Back to search results » Back to search page »

Como House & Garden

Location

16 Como Avenue,, SOUTH YARRA VIC 3141 - Property No B0225

File Number

B0225

Level

State

[1/2]
B0225 Como House
[2/2]
B0225 Como House

Statement of Significance

Como at South Yarra is an imposing and essentially late Georgian style mansion which was erected in three stages, firstly as a brick house in 1847 for Edward E Williams, Colonial Advocate. The central two storey brick and stucco mansion was undertaken in 1855 for John Brown, master builder/merchant with the Italianate style ballroom wing by architect A E Johnson being added in 1874 for pastoralist Charles Armytage.
Como 'the White House in the trees' at South Yarra is a building of National importance and one of the finest monuments to the mid -Victorian era in Australia. The splendidly proportioned, symmetricial mansion with the distinctive verandah, restrained classical details and comfortable, well crafted interiors is a rare and evocative example of late Georgian architecture in Victoria.
Como, for 95 years an Armytage family mansion, has important historical associations with the pastoral industry and early Melbourne.
Como is held in perpetuity on behalf of the nation by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and is preserved as a museum house and complete with many of the original Armytage furnishings.
Classified: 22/05/1958

Garden Statement of Significance. The delightful grounds of Como contain many fine maturing trees and shrubs dating from as early as 1856. Although once part of a much larger estate, the Como garden does retain a certain prominence overlooking both Como Park and the Yarra River.
The Como garden provides a fine setting for one of Melbourne's most distinguished houses. The garden retains its basic nineteenth century structure but has been modified in latter years. These modifications illustrate the twentieth century English gardening style of compartmentalisation.
Classified: 'Local' 12/06/1978

File note 24/08/2012: G13015 (Como Garden) amalgamated & filed with B0225.

Group