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Post Office

Location 296-298 Glenhuntly Road,, ELSTERNWICK VIC 3185 - Property No B5653 File Number B5653 Level State

[1/1] B5653 Post Office Elsternwick

Statement of Significance

Elsternwick Post Office was erected in 1891 to designs prepared in the Victorian Public Works department in 1890 under J H Marsden. It is a development of Marsden's design prepared for the Queenscliff Post Office of 1885-6, which effectively introduced to Victoria the style variously termed English Vernacular Free Style, English Queen Anne and Elizabethan. Whilst the Queenscliff design has been virtually obliterated by later alterations, the Elsternwick design has been maintained and extended sympathetically. The replacement of timber verandas with solid brickwork c.1918 and the extensions to the rear of 1941-2, reflect the general form, materials and detailing of the original design. Together with the public offices complex at Kew of 1886-7, Elsternwick Post Office represents one of the major stylistic innovations that put the Victorian Public Works Department in the years 1885-92 at the forefront of Australian architecture.
Classified: 12/12/1985
Revised: 06/03/1986