House

The house at 32 Hill Road, Balwyn North, is significant. Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include: 

The house at 32 Hill Road, Balwyn North, is of local historical and representative significance to the City of Boroondara.

32 Hill Road, Balwyn North is of local historical significance for the evidence it provides of the settlement boom that was to characterise the area in the Post-war period. The settlement boom was spurred on by the extension of the electric tram route along Doncaster Road to Balwyn North, which opened in 1938, but which was delayed by the onset of WWII and associated restrictions on private building activity. Although the land, purchased in 1947, was part of the 1927 Rookwood Estate subdivision, the success of this and other 1920s and 1930s subdivisions in the area were delayed because of the sheer distance from useful public transport links. (Criterion A)

Although not designed by an architect, the house represents the skilful execution of a highly original and complex design. As such, the house exemplifies the concentration of high quality individually designed houses built in Balwyn and Balwyn North during the 1950s and 1960s. (Criterion A)

Architecturally, 32 Hill Road, Balwyn North is a particularly well executed and intact representative example of vernacular domestic architecture popular in the immediate Post-war period. The house skilfully utilises standard built forms, seen in the hip roof, steel framed windows and sheer brick walls and enlivens them by articulating its elevations with a dominant projecting bow window, elevated terraces, sweeping entrance steeps and flat concrete roofed porch. Built by a local building company Toll Constructions, the house is finely detailed and showcases the builder’s skill in providing a ‘statement house’ that reflected the affluence and aspirations of property owners of the area. (Criterion D)