Residence, 17 Banole Avenue, Prahran

What is significant?

The Banole Estate Precinct is a residential area in Prahran comprising all of Banole Avenue and adjoining parts of High Street. The precinct was subdivided in 1914 as the Banole Estate and designated a 'brick area' in which timber dwellings were prohibited. The estate was almost fully complete by c1925 with pnly two minor infill housing developments occuring in the mid to late 1930s. Building stock on Banole Avenue is predominately composed of modest semi-detached dwellings built between 1915 and 1918. The precinct's High Street frontage is characterised by larger freestanding villas and bungalows dating from the early 1920s.

Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):

-high degree of intactness of the area to its c1925 state arising from the absence of modern infill;
-the repetitive character of the building stock and the regularity of rhythm of the built form, particularly on Banole Avenue;
-intactness of individual buildings to their original states. Dwellings typically survive with their
presentation to the street largely unaltered retaining verandahs and decorative render and timber detailing;
-the consistent, modest single-storey scale of the built form (the double-storey duplex at 9/11
Banole Avenue by Howard R Lawson being a notable and valued exception);
-face red-brick or render materiality and gabled or hipped roofscapes with chimneys and terracotta tile cladding;
-the generally uniform front setbacks and modest side setbacks;
-the consistent low front fences heights in most sections of the precinct; and,
-the almost total absence of modern vehicle accommodation in front and side setbacks.

How is it significant?

The Banole Estate Precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance.

Why is it significant?

The Banole Estate Precinct is of historical significance as evidence of the major phase of suburban development which took place in the Municipality in the first decades of the twentieth century as the economy recovered and public transport networks were expanded (Historic Theme: 3.3.5 Recovery and Infill). The precinct also demonstrates a rare pattern of settlement in Prahran as a complete Edwardian subdivision. In this part of the municipality, Edwardian dwellings more typically occur as infill development in partially complete 1880s subdivisions. In addition, the precinct shows how the built form character of the Municipality was shaped by building regulations prohibiting timber construction.

The precinct is of aesthetic significance for its remarkably intact and cohesive collection of Edwardian and interwar housing. While individual buildings are reasonably typical of these periods, the repetitive rhythm established by the concentration of largely identical cottages on Banole Avenue is of particular significance.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Cottage