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University House - University of Melbourne

Location

156 - 292 Grattan Street,, PARKVILLE VIC 3010 - Property No B6481

File Number

B6481

Level

State

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B6481 University House
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B6481 University House
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B6481 University House

Statement of Significance

University House is of state historical significance primarily for its associations with the University of Melbourne and its campus development. Constructed 1885-87, it is the last to remain of a number of houses built for the university professors on the campus in this period, replacing their previous accommodation in the Law School Quadrangle. It is also one of the oldest buildings to have survived within the university campus. University House is an important reminder of the early scale and character of the University, and of the social as well as academic circumstances of the campus at this time. Its transformation to clubrooms for the university's academic staff in the 1950s reflected a highly significant change in the residential, social and academic character of the university. Its landmark significance for generations of university students and academics sited at the head of one of the early roads created within the University grounds, should not be underestimated.
A fine though unexceptional example of the austere, late nineteenth century Gothic Revival mode of the highly successful Melbourne architectural firm Reed, Henderson & Smart, it has gained interest as an historical and architectural artefact through the various alterations wrought upon it in the twentieth century by notable archtects such as Roy Grounds and Rae Featherstone. Vestiges of each period of its use and alteration remain evident in the internal and external fabric.
Classified: 20/10/1993

Group