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Abercrombie House

Other Name Iron House, 59 Arden St, North Melbourne Location 399 Coventry Street,, SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC 3205 - Property No B3401 File Number B3401 Level State

[1/1] B3401 Abercrombie House

Statement of Significance

The iron house, formerly at 59 Arden Street, North Melbourne and now at the National Trust Iron House Museum at 399 Coventry Street, South Melbourne,was most probably manufactured by Moorwood and Rogers of London as a four room gable roof cottage with front verandah and intended for export to the British Colonies. Andrew Abercrombie erected this portable iron house in 1853. A brick kitchen was added pror to 1858.
Portable iron houses were manufactured in great numbers in Great Britain in the mid 19th century, largely to meet exigencies of accommodation in the colonies at that time. This is a unique survivor of a building type erected in great numbers in this area of Melbourne and a rare example of a portable iron cottage in the world. These structures, historically important in representing a short lived period of frantic settlement during the Victorian gold rushes, are of great significance to the history of industrial technology.
The fabric is in good condition with important archaelogical data preserved during the removal operations undertaken in 1979.
Adapted from AHC Citation
Classified: 26/10/1978