queen Anne residence, with eclectic stylistic influences often seen in early examples of this style. Characteristic elements of the style demonstrated by 'Waldaira' include the use of red facebrick with contrasting cement-render dressings and ornament, picturesque massing, and intricate timber fretwork to the verandah. It retains original features including a slate-clad roof with terracotta finials, corbelled brick chimneys, and diaper-patterned brickwork at the top of the entrance tower. (Criterion D)
'Waldaira' is aesthetically significant for its unusual and sophisticated design which juxtaposes three hipped roof forms with steep slopes, suggesting a French Renaissance influence, as does the use of high-quality classical entablatures, engaged columns and reliefs. The use of an entrance tower at the centre of the facade is striking. The verandah fretwork is a more complex version of the ladder-back friezes that were to become common. The presentation of 'Waldaira' is enhanced by its elevated siting behind a large garden on a double-width block. (Criterion E)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Mansion