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Terrace Row

Location 57-71 Napier Street ESSENDON, MOONEE VALLEY CITY Level Included in Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?

57-71 Napier Street, Essendon, a two-storey Italianate terrace row of eight houses built by 1890, is significant.

Significant fabric includes the:

original building form of each terrace and of the terrace row formation as a whole, the original roof forms including original chimneys;

original chimneys, basalt plinths, dividing walls and paired rear wings, original pattern of fenestration;

parapets and their ornamentation, verandahs and verandah detailing (including original columns, balustrading, friezes and brackets); and

original window and door joinery, tessellated verandah floor tiling, sections of face brickwork (nos 57, 59, 61, 69 and 71).

The fences and rear extensions are not significant.

How is it significant?

57-71 Napier Street, Essendon, is of local architectural (representative) significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?

57-71 Napier Street, Essendon, constructed in 1890, is significant as an Italianate terrace. The Italianate style is well represented in the City of Moonee Valley, however most examples are individual houses, with terraces being a less common typology. Two-storey terraces such as 57-71 Napier Street are relatively uncommon, but several other examples are represented on the Heritage Overlay, including 2-8 Bayview Street, c1890 (HO18); 18-20 Davies Street, Moonee Ponds, c1890 (HO174); and Sandford Terrace at 15-23 Saint James Street, Essendon, 1886-1888 (HO213). 57-71 Napier Street demonstrate key elements of the Italianate style as applied to a terrace typology, including the narrow allotment width of each house, small front setbacks and repetitive forms.

57-71 Napier Street, Essendon, has a moderately high integrity, with some superficial changes to wall surfaces, outbuildings and front fences being amongst the most evident changes. The place retains the original building form of each of the eight conjoined terraces, comprising the front terrace rooms, party walls and rear wings arranged in pairs. The integrity of the place as a whole is enhanced by the relatively high level of intactness of these main elements, which also include details such the original chimneys, elaborate parapet ornamentation, window joinery, verandah detail and several unpainted facades of dichromatic brick. The two-storey verandahs, featuring cast iron balustrades and friezes, are signature elements of the Italianate style and are evident on each of the houses. The use of both plain brick and decorative render work applied to the parapets, chimneys, party walls and fenestration are highly representative of the Italianate style.

The main elements of the two-storey terrace house form and the Italianate style are well represented in 57-71 Napier Street, Essendon, at a level of integrity that is consistent with other examples on the Heritage Overlay. (Criterion D)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Terrace