41 Dixon Street

The villa at 41 Dixon Street, Malvern, is significant. It is a single-storey building set on a slight
rise. It has a symmetrical, block-fronted facade, front verandah, and hipped roof. The front
wall is of brown Hawthorn bricks with cream brick dressings, while red bricks are used for the
side elevations.

The house was built as a rental property in 1894 by Charles Butler, a successful Melbourne
builder, brickmaker and contractor in the 1870s to 1890s, and was presumably designed by
him.

The house is significant to the extent of its nineteenth-century external form and fabric,
particularly the principal (east) facade, the front verandah, and the hipped roof and chimneys.

The sympathetic front fence, faux Victorian carport, and rear extension are not significant.

How is it significant?

The villa at 41 Dixon Street, Malvern is of local architectural and aesthetic significance to the
City of Malvern.

Why is it significant?

Architecturally, the villa at 41 Dixon Street, Malvern is a fine and intact representative example
of a single-storey Italianate villa built to house the middle-class residents of Malvern, of the
sort that began to characterise the suburb in the 1880s and 1890s. The villa exhibits typical
features of this type, including the symmetrical plan form, M-profile hipped roof with
bracketed eaves, and rendered chimneys with heavy cornices. Bichrome brickwork was popular
for houses of the Italianate and other styles from the late 1860s to the 1890s. (Criterion D)

Aesthetically, the villa is distinguished by its high level of intact ornamental detail, particularly
the front verandah. It has grouped cast-iron posts with octagonal plinths, a rinceaux-pattern
cast-iron frieze and brackets, with arches between paired posts. At the centre is a triangular
pediment with a cast-iron infill and finial. Other details of note are the cast-cement ornament
to the eaves, and the arched front door which retains extensive ruby-flashed glass. (Criterion
E)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House