Ryeburne Avenue Precinct, Hawthorn East

The Ryeburne Avenue Precinct was discussed in the 'Hawthorn Heritage Study' (M Gould, 1993) as part of an already existing larger precinct called Harcourt Street/Rathmines Village. The area discussed now comprises HO161 Ryeburne Avenue Precinct, as well as HO151 Harcourt Street Precinct and HO160 Rathmines Grove Precinct. A page-long citation is found in section 4.2.3 (pages 82-83) in Volume 1 of that report, which addressed the three parts of the precinct. It is reproduced here:

Harcourt Street/Rathmines Village (Existing U.C.A.)

Representative of the Growth of Hawthorn as a garden suburb 1856-1900, particularly, mansion houses and Middle Class villas in a garden setting.

Recognising the prime hill top location and the genteel reputation Hawthorn had acquired, the Harcourt Street area was amongst the first land to be redivided after the Government block land sales. The enormous block sizes and the desirable location were the key features in what was in effect a speculative mansion house development, promoted by the Beswicke family. Harcourt Street quickly became a fashionable address. Development in Auburn Road and Lyndhurst Crs. capitalized on the existing image to consolidate this region as a highly desirable Victorian period suburb for the wealthy. In contrast, the adjoining Rathmines Village area to the south, developed on the back of the mansion houses with small servicing quarters (Rathmines Grove) and more modest but respectable housing for the middle class. The Rathmines Village Urban Conservation Area is of metropolitan significance for the mansion house precinct in Harcourt Street. It is of local significance for the illustration of the flow on effect of early mansion house construction on the type of construction in the surrounding area, creating nodes of high status housing on hills, and is typical of the mixed Hawthorn character elsewhere.

Common Characteristics

- detached single residences

- a variety of building sizes. Harcourt Street mansions in large gardens/ Lyndhurst Crescent and Auburn Road - very large houses in smaller gardens/ Ryeburne Ave. - medium size houses in medium size gardens/ elsewhere - medium size houses in small gardens.

- front and side setbacks:

Harcourt Street enormous front setback and generous side setback.

Lyndhurst Crs. & Auburn Road - medium front setback and side setback.

Ryeburne Ave. - medium front setback and to one side small side setback on other sides.

Elsewhere - small front setback, small side setback

- driveway entrance of single car width to one side, accommodation for Harcourt, Lyndhurst, Auburn. Elsewhere no driveway, generally lane access.

- Allotments.

Harcourt Street - very large and even.

Lyndhurst Ave & Auburn Road - large and even.

Ryeburne Ave. - moderate and even.

Elsewhere - small and variable.

- fences 1.2m - 1.4m, visually permeable.

- Storeys - Harcourt Street and Lyndhurst Avenues two storey generally. Elsewhere generally single storey and occasionally two storey.

- Roof - Roof shapes secondary to walls generally. Parapets occasionally.

- Plan form - Complex in Harcourt Street, Auburn Road and Ryeburne Avenue, simpler elsewhere.

- Verandahs - A constant feature.

- Walls - Commonly render, face brick sometimes weatherboard in Ryeburne Ave., Rathmines Road and adjoining streets.

A stand-alone statement of significance was prepared for Ryeburne Avenue Precinct (HO161) as part of the 'Review of Heritage Overlay Precinct Citations' (Lovell Chen, 2006). The current version,

in the 'Heritage Policy - Statements of Significance Reference Document' (May 2016) reads as follows:

Ryeburne Avenue Precinct, Hawthorn East, is an area of heritage significance for the following reasons:

- The place is a largely intact, predominantly late Victorian/Federation precinct developed to capitalize on the prestigious image of the early mansion development in the nearby Harcourt Street vicinity.

- The place is representative of the growth of Hawthorn as a garden suburb in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

- The garden qualities of the place are reinforced by the Angliss Reserve and Rathmines Road Reserve, both located at the western end of the precinct.

- Rathmines Road includes a mostly intact group of brick Federation duplexes, while Ryeburne Avenue has a concentration of timber Federation houses which is relatively unusual for the Hawthorn area.

