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Verulam

Other Name Parlington Location 46 Parlington Street, CANTERBURY VIC 3126 - Property No B1515 File Number B1515 Level State

[1/3] B1515 Verulam [2/3] B1515 Verulam [3/3] B1515 Verulam

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

Verulam was constructed in 1888 for James Mackintosh, a pioneer sawmiller from Echuca. Mackintosh had purchased the site from William Elsdon, a leading figure in the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Co. By 1892, Verulam had been sold to Albert Terry, founder of the West End Brewery. The Kellett family purchased the property in 1952, renaming it Parlington. The current owners bought the property in 1988.

James Gall designed Verulam as a two storey Italianate mansion with tower. The rendered exterior is elaborately detailed including arcaded and balustraded loggia, a pedimented entrance, and deep bracketed eaves, reaching a crescendo in the projecting broken pediments capping each face of the tower. Although the interior was extensively redecorated in 1989, much of the original detailing remains including encaustic floor tiles, marble fireplaces, grand main stair, highly decorative plasterwork and stained glass over the front door with the cat motif bearing the Mackintosh clan motto 'touch not a cat bot a glove'.

The original 7.5 acre allotment fronted Mont Albert Road, however it was subdivided in 1915 and Parlington Street was formed. In 1946 the property was again subdivided creating the current curtilage with a frontage to the side of the building, in Parlington Street. The oval lawn at the front of the house and the original coach house and stables to the rear remain intact.


How is it significant?

Verulam is of architectural, historic and social significance at the State level.

Why is it significant?

Architecturally, the house is considered one of the best and most fully developed examples of the Italianate style mansion in the state, designed by the architect, James Gall. It has an unusually dynamic composition, aided by a distinctive tower and overall thee-dimensional treatment. The detailing is unusually rich, but unfortunately the original unpainted render exterior was painted in 1989. The intact interior has Minton Hollins & Co encaustic tiles, marble fireplaces, an elegant staircase, splendid stained glass featuring the Mackintosh clan crest, and exceptional decorative plasterwork. Another exceptional feature is the intact stable and coach house block with the original timber stalls and feed-boxes.

Historically, the site has associations with notable owners. The owner of the first house on the site was William Elsdon, chief engineer of Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, which built Australia's first railway line in 1854. Elsdon became the chief engineer of the Victorian Railways in the 1880s. James Mackintosh, for whom Verulam was built, was a pioneer of the Echuca region. His sawmilling company supplied red gum sleepers for railways in India and throughout Victoria as well as supplying timbers for the Melbourne Harbour Trust. Albert Terry, a pioneer brewer in Victoria in the 1860s, was owner of the house from 1893, and died at there in August 1907.

Socially, the house illustrates the lifestyle of the affluent merchants and businessmen who flocked to the suburbs of Camberwell, Canterbury, Surrey Hills and Glen Iris during the boom years of the 1880s following the extension of the railway system. Numerous mansions, set in large grounds, were established in this period. It is extraordinary that Verulam and the adjacent property, Frognall, being two grand Italianate mansions constructed in the 1880s to the design of the same architect (James Gall) remain substantially intact on extensive grounds.

First Classified 24/02/1966
Upgraded 07/06/1984
Reviewed: 07/07/2003