'ELAINE'

The property at 37 Wentworth Avenue with timber residence built by 1884 and substantially extended in 1890-91 is significant.

How is it significant?

37 Wentworth Avenue is of local historic and aesthetic significance to the City of Boroondara.

Why is it significant?

37 Wentworth Avenue is historically significant as the property of Charles Wentworth whose large property was subdivided as the Shenley Estate in 1883. Wentworth, described as a florist, also had an orchard with 'fruit trees of every description' and the property enjoyed large frontages to the surrounding streets, indicating that it was amongst the early properties in the locality, another indicator of which is the front elevation facing the side of the current allotment suggesting that the house was built prior to the subdivision. The property is also significant for its later long term owners the Hosken family who owned and occupied the property from 1892 until the 1940s. Harry Hosken, a civil servant rose to become Deputy Auditor -General by 1909 and the property passed to Maude Hosken by the 1940s. (Criterion A).

37 Wentworth Avenue is aesthetically significant for its large, simply-designed timber residence set in a substantial garden. Unlike the majority of large Victorian houses in Boroondara, 37 Wentworth Avenue does not adopt the predominant Victorian Italianate stylistic tendencies. Built in the early 1880s the original house has a typical Victorian symmetrical facade facing the side of the allotment and the substantial additions carried out in the early 1890s provide the extensive frontage with elaborate turned timber verandah frieze made from a series of spindles. Aesthetically, 37 Wentworth Avenue retains a large double allotment, complementing the substantial facade with bay window, slate hip and gabled roofs and rendered chimneys. (Criterion E).

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House