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HOUSES & SHOP
Location34-40 NICHOLSON STREET, ESSENDON, MOONEE VALLEY CITY LevelIncluded in Heritage Overlay |
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Statement of Significance
What is significant? All of the buildings have polychrome brick walls and chimneys and
slate roofs with diaper bands. The shop and attached dwelling at Nos. 40-38 are gable-fronted, and
the corner shop retains its timber-framed shop windows. The villas at No. 34 ('Plassey') and No. 36 (believed to be
'Cliveden') are double-fronted with M-hip roofs. No. 36 has an
ogee-profile verandah roof and cast-iron columns and frieze, as well
as zig-zag pattern quoining. No. 34 has an unusual facade composition
with two projecting gabled bays and a central recessed porch beneath
the roofline. Its polychrome brickwork is hidden beneath overpainting. Later alterations and additions are not significant.
How is it significant?
Why is it significant? The corner shop (No. 40) is historically significant as an intact
late 19th-century neighbourhood corner store which is a tangible
demonstration of a bygone aspect of pre-WWII life: Prior to widespread
car ownership and home refrigeration, neighbourhood corner stores were
an important amenity in residential areas, where day-to-day needs
could be purchased. (Criterion A) The buildings are also of historic interest for their association
with James Taylor, a prominent resident of Essendon in the 19th
century.
The shop and houses at 34-40 Nicholson Street, Essendon, are
significant. They were built 1890-92 for James Taylor, an accountant
who moved to Essendon in 1860 and worked for McCracken's Brewery for
30 years, as well as serving as a long-time member of the Essendon
Council and three times mayor. He resided across the street as
'Kinneil' (No. 33). The corner shop, at No. 40, housed Mrs E Brown's
bookshop until 1918, after which she ran a confectioner's shop there.
The shop and houses are of local architectural and historical
significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
They are of architectural significance for the visual cohesion and
fine detailing of the buildings. Details of note include the
rectilinear corbelled chimneys with cream and red banding, the
'half-timbering' detail to the gables of the attached shop and
dwelling at Nos. 40-38, the intact ogee-profile verandah and zig-zag
quoining of No. 36, and the unusual configuration of the facade of No.
34. The shop at No. 40 is rare in the Moonee Valley context for its
high level of intactness, particularly the retention of its
timber-framed shop windows. (Criteria E & B)
Group
Residential buildings (private)
Category
House