RESIDENCE

The first North Melbourne lots were auctioned in 1852 and the area quickly developed as one of the setting out points for those heading for the goldfields. The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, was built in 1857. The house was constructed for Alexander McDonald, a coach builder, whose name appears on the parapet. McDonald owned and occupied the house until 1873 after which he leased it to tenants. He sold the house in 1884. McDonald also built 604-606 Queensberry Street.

The house was described in the rate book of 1858 as a brick house, with seven rooms and a cellar. The residence is a small one storey brick cottage with extensive cellar and attic. The gable roof contains attic accommodation. The house has a symmetrical facade to Queensbury Street, with a centrally placed front door flanked by a pair of plain, square headed sash windows. A small and steeply pitched transverse gable with finial and an attic window projects over the front door. The gable end has a plaque bearing the inscription ?1857, Alexdr Mcdonald?. The roof, with bracketed eaves, is covered with slates.

Internally the house retains little integrity as an 1850s cottage, most of the original layout and fabric being lost in the 1970s. A sympathetic arrow-head picket fence has been added to the small front garden.

How is it significant?

The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne is architecturally significant as a rare example of a picturesque Gothic cottage in metropolitan Melbourne. Despite being symmetrical, the use of the Gothic style incorporating picturesque elements such as face brickwork, a steeply pitched roof and a finial is representative of the pattern book style of picturesque architecture and was unusual for a town house of the period.

The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, is of historical significance as one of the oldest extant houses in North Melbourne. This house survives in a row of varied commercial and residential buildings as a reminder of the early period of development in North Melbourne.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House