Back to search results »

Back to search page »

Twentyman House

Location 46 Bastings Street,, NORTHCOTE VIC 3070 - Property No B6781 File Number B6781 Level Local

[1/1] B6781 Twentyman House

Statement of Significance

46 Bastings Street is, in part, one of Northcote's older houses, if not the oldest. It is set in grounds that cover most of the original 1850s subdivision. A substantial part of the house was built by Edward Twentyman, the principal of the prominent architectural firm, Twentyman and Askew, and was his major place of residence while in the colony. It was also the first place of residence for David Askew, who was later to become Vice President of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects and executed a number of major architectural works such as Stallbridge Chambers, Fink's building, the Hotel Metropole in Sydney and the vast Colonial Sugar Refinery works at Port Melbourne. The remnants of the garden are important for their historical association with the Twentyman and Askew families, who owned and developed the c.1853 house and garden between 1867 and c.1996. By nature of their long period of land ownership, about 129 years at Bastings Street, they made an important contribution to the history of the area. Individual built elements of significance include the brick terraces and red brick drainage channel on the west side of the house, sections of timber arrow head picket fencing and recessed single gates, and the perimeter fencing of corrugated galvanised iron with timber ridge capping dating from c.1860-80. Horticulturally, the garden contains two early examples of Indian Fig (Ficus palamat), a rare species in cultivation in Victoria, and mature examples of Chinese Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) and Pepper Tree (Schinus molle var, areira).
Classified: 02/12/1996