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Studley

Location 392 - 400 Toorak Road,, TOORAK VIC 3142 - Property No B5535 File Number B5535 Level State

[1/1] B5535 Studley

Statement of Significance

A complex of early flats which particularly exemplifies changing attitudes and a semi-servantless lifestyle as developed by the end of the Great War. It comprises the earlier house of the architect Walter Butler as converted by him into flats in 1918, together with a new detached block to Tintern Avenue of the same date, and extensions to the west and a detached flat, (The Cottage) apparently conceived at the time and executed soon afterwards, together with various ancillary spaces, stairs, cellars and the large courtyard garden with its terrace, fountain and decorative ceramic plaques. The flats have suffered some re-subdivision and remodelling, but are still characterised internally by late Arts and Crafts detailing such as ledged and braced doors, beaten brasswork and stained timber. The Tintern Avenue block especially is notable for forward-looking labour-saving gadgetry such as double-sided doors and hatches, rubbish bins located so as to be removable from an exterior hatchway, and a remarkable set of milk delivery boxes with adjustable pointers to indicate the numbers of bottles required.
Classified: 19/07/1984