The houses of the Interwar Houses Group are located in Albert Hill Road, Anderson Street, Castella Street, Cave Hill Road, Clarke Street, Deschamps Street, George Street, Hermitage Street, Kidgell Street, Main Street, Market Street, Maroondah Highway and Wilsons Lane, Lilydale. The properties date from the 1920s and 1930s and have, variously, deep front setbacks with gardens, as well as spacious side setbacks and side driveways; in some cases due to generous allotment sizes and placement of buildings within the allotments, views of side elevations as well as the front facades. There is a diversity of non-original fences including timber picket fences, cyclone wire fences, and simple timber and wire 'hair-pin' fences. The presentation of the properties is also enhanced in some cases by the presence of mature vegetation, and visible original roof forms (if not necessarily roof cladding) and original chimneys.

The houses of the Interwar Houses Group serial listing are of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance.

Historically, the houses date from the 1920s and 1930s, and help demonstrate residential development in Lilydale in the pre-World War Two period. This was the time of Lilydale's consolidation into a commuter suburb, following the electrification of the railway line in 1925, which in turn shortened the journey time to the city. The houses represent the shift from the simple, modest dwellings of later nineteenth century rural Lilydale through to those of the Federation era, and beyond to the interwar period when the houses were increasingly typical of residential development in Melbourne suburbia. This period of consolidation of Lilydale also saw an improvement in local roads and services, further subdivision, and a consequent increase in population, all of which contributed to this period of development as evidenced in these houses.

Aesthetically and architecturally, the Lilydale houses are comparatively intact and generally characteristic of modest suburban bungalows in Melbourne built during the interwar period, and include common bungalow forms of the early to mid-1920s. These are invariably single-storied and double fronted, with a recessed frontage balanced by a projecting wing to one side. The bungalows have roofs with gables to the front, often paired; or a broad transverse pitched roof, offset by a projecting gabled wing. The gable ends have half timbering or shingles; eaves are angled, often with exposed rafter ends; the combination of weatherboard base-dado with an upper level of battened cement sheet or stuccoed cement sheet is common; and verandahs stretch across part of the frontages, with masonry balustrades and columns supporting the verandah roofs. The Lilydale houses are also significant for including local bungalow variants such as the simple weatherboard cube with a single front gable and hollowed porch verandah; and later 1920s dwellings which use some of the newer art deco materials and emerging details including tapestry brick, cut or bevelled glass windows and lead-lighting, and Tudor touches as in stepped chimneys in mottled brick or accentuated horizontal glazing bars.

Criteria

A: Importance to the course or pattern of the Shire of Yarra Ranges' cultural or natural history.

The houses of the Interwar Houses Group are of local historical significance. The houses date from the 1920s and 1930s, and help demonstrate residential development in Lilydale in the pre-World War Two period. This was the time of Lilydale's consolidation into a commuter suburb, following the electrification of the railway line in 1925, which in turn shortened the journey time to the city. The houses represent the shift from the simple, modest dwellings of later nineteenth century rural Lilydale through to those of the Federation era, and beyond to the interwar period when the houses were increasingly typical of residential development in Melbourne suburbia. This period of consolidation of Lilydale also saw an improvement in local roads and services, further subdivision, and a consequent increase in population, all of which contributed to this period of development as evidenced in these houses.

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D: Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places or environments.

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The houses of the Interwar Houses Group are of local aesthetic and architectural significance. The Lilydale houses, which are comparatively intact, are generally characteristic of modest suburban bungalows in Melbourne built during the interwar period, and include common bungalow forms of the early to mid-1920s. These are invariably single-storied and double fronted, with a recessed frontage balanced by a projecting wing to one side. The bungalows have roofs with gables to the front, often paired; or a broad transverse pitched roof, offset by a projecting gabled wing. The gable ends have half timbering or shingles; eaves are angled, often with exposed rafter ends; the combination of weatherboard base-dado with an upper level of battened cement sheet or stuccoed cement sheet is common; and verandahs stretch across part of the frontages, with masonry balustrades and columns supporting the verandah roofs. The Lilydale houses are also significant for including local bungalow variants such as the simple weatherboard cube with a single front gable and hollowed porch verandah; and later 1920s dwellings which use some of the newer art deco materials and emerging details including tapestry brick, cut or bevelled glass windows and lead-lighting, and Tudor touches as in stepped chimneys in mottled brick or accentuated horizontal glazing bars.

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Physical Conditions: The houses of the Interwar Houses Group are located in Albert Hill Road, Anderson Street, Castella Street, Cave Hill Road, Clarke Street, Deschamps Street, George Street, Hermitage Street, Kidgell Street, Main Street, Market Street, Maroondah Highway and Wilsons Lane, Lilydale.

The houses are on individual allotments, or are sometimes in pairs.

