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RESIDENCE

Other Names HC SLEIGH HOUSE ,  H. C. SLEIGH HOUSE Location 42 WALLACE AVENUE TOORAK, STONNINGTON CITY File Number 608555 Level Registered

[1/5] RESIDENCE SOHE 2008 [2/5] 1 residence wallace avenue [3/5] plan [4/5] h01806 wallace avenue toorak [5/5] h01806 wallace avenue toorak

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The residence at 42 Wallace Avenue Toorak was built in 1936 to the design of noted architect Marcus W Martin as the family home of oil magnate Sir Hamilton Sleigh, the founder of Golden Fleece petroleum. Marcus Martin was probably the most popular architect amongst the wealthy Toorak establishment in the inter-war years and produced many buildings which exhibited his hallmark of restrained modernism. The white painted brick mansion dominates its corner site and combines a stylised suggestion of Richardsonian Romanesque with an otherwise modern exterior. The use of Moderne detailing over an essentially Georgian building form was a feature of Martin's mature work. The sitting room and library have steel framed bow windows. The substantially intact interior features a double storey hall with a stair and balcony with a wrought iron balustrade manufactured by the important firm of Caslake. The service wing has been modernised for family use.

How is it significant?
42 Wallace Avenue Toorak is architecturally, historically and socially significant to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
42 Wallace Avenue Toorak is architecturally significant as an important example of a fine domestic design from the 1930s. It is an important design by Marcus W Martin, the most popular of architects in that decade amongst the wealthy residents of South Yarra and Toorak. The house represented the epitome of his personal brand of temperate modernism a house which was modern in aspects of appointment and comfort, but which avoided overt modernistic stylism in favour of restrained period form and detailing. The impressive size of the house, reflecting the wealth and social position of his client, made it one of the major domestic commissions of Martin's career. The house has a distinctive form and character to its exterior and is important for its landmark status within its environment. The interior, in particular the hall, library, powder room, dining room, sitting room and master bedroom, remains substantially intact to its original design and is an important exemplar of a refined 1930s interior. Both the interior and exterior retain fine pieces of Caslake wrought iron believed to be amongst the best work of that notable firm.

42 Wallace Avenue Toorak is historically and socially significant for its long associations with the family of prominent businessman Sir Hamilton Sleigh, and for its prominent landmark siting on the corner of Bruce Street. As a crucial element of inter-war Toorak the house shares in the significance of the Toorak Village area as the very heartland of Victoria's elite and a nationally recognised byword for wealth and influence.