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HOUSES
Location244-46 GOWER STREET, PRESTON, DAREBIN CITY LevelIncluded in Heritage Overlay |
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Statement of Significance
What is significant? How is it significant? Architecturally, the pair of houses is significant as a representative example of Victorian polychromatic brick cottages, with typical features that are externally relatively intact. The detail to the surviving chimneys to no.246 is of note. (AHC criterion D.2)
The Victorian polychromatic brick houses at 244-6 Gower Street, Preston were constructed c.1892 as investment properties for John Sullivan, a farmer on land that formed part of the Heart of Preston estate, which was one of the largest estates in Preston during the land boom of the late 1890s. The chimneys to no.244 have been removed, but the houses otherwise remain relatively intact when viewed from Gower Street. The following elements contribute to the significance of the place:
- the c.1892 house and fabric including the chimneys
- the form of the roof (but not the material)
Later, non-original alterations and additions, including the front fence are not significant.
The houses at 244-6 Gower Street, Preston are of local historic and architectural significance to Darebin City.
Historically, the pair of houses is significant as evidence of the small degree of successful development achieved by developers in Preston during the land boom just before the economic crash of the 1890s. The closeness to the former Preston Shire Hall, built in 1893-5, shows the beginnings of urban settlement close to Preston's new civic precinct. (AHC criteria A.4, D.2, H.1)
Group
Residential buildings (private)
Category
Terrace