The properties date from the 1920s and 1930s and have, variously, deep front setbacks with gardens, as well as spacious side setbacks and side driveways; in some cases due to generous allotment sizes and placement of buildings within the allotments, views of side elevations as well as the front facades; and generally an absence of high solid front fences, and in fact a diversity of non-original fences including timber picket fences, cyclone wire fences, and simple timber and wire 'hair-pin' fences. The presentation of the properties is also enhanced in some cases by the presence of mature vegetation, and visible original roof forms (if not necessarily roof cladding) and original chimneys.

All the houses referred to are listed and illustrated in the Schedule of Properties.

The interwar houses of Lilydale are generally characteristic of suburban bungalows in Melbourne built during the interwar period.70

Bungalow, as the name suggests, referred in part to single-storied houses, as in Indian Bungalows, and partly to an informal way of living that included two storied, consciously 'informal' houses (as in California). In plan there was certainly a marked influence from California, where a new form of these houses had emerged around 1903-8 in the architecture of Charles and Henry Greene and their contemporaries in Pasadena, Los Angeles.71 Their designs were generally two-storied, but single-storied variants soon appeared in Alameda California, Tulsa Oklahoma, Charleston South Carolina and Vancouver British Columbia. A brick version appeared in Chicago. The rapid appearance of these around the United States and Canada reflected the persuasive role of gravure magazines and bungalow (pattern) books, most from California, and this contributed to the Australian real estate term 'Californian Bungalow.' The growing Australian familiarity with the lively settings (and implicit glamour) of Los Angeles in films assisted its popularity as a concept here, as it later would with Spanish Mission and other modes with a Californian and film star association.72

Australia's development of similar forms was roughly in parallel, beginning in the early 1890s.73 At its high tide the bungalow accompanied the spread of commuter suburbs and semi-rural commuter settlement, as near Frankston in Victoria or the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. The clay tile roofs and often wide use of brick walling differed from most United States usage, and characteristics of the emerging bungalow. See Warmington and Ward, 1991, pp. 395-397. the interiors often reduced Federation plans to fit a new generation of post-World War One clients, who were usually without the money to run the servants needed for the multiple fireplaces and wings of Federation houses. Indeed, the newer bungalows were widely advertised as 'servantless'.74 While continuing the expressed and open plan tendencies in Federation architecture, they usually reduced the chimneys to one or two and reduced the footprint to a basic rectangle. This simpler shape largely ended the diagonal theme in Federation planning and expression: bungalows addressed the street front on, presented as singular, contained forms rather than the steps and episodes suggested in Federation houses. Their comparatively small ground area reinforced the surrounding site's role as 'territory.' Verandahs were developed either as a separate rectangular space superimposed across the front, or were enlarged porches cut out of house corners. Some curved aprons and canted bays were continued in bay windows, but these are not widely seen in Lilydale.

As part of this emphasis on labour-saving, the kitchens, bathrooms and laundries, previously in a rear wing, were now usually inside the main house footprint by this time, (though not always the toilets). The laundries were mostly by the back door but were more generally inside the house perimeter. Living, dining and hall areas were now often linked in a single space partly divided by wing walling, a development carried over from the Federation period. Many municipalities still required a full-size hearth in the kitchen, often backlit by two small windows, regardless of what type of stove was there. 17 Hermitage Street shows this in its kitchen chimney-breast. Built-in furniture was spreading in use: this was an integrated formal approach reminiscent of Japanese aneled architecture. Other elements, such as gable detailing, fireplace design paneled, dadoes and timber beam expression, also referred to or evoked traditional Japanese architecture. Japanese referencing had become popular in the Federation period and the Arts and crafts movement, and was extended in both California and Australia as part of a general mild interest in 'Pacific' architecture. Australia had become apprehensive after Japan's victory in the Russo- Japanese war of 1904, but was reassured by its siding with the allies in World War I and its apparent opposition to the new Soviet Union.

Bungalows involved architects or designer-builders, and it was common, as in other suburbs such as Preston, Flemington, Murrumbeena or Blackburn for groups of houses to carry the inflexions and detailing of a particular contractor. There is a quartet of such designs in Lilydale: 17 Hermitage Street, 5 and 7 Market Street, and 30 Anderson street, all of which share proportions and hipped roofed wings drawn back close to the main transverse gable.

In central Lilydale the most numerous bungalow variant is a type common in the early to mid- 1920s. These are invariably single-storied and double fronted: that is, a recessed frontage across a living room usually, balanced by a projecting wing on one side typically housing a bedroom. The roofs are invariably gables turned to the front of the site and paired so that they overlap each other when seen front-on. Only four of the studied Lilydale houses have a hipped projecting wing. The gable transoms usually refer to half timbering, by this stage using cement sheeting linked with vertical battens. 17 George Street and 26 Deschamps Street use a shingled gable front, a more expensive finish. A second preferred roof form in Victoria, again double-fronted, emphasized a broad transverse pitched roof, often offset by a projecting gabled wing. The wing and transverse pattern is in the clear majority in Lilydale. Eaves were usually angled, often with exposed rafter ends, a legacy of the Arts and Crafts movement and widely emphasized in contemporary American designs. Sometimes roof eaves had angled timber braces, a reflection of the modern bungalow's partial origin in American revivals of the Swiss Chalet.

