AMELIA AVENUE

29-39 Amelia Avenue, Essendon, a small residential area comprising a short row of timber Interwar-era bungalows built c1924-c1930 by Thomas FitzGerald, is significant.

The following features contribute to the significant of the precinct:

. The houses constructed c1924-c1930, as shown on the precinct map.

. The overall consistency of housing form (gable roofs, asymmetrical bungalow form), materials and detailing (weatherboard external cladding, gable end decoration), and siting (elevated siting, consistent front setbacks).

The houses at 29, 31, 33, 35, 37 and 39 Amelia Avenue are Contributory.

Non-original alterations and additions to the Contributory buildings are not significant. The front fences, while sympathetic in style and materials, are also not significant.

How is it significant?

29-39 Amelia Avenue, Essendon, is of local historical, representative (architectural), and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.

Why is it significant?

Historically, the Amelia Avenue Precinct, Essendon, is significant as an illustration of what was a typical pattern in the suburbs of Moonee Valley in the Edwardian and interwar periods, when large Victorian-era mansion estates were subdivided for suburban development as they became too expensive to maintain, and then were almost completely developed during the intensive period of suburban expansion that followed World War I. This pattern of development demonstrates the accelerated suburban growth of Essendon and of the municipality during the interwar years, encouraged by improved transport connections and other important services such as being sewered and having made roads. (Criterion A)

The houses in the Amelia Avenue Precinct, Essendon, are representative of the Californian Bungalow style popular during the 1920s, all of which exhibit a high level of intactness. They demonstrate the principal characteristics of interwar bungalows constructed in timber, illustrating the transition from Edwardian to typical interwar bungalow forms. Most of the houses have characteristic massing with an asymmetrical, bungalow form, set beneath a dominant gabled roof sheltering a subsidiary projecting gable to the principal facade. Each dwelling has walls clad with weatherboard, some have a band of notched weatherboards from sill-rail height (29, 35, 39), and a raised front verandah with simple capped timber balustrades and varied post treatments; some have turned timber posts (29 and 35), while others have simple timber posts with decorative brackets (37 and 39). (Criterion D)

Aesthetically, the Amelia Avenue Precinct is significant because of its picturesque streetscape, afforded by the shared distinctive roof forms, materials and stylistic details, elevated siting and consistency of setbacks and scale of the dwellings. The precinct is distinguished as a row of free-standing interwar bungalows built to similar designs and presenting a highly unified streetscape. The high level of intactness of most of the dwellings, particularly to the gable ends, door and window joinery, and integrity of the precinct as a whole enhances the picturesque quality and visual unity of the precinct. (Criterion E)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House