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Loreto and Carmel

Location

55 Brewster Street and 57 Brewster Street ESSENDON, MOONEE VALLEY CITY

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?

The pair of houses 'Loreto' and 'Carmel' at 55 and 57 Brewster Street, Essendon, are significant. They were constructed by Ascot Vale owner-builder Robert Joseph Shaw in 1936 as a speculative venture and showcase of his talents.

Significant fabric includes the:

original building forms and roof forms;

chimneys and tiled roofs;

face brick and cement rendered walls including tapestry brick highlights;

porches, windows and front doors;

door and window joinery, leaded glass panels to principle window sashes;

window boxes, metal embellishments including gates and name plates;

brick front fences, gates, concrete front paths and divided track driveway; and

garage at number 57.

.

How is it significant?

55 and 57 Brewster Street, Essendon, are of local architectural (representative) significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?

The two houses 'Loreto' and 'Carmel' at 55 and 57 Brewster Street, Essendon, are fine representative examples of the stylistic eclecticism applied to the standard hipped-roof houses of the late interwar period. They share prominent tiled hipped roofs, decoratively modelled front chimneys, and textured rendered walls with contrasting brick detail. 'Loreto' at No. 55 displays decorative elements characteristic of the Old English style, including a depressed Tudor arch to the front porch and brick 'flashes' around openings suggesting the decay of age-old stucco and limewash. In contrast to its nostalgia, 'Carmel' at No 57 takes the machine-age Moderne style, with curves and horizontal lines suggesting speed. As a small and visually cohesive group, they reinforce each other's presence, and are enhanced by the retention of original front fences, gates, concrete front paths, driveway and garage (No 57). (Criterion D)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House