Struan
26 Lisson Grove HAWTHORN, Boroondara City
Lisson Grove Precinct
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Statement of Significance
Not completed, access required - Provisional B Grading
This house is massively altered from its original Victorian form, but has been assessed by Conservation Architect, Meredith Gould (refer attached citation) as being of significance as an example of an interwar remodelling of a Victorian residence.
Because of the particular nature of this assessment and the limited nature of available documentation (photographs and drawings), it is more difficult in this case to review significance (without inspecting the building) than is the case of other obscured properties in this Review. Accordingly, it is proposed to adopt the Gould recommendation in its current form.
Following is the Meredith Gould recommendation (refer to attached citation):
Whilst the original Victorian period mansion is clearly altered, the simple but elegant overlay of the then current fashion by Billson is substantially intact.
Many Hawthorn mansions were altered for flats during the 1920s and 1930s. A large proportion were later demolished or have been returned to their original form. Few show so clearly, the public's change in taste, away from the Victorian decorative approach which is so popular again today, to a simpler, more austere form.
The building is of metropolitan significance for its illustration of changes in fashion in the 1930s in Melbourne, and the restrained, elegant work of Billson.
(Meredith Gould, Conservation Architects, Hawthorn Heritage Study Review, 1995.)
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Struan - Physical Description 1
The following description is provisional only, based on limited views from the street, existing documentation, including photographs and drawings and would need to be confirmed by a site visit.
As constructed, Struan, at 26 Lisson Grove, Hawthorn, was a double-storey brick villa which probably displayed Victorian Italianate styling including a double-storey cast iron verandah. Substantial works carried out in 1937 by architect Edward Billson, however, involved the substantial remodelling of the facade including the removal of the earlier verandah and construction of a new two-storey verandah comprising a flat roof supported by rendered masonry columns with stylized capitals. Wrought iron balustrades and a Juliet balcony above the side entrance porch are also likely to date from this period. Subsequent major additions at the rear of the house carried out in the 1980s to a design by Gregory Burgess doubled the building footprint and are visible from Through Street to the east.
The main wing of the house has a slate-clad hipped form. Walls display unpainted ruled ashlar render and the asymmetrical facade is divided into three bays by a double-height faceted bay window and a projecting double-height square bay set on the diagonal at the north-east corner of the house. Set back from the facade on the west side is an entrance porch which is accessed via steps and an arched opening flanked by a pair of stylized pilasters. In addition, access is provided to both levels of the verandah via pairs of timber-framed French doors. Fenestration is generally regular between floors and comprises a small number of original, unaltered openings and others which have variously been altered or constructed at later stages.
Building applications suggest that other alterations to the property include a swimming pool and brick fences.[i]
The building is set in a complimentary garden which appears to incorporate the general planning evident in 1903 and may include a fountain and an early Magnolia grandiflora planting.[ii]
[i] Details sourced from the City of Hawthorn Building Index, #3650 (2095), dated 20 January 1986; #4070 (2619), dated 8 August 1986; #4224, dated 16 October 1986; and #4662 (3316), dated 6 May 1987.
[ii] As depicted on MMBW Detail Plan No. 1481, dated 1903.
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Review of B Graded Buildings in Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn
Author: Lovell Chen Architects & Heritage Consultants
Year: 2006
Grading:Boroondara - Hawthorn Heritage study 1992
Author: Meredith Gould, Conservation Architects
Year: 1992
Grading:Boroondara - Hawthorn Heritage Precinct Study (Amendment C99)
Author: Context P/L
Year: 2012
Grading:
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