Back to search results »

Back to search page »

21 William Street, South Yarra

Other Name 'Walton' Location 21 William Street, SOUTH YARRA VIC 3141 - Property No 41118 Level Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/1] 21 William Street, South Yarra

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?
The double-storey Victorian Italianate style villa at 21 William Street, South Yarra was constructed c1897 for wealthy bookseller John Donne. It was built at a time when William Street was populated by affluent families in large houses, in marked contrast to the denser, smaller scale housing occurring to its east and south.

21 William Street is significant to the extent of its nineteenth century external form and fabric. The legibility of the built form in views from the public realm and the building's open garden setting further contribute to the significance of the place. Modern alterations and additions are not considered to be significant.

How is it Significant?
21 William Street, South Yarra is of local architectural and historical significance to the City of Stonnington.

Why is it Significant?
21 William Street, South Yarra is architecturally significant as a fine, albeit altered, example of a large Victorian Italianate style villa (Criterion D). Recent works have diminished the significance of the house but it retains elaborate and unconventional detailing that distinguishes it from other large late-Victorian dwellings in the municipality (Criterion E).

The building is historically significant as evidence of the pattern of development which created enclaves of affluent middle class housing in and near the generally higher, northern parts of the former City of Prahran, away from the more densely populated low lying areas to the south (Criterion A, TEH 8.2 Middle-class suburbs and the suburban ideal).

The building forms part of a relatively small extant group of substantial double-storey Italianate villas within the Municipality which illustrate the role of houses generally, and classically-inspired houses in particular, as symbols of wealth, status and taste for Melbourne's nineteenth century middle and upper classes (Criterion B, 8.4.1 - Houses as a symbol of wealth, status and fashion).

The site is of some minor historical interest for its unusual allotment shape brought about by the construction of the railway line in the late 1870s (3.3.4 - Uncontrolled and unplanned development).