Fawkner Street/Davis Avenue Precinct

What is significant?

The Fawkner Street/Davis Avenue Precinct, South Yarra, is a residential area of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century buildings developed in Clifford's Paddock after marshy land was drained. It includes all dwellings in Fawkner Street, others in the southern sections of Davis Avenue; and a small group of shops and houses in Punt Road and dwellings in Osborne Street which form the two gateways to the precinct.

Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include:

. High degree of intactness of the area to its early twentieth century state. The late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century housing includes single-storey cottages coexisting with more substantial detached and semi-detached dwellings.

. The unusual street layout of the area, particularly the sweeping curve at the south end of Davis Ave.

. Intactness of individual buildings to their original states. Dwellings typically survive with their presentation to the street largely unaltered retaining verandahs and decorative detailing.

. Single- and occasionally two-storey scale.

. Absence of prominent additions and alterations.

. Face brick, timber or render materiality and roofscapes with chimneys and pitched roof forms clad in corrugated galvanised steel or slate tiles.

. Interwar or earlier stands of Plane trees in Davis Avenue.

How is it significant?

The Fawkner Street/Davis Avenue Precinct, South Yarra, is of local historical and aesthetic significance.

Why is it significant?

The Fawkner Street/Davis Avenue Precinct, South Yarra, is of historical significance as evidence of the surge of urban development which swept across South Yarra, Prahran and Melbourne more generally during land boom of the 1880s (3.3.3 Speculation and land boomers-subdivision from 1880 onwards). Unlike nearby workers accommodation built on higher ground through the 1850s and 60s, the area illustrates the development of the area as middle class residential stock on land made available after the draining of the swamp (8.2 Middle class suburbs and the Suburban ideal).

The Fawkner Street/Davis Avenue Precinct is of aesthetic significance for its largely intact collection of fine late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings (3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940). The precinct generally contains representative examples of modest cottages and polite villas of the period as well as a number of more substantial semi-detached pairs of one- and two-storeys. Dwellings at No 2 Davis Avenue and 5 Fawkner Street along with shops and early dwellings to Punt Road are of particular distinction.

Statement of Significance from Prahran Conservation Review (1993)

The Fawkner Street and Davis Avenue Urban Conservation Area has significance for its unusual street layout and its grouping of small Victorian villas, terraces and shops which collectively represent an important aspect of the nineteenth century development of Prahran. The fine avenue of Planes along Davis Avenue contributes to the quality of this streetscape.

The key characteristics of the Fawkner Street and Davis Avenue area are:

- the consistent scale, form and period of the buildings within the area creating a precinct characteristic of nineteenth century Prahran

- the street pattern, especially the curved alignment of Davis Avenue, which is unusual and reflects the history oft he development of the locality

- the Plane trees in Davis Avenue which create a picturesque avenue.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Residential Precinct