Material expression varied widely. Tarred timber walling of the Algernon Elmore type seen in the Blackburn-Nunawading area75 is not usually encountered in central Lilydale. The combination of a weatherboard base-dado with an upper level of battened cement sheet or stuccoed cement sheet is, on the other hand, more common. In brick houses, stuccoed and exposed brick were often balanced in the base-dado and the upper walling, although here the rendered areas were often left unpainted or given a cream wash.

The front door is usually at the intersection of the two frontage levels in Victoria. In Sydney it was often placed at the side, because of the usually narrower suburban frontages. In Victoria double front doors were popular, allowing an expansive moment in an otherwise fairly frugal house type (see 15, 17 and 23 George Street). One and a half width front doors also appear (17 Maroondah Highway, 429 Main Street). The front windows were usually set in prefabricated timber boxframes, often bracketed, which could be brought on site and easily fitted into a wall.

Quite often the bungalow verandahs, stretching between half and two-thirds across the front of each house elevation, will have a heavy brick balustrade with a rendered coating, framed by exposed face brick, usually broad red or tapestry, and supporting the roof on two columns. Sometimes these balustrades will have vertical slots in the brick work - 15 George Street and 56 Anderson Street are the examples here, or a brick grille, as at 17 Maroondah Highway. In Lilydale these columns are mostly square and fluted, or pairs of square-section timber posts. 54 and 56 Anderson Street are of this type with paired verandah posts, as is 14 Albert Hill Road. Those with verandahs on two columns, again supported on heavy brick balustrades, include 6 Wilsons Lane, 5 and 7 Market Street, 26 Deschamps Street, 15 and 17 George Street, 17 Maroondah Highway, and 30, 54 and 56 Anderson Street. Most of these had paired timber or square tapering concrete columns supporting their verandahs, but some had single columns, as with 15 George Street. Two others had continuous pier columns running from the step base or floor up to the verandah ceiling, e.g. 7 Market Street and 15 George Street. Only one, 17 Maroondah Highway, has the broad tapering stuccoed brick verandah posts that Robin Boyd saw as a bungalow signature.76 6 Wilsons Lane has had the original verandah posts removed and replaced with wrought iron.

The bungalow had formal variants, retaining the wall textures and details outlined above, but with different footprints and circulation. One Lilydale type, also seen frequently in the Box Hill- Blackburn area, is the simple weatherboard cube with a single frontal gable and a porch verandah hollowed out of one side: 28 Anderson, 9 George, 25 Cave Hill and 60 Castella streets. Chronologically this had its heyday in the early and mid 1920s.

A second recurring Lilydale variant is the symmetrical-fronted bungalow with an accentuated central porch. Numbers of small bungalows adopted this form throughout the bungalow's heyday. These include 23 George Street.

Another Lilydale group are more distinctively later 1920s in their materials and detail usage, seen during the long economic downturn leading into the Great Depression. 5 and 7 Market Street are examples. These use some newer materials and details emerging in the later 1920s, such as tapestry brick, art deco window detailing in cut or bevelled glass and lead-lighting, Tudor touches appear, as in the broad, flattened three-point arches or stepped chimneys in mottled brick (5 Market Street), or accentuated horizontal glazing bars. These compare with examples seen in

Camberwell areas being developed between c. 1925 and 1939, such as the Holyrood, Golf Links or Hassett Estates, or with the Urquhart Street area in Hawthorn.77

Another bungalow type has a single, broad gable facing the street, a simple rectangular footprint and a porch-verandah hollowed out of one corner. The single gable with a recessed corner verandah is a common suburban type seen in Surrey Hills, Blackburn, Box Hill and other consolidating suburbs in Melbourne's east. The bulls-eye window is another legacy of Federation that persisted in Australian bungalow variants. The chimney is typically simple for these Lilydale houses.

9 George Street is similar, with quite a tall gable transom and lightly drawn half timbering using sheet and battens. Its vestiges of Federation architecture are carried in the window framing, and the stuccoed dado-wall is a typical Federation-early bungalow finish. The front steps, the verandah frieze and lower weatherboard appear to be refurbishings. 25 Cave Hill Road has an incised weatherboard transom, creating a shingled effect. Its composition is relieved by a prominent porch-verandah projecting from a front door area set back under the main gable. 17 Hermitage Street, of the mid-1930s, has boxed eaves and hipped roofing, and through the box-frame windows, proportion and bearing on site look forward to what is commonly seen as 'post war vernacular.' These houses have many counterparts in Melbourne suburbs such as Balwyn, Mont Albert, Maidstone and Regent-Reservoir.