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Former Commercial Hotel

Location Orr Street,, MALMSBURY VIC 3446 - Property No B1872 File Number B1872 Level Regional

[1/1] B1872 Commercial Hotel Orr St

Statement of Significance

A hotel building of about 1866 which is of regional architectural and historical significance, the former as a specimen of an early but now rare commercial building type, and the latter for its direct functional link with the operations of the (already classified) Mount Alexander and Murray Valley Railway Line. The railway line was a public work of mammoth scale, and was motivated by Victoria's desire to capture the trade of the Murray River ahead of New South Wales. Its major trade function, and the facility it provided for the movement of businessmen and commerical travellers, link it directly with the development of commercial premises along the route, of which this hotel was one. The architectural interest of the building derives from its explicity urban character and especially from the cantilevered balcony. This was a relatively common form in the nineteenth century until discouraged by regulation in central Melbourne from 1850 and in other suburbs generally from the 1870s or 1880s. It was constructed by continuing the upper floor joists straight through the front wall. In this instance the balustrade has been reconstructed in criss-cross timber work rather than the original cast iron, but the overall form remains.
Classified: 06/04/1998