Riversdale Reserve Precinct

The Riversdale Reserve Precinct comprising 8-30 Robinson Road and 2-28 & 7-21 Illawarra Road, largely developed between 1884 and 1904 is significant.

How is it significant?

The Riversdale Reserve Precinct is of local historic, architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Boroondara.

Why is it significant?

The Riversdale Reserve Precinct is historically significant as a demonstration of the expansion of Hawthorn during the 1880s when middle-class residents took advantage of the subdivision of the earlier large mansion estates into smaller lots. The Riversdale Reserve Precinct is historically significant as one of many land releases in Hawthorn during the 1880s, at a peak time for development in the area. The area covered by the precinct corresponds to the entire Riversdale Reserve subdivision of 1884, and part of the adjacent Ashburton Estate of 1888, the slightly curved alignment of Illawarra Road indicating the former location of Ashburton house and garden. (Criterion A)

Comprising parts of two streets (Robinson and Illawarra Roads) and a small cross street (Montague Street), the Riversdale Reserve Precinct is a representative Victorian-era precinct with many fine Victorian and several Victorian/ Federation (transitional) villas that demonstrate the peak development of Hawthorn. Situated on the rising ground south of Riversdale Road, the area was marketed at the middle classes who could afford allotments of medium size and houses that were smaller versions of the mansion houses they emulated. Like Lyndhurst Crescent (HO155) and Leslie Street (HO164) and the less flamboyant parts of Manningtree Road, the Riversdale Reserve Precinct displays a cohesiveness of scale, period and architectural style. (Criterion D)

Riversdale Reserve Precinct is aesthetically significant for its grouping and sequence of houses in garden settings. Building materials of polychrome brick, stucco and timber with corrugated iron and slate for roofing are used. The houses, although all different, relate closely to each other in period and style, using a combination of timber and cast iron verandahs, hipped and gabled roof forms and Victorian-style windows. Aesthetically, the precinct is enhanced by the predominantly low and lightweight fencing that allows views of the houses in their garden settings. Individual houses display particular elements common to the Victorian period including canted bay windows (18 & 20 Robinson Road, 17 & 19 Illawarra Road); polychrome brickwork (20 Robinson Road); decorative glass (24 & 26 Robinson Road); rendered quoins and window mouldings (7 & 10 Illawarra Road); fine cast iron verandahs (24 Robinson Road and 6 Illawarrra Road). The aesthetic value of the precinct lies in its broader scale of similar size allotments, garden settings, house forms and Victorian architectural elements. (Criterion E)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Residential Precinct