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Rockley Road Precinct

Other Name

Centred on Rockley Road, South Yarra

Location

Rockley Road SOUTH YARRA, Stonnington City

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

The Rockley Precinct is significant for the manner in which it illustrates the process of the transformation of the 1840s estates along the river between Chapel Street and Williams Road into a prestigious residential area - for the topography which inspired the paintings of Charles McCubbin - for the manner in which the 1937 Como Park Estate responded to Alexandra Avenue and how Melbourne's new attraction to the river created a new urban identity - the unique subdivision design, especially the linking of Rockley Road with Alexandra Avenue by means of a pedestrian walkway .

- the landscaping of the walkway which adopts an approach to urban design that has more in common with harbour-side Sydney suburbs of this era - the contribution of the landscape of the escarpment to the character of the walkway - the high quality and diverse architectural character, principally examples of the inter-war and pre-First World War period which reflect the history of the development and subdivision of Little Rockley, both through the consistent residential character dating from the 1908 Howey Estate, and the more diverse character resulting from Como Park Estate - the contribution of noted designer and landscaper Eric Hammond, architect Verner Fick, architect and developer Howard Lawson, and the influence of Edna Walling .

- for the, informed patronage of Clara Strang and H. H. Henderson and the occupancy by noted graphic designer Gert Selheim - the unusual residential character comprising detached houses, semi detached houses and flats set on large garden allotments with mature landscaping, especially those on the escarpment - - the enclosing avenue of Planes which links the Toorak Road parkland entry to the significant portion at the northern end of Rockley Road - the overall scale and width of the street, and the position of the urban conservation area on the crest of a hill.

Group