Dwelling

Location

31 Nantes Street NEWTOWN, GREATER GEELONG CITY

Level

Incl in HO area indiv sig

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?
The dwelling at 31 Nantes Street, Newtown, has significance as a predominantly intact example of an austere postwar Georgian Revival design, being an unusual housing type in this part of Newtown in the immediate years after World War Two. Built from 1947-48 by and for Robert Campbell Anderson, engineer, it was the Anderson family home until R.C. Anderson's death in 1969. The significant fabric includes: two storey height, symmetrical composition defined by the principal gabled roof and slightly projecting minor gabled entrance bay at the front, tiled roof cladding, clinker brick wall construction, face brick rectangular chimneys, broad eaves, flat-roofed entrance porch with timber framed door opening and multi-paned timber framed sidelights, banks of timber framed double hung first floor windows (the windows featuring horizontal sash bars) on the front and rear facade, other timber framed double hung windows, and the ventilator in the west gable end. The rendered brick, gabled garage outbuilding fronting Nantes Street, built at the time of the dwelling, also contributes to the significance of the place.


How is it significant?
The dwelling at 31 Nantes Street, Newtown, is historically and aesthetically significant at a LOCAL level.

Why is it significant?
The dwelling at 31 Nantes Street has historical significance for its associations with residential development in Newtown West immediately after the Second World War (Criterion A). Built from 1947-48 by and for, Robert Campbell Anderson, engineer, and his wife, Joan Anderson (nee Craddock), the dwelling represents one the few predominantly intact and contextually substantial houses associated with postwar middle class residential life in the local area.

The dwelling at 31 Nantes Street is aesthetically significant as a predominantly intact example of an austere postwar Georgian Revival style built in Newtown in the 1940s, as demonstrated in the gabled form, symmetry and construction (Criterion D). The subtle references to Georgian Revival design in the composition and scale of the dwelling reflect the latter stages in the evolution of this style for the middle class in the 1940s, the austere character and detailing embodying the constraints imposed on house construction after World War Two as well as a more functional approach to house design.

Heritage Overlay Map
It is recommended that the heritage overlay is applied to the site at 31 Nantes Street containing the dwelling as shown on the following map:

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House