House

31 Nicholson Street, Essendon, a late Victorian era Italianate villa built in 1888-90 is significant.

Significant fabric includes the:

double-storey asymmetric built form with a projecting bay;

original hipped roof form and verandah ornamentation;

unpainted polychrome brickwork, original chimneys and eaves detailing; and

original pattern of fenestration, elements of window and door joinery and rendered window sills; and

original setback at the front.

The later tile roof and the application of render on the southern elevation is not significant.

How is it significant?

31 Nicholson Street, Essendon, is of local architectural significance (representative) to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?

31 Nicholson Street, Essendon, is significant as a representative example of a Victorian Italianate mansion. Italianate houses of all sizes are well represented in the Heritage Overlay in Moonee Valley however most are single storey. Two-storey examples of this scale are far less common than those of single storey. Other two storey examples on the Heritage Overlay include 24 Grosvenor Street, Moonee Ponds, 1891 (HO230); 17 Norwood Crescent, Moonee Ponds, 1885 (HO266); and 49-59 Raleigh Street, Essendon, 1889 (HO106). Features of 31 Nicholson Street include the large allotment size and setback from the frontage with a substantial garden setting.

31 Nicholson Street, Essendon, is a highly intact example of the Italianate style with relatively few changes visible to the place. It demonstrates this through its asymmetrical form with projecting front and canted bay window rising through both storeys. The Italianate style is also expressed in the highly decorative polychrome brick patterning of the front elevation and the two-storey verandah with cast iron frieze, balustrade and brackets. Although the original roof cladding has been replaced and one chimney is missing a cornice, the hipped roof form is intact, as are the corbelled eaves details. Window and door joinery, where visible from the street, is also of typical Victorian design.

31 Nicholson Street, Essendon, compares well in architectural design and integrity with other examples on the Heritage Overlay and is distinguished by the high quality of its polychrome brick patterning and its original verandah. (Criterion D)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House