This is reflected in the current extent and valued buildings within the precinct. The two combined reserves, comprising the western third of the precinct, are the largest element of the precinct. On its east side, the remainder of the precinct comprises houses along Rathmines Road running east almost to Burke Road on the north side, but only to Grandview Grove on the south side. This street has Edwardian villas on the north side and Victorian Italianate dwellings on the south. To the north is the L-shaped Ryeburne Avenue which is populated almost only by Edwardian villas, plus two early interwar bungalows which are Contributory (at 18 & 21 Ryeburne Avenue). There is a group of timber Edwardian villas at the west end of Ryeburne Avenue (Nos. 2-6 & 3-11), most of which combine weatherboard and roughcast render cladding.

Extension character

To the north of the current precinct boundaries, backing onto Ryeburne Avenue, is a group of Edwardian villas along the south side of Harcourt Street. In the 'Hawthorn Heritage Study' (Gould, 1993), most of the houses were given a 'C' grade (Contributory): numbers 118 & 124-130.

As shown on the 1903 MMBW Detail Plan (No. 1558), this section of Harcourt Street was part of a large mansion estate with a house called 'Borak' facing Burke Road (demolished). These extensive grounds encompassed most of the current HO161 precinct: all of Ryeburne Avenue (which had not yet been laid out), as well as the north side of Rathmines Road (Nos. 177-215). (Note that the location of the west end of the current Ryeburne Avenue is indicated by the "Water Hole" which is still in existence at 19 Ryeburne Avenue.) This large block of land was subdivided shortly afterward (Lodged Plan 4701), creating Ryeburne Avenue lined with relatively wide blocks, and the north side of Rathmines Road and the south side of Harcourt Street with slightly narrower blocks.

The housing stock in this part of the existing precinct, and the proposed extension developed between 1905 and 1920. By 1910, there were 12 houses along Ryeburne Avenue and nine on the north side of Rathmines Road east of Ryeburne Avenue. The first house on Harcourt Street in the proposed extension was built in 1910, and by 1915 all of the Contributory houses had been built (Nos116, 118, & 124-130). By 1918, in the current precinct, most of Ryeburne Avenue (except Nos. 21 & 31) and the north side of Rathmines Road (except No. 199) had been completed as well.

The Contributory houses in the proposed precinct extension are mostly asymmetrical Edwardian Queen Anne villas, with timber the most common construction material. The houses display the characteristic features of the style, including half-timbered projecting front bays, often with decorative casement window treatments below, a high tiled hipped roof often with gablet at the top, corbelled brick chimneys, and turned timber posts and fretwork to front verandahs.

The only brick house of this group is a substantial red brick villa at 118 Harcourt Street, Hawthorn East.

Most of the Contributory houses have a very high level of external intactness.. Some houses have carports, often designed to match the details of the house, but as these are reversible and do not block views to the principle facades, they detract very little from the streetscape.

The houses in the precinct extension do not directly adjoin a streetscape of the existing precinct, but they are linked via the Edwardian villas and semi-detached pairs at 1063-1081 Burke Road. The Burke Road houses are formally part of the Parlington Estate Precinct (HO702), but are still part of the same era of development as most of Ryeburne Avenue Precinct.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the south side of Harcourt Street encompassing Nos. 116-130 was part of the same early twentieth-century subdivision as the Edwardian parts of the Ryeburne Avenue Precinct (namely, all of Ryeburne Avenue and most of the north side of Rathmines Road (Nos. 177-215)). All three streetscapes then developed rapidly from around 1905 to 1920. While there are larger Edwardian Queen Anne villas along the east-west section of Ryeburne Avenue, those on Harcourt Street are of the same scale as those on Rathmines Road and the same materiality and scale as those at the west end of Ryeburne Avenue.

While the Harcourt Street houses back onto Ryeburne Avenue, they have visual continuity with the precinct due to the continuous row of Edwardian houses along Burke Road between Ryeburne Avenue and Harcourt Street which are part of the adjacent HO702 precinct.

For a full list of individual gradings within the precinct, refer to the attached PDF citation or the child records.

Group

Urban Area

Category

Boundary Feature