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The Grove / Sydney Road

Location

1-83 & 14-88 THE GROVE AND 84-164 & 105-165 SYDNEY ROAD AND 38-40 DE CARLE STREET AND 67 NICHOLSON STREET AND 18, 1-3/20 & 30 THE AVENUE COBURG, MERRI-BEK CITY

File Number

3536

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/5]
HO172 - The Grove Sydney Road
[2/5]
The Grove (1)
[3/5]
The Grove (4)
[4/5]
The Grove (2)
[5/5]
The Grove (2)

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct, comprising houses at 50a Barrow Street, 38-40 De Carle Street, 67 Nicholson Street, 105-165 and 84-164 Sydney Road, 18, 1-3/20 & 30 and 31The Avenue and 1-83 and 14-88 The Grove, Coburg is significant. Buildings and features that contribute to the significance of the precinct are:

The houses constructed on the before 1945 or immediately after the end of World War II.
Non-residential buildings constructed during the key development period of the precinct, including a former bowling club pavilion (built as an assembly hall of the Moreland Park Estate in the 1880s) at 38-40 The Grove, a postwar chapel at 43 The Grove and commercial buildings in Sydney Road.

The street trees at The Grove, between Nicholson Street and Barrow Street, as well as mature trees in private gardens, contribute to the significance of the precinct.

Recent alterations and additions to the significant and contributory places are not significant.

Significant properties include:

Holyrood, 22 The Grove (c.1891)
Koorali & Kalimna, 23-25 The Grove (c.1887)
Oak Hill and Waratah, 45-47 The Grove (c.1887)
Moreland Park Buildings (Australia House), 148-164 Sydney Road (1888)
Palm Avenue Hotel, 84-92 Sydney Road (1891)
Dental Surgery, 127-129 Sydney Road (c.1906)

Non-Contributory properties include:

Barrow Street: 50a
De Carle Street: 38-40
Sydney Road: 92, 114-120, 117-119, 132, 137, 141, 155-157 and 165.
The Avenue: 30, 31
The Grove: 1-6/1, 2-3/3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 27, 1-4/30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38-40 (except for the former bowling club pavilion), 41, 46, 48, 50, 50A, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63A, 69, 75, 76-78, 77, 1-5/78, 81 and 2/83

How is it significant?

The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of local historical, representative and aesthetic significance to the City of Merri-bek.

Why is it significant?

The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of local historical significance for its association with the speculator Montague Dare and the prolific 19th century architect T. J. Crouch. The precinct is also significant as it comprises notable businesses in Sydney Road. Merri-bek’s oldest hotel, the Palm Avenue Hotel is of historical significance as one of the oldest surviving buildings in the Coburg/Brunswick area, having operated as a hotel continuously on the one site for over 140 years. The dental surgery at 127-129 Sydney Road is also significant for its continuous use as a dental surgery over 80 years and its strong associations with the locally important French family who conducted their dental practice here from 1922 to 1989. (Criterion A).

The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of representative significance, comprising fine representative examples of residential and non-residential from the Victorian to postwar periods. Examples of Crouch's standard Italianate villa house designs can be seen at 3, 11, 14, 18, 22 and 24 The Grove. The precinct also includes many good examples of Edwardian houses, including 66, 65, 73 and 86 The Grove. There are also several bungalows, including exemplars at 71 and 75 The Grove. Post-War buildings include the triple fronted bi-chrome brick house at 41 The Grove and the chapel at No.43. Moreland Park Buildings (Australia House), 148-164 Sydney Road is a representative example of a Victorian Italianate shop row, which contributes to the historic character of Sydney Road. (Criterion D)

The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of local aesthetic significance as a notable 1880s land boom residential subdivision that contains many individually significant buildings. Notable buildings include the two pairs of two-storey Italianate mansionettes designed by T. J. Crouch at 23-25 and 45-47 The Grove which are typologically rare and excellent examples of the use of polychrome brickwork. The Palm Avenue Hotel is notable as being one of the first buildings and few hotels exhibiting the American Romanesque Revival detailing, and as a major landmark on Sydney Road. The dental surgery at 127-129 Sydney Road also contributes to the aesthetic significance of the precinct, as a locally rare, although altered, example of a commercial building and residence with unusual Federation detailing. It is complemented by a mature Liquidamber, which indicates the original extent of the garden, which was established by the French family. The canopy of mature street trees and well maintained private gardens contribute greatly to the character of the precinct. Relatively more intact group of mature plantings in the eastern part of The Grove contribute strongly to the heritage character of the area. They reflect Victorian era planting schemes and represent a style and choice of planting that is uncommon within the municipality. (Criterion E)

Group