BAIN AVENUE PRECINCT
1-3 & 4-30 BAIN AVENUE, 5, 7 & 9 BOUNDARY ROAD, and 10 & 12 PLAISTED STREET, COBURG NORTH, MORELAND CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Bain Avenue precinct is an inter-war residential area comprising houses in Boundary Road, Bain Avenue and Plaisted Street, which were built to standard designs for Captain D.S. Bain between c.1926 and c.1928 as one of his estates of 'spec' homes. The following features and elements are integral to the significance of the precinct:
- The houses at 5, 7 & 9 Boundary Road, 4-24, 28 & 30 Bain Avenue and 10 Plaisted Street.
- The front woven wire or chain-link fences and gates at 10 (including the return section along part of the side boundaries) and 16 Bain Street.
- The homogeneous inter-war character created by the consistency of form, scale, style and detailing of the contributory dwellings, and the extent to which development in one period is evident.
- The 'garden suburb' character created by created by the detached siting with open front gardens and low front fences.
- The relatively high integrity of the majority of dwellings when viewed from the street.
Non-original alterations and additions and outbuildings, the house at 26 Bain Avenue and the former shop and residence at 12 Plaisted Street are not significant.
How is it significant?
The Bain Avenue precinct is of local historic, architectural and aesthetic significance to Moreland City.
Why is it significant?
It is historically significant as evidence of the significant growth of Coburg during the inter-war period and for its associations with D.S. Bain as one of the estates he developed, thus creating the new suburb of Merlynston. (Criteria A & H)
It is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a notable group of inter-war houses, which stand out in Coburg North because of their consistency of form and fine quality of detailing. (Criteria D & E)
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BAIN AVENUE PRECINCT - Physical Description 1
The Bain Avenue precinct is an inter-war residential area comprising houses of similar design constructed for D.S. Bain. The precinct includes all of the properties included within the original subdivision upon which houses were built during the 1920s. This includes 5-9 Boundary Road, all the properties in Bain Avenue, and 10 and 12 Plaisted Street.
For most of its length Bain Avenue is one-sided, with the houses facing the railway reserve along the west side. The houses are brick bungalows with terracotta tiled roofs and appear to be constructed in three basic designs or layouts with individuality achieved through subtle variations in form and detailing. The consistent scale (single storey) and siting (detached with garden setbacks behind low front fences) creates a homogenous 'garden suburb' character that is typical of inter-war neighbourhoods. Another common feature is the Arts & Crafts detailing such as shingling, half-timbering or roughcast render detailing to the gable ends. The original timber shingles on No.18 remain in their original, unpainted state.
The majority of houses in Bain Avenue have a transverse gabled roof encompassing wide front verandahs. Intact examples of verandahs are supported variously on square fluted columns, square brick piers, or dwarf tapered piers atop brick bases. Examples of this type are 4 Bain Avenue and 10 Plaisted Street (which are essentially identical and distinguished by the four sets of paired columns on a rendered base), and 8 & 10 Bain Avenue, which have wide brick piers supporting the verandah. Other examples at 12, 18 and 20 have slender columns (some have been replaced). The verandah at No.14 with the incised ends is unique within the precinct. The chimneys are placed symmetrically on either side of the gable at one end. Windows are bow-fronted side hung casements or boxed tripartite windows with double-hung sash separated by a fixed central pane in the main elevation.
The house at No.6 is a particularly well-detailed and intact example, which has a transverse main gable roof and a projecting gable forming a large porch. Like the adjoining house at No.4, the porch is supported on paired fluted columns, in this case set on a brick base. Like other houses in the precinct it has shingles, half-timbering and roughcast detailing to the gable ends. The chimneys are placed symmetrically on either side of the gable at the southern end. The low woven wire fence is a sympathetic reconstruction. Another less intact example of this type is at No.16. It has an early woven wire fence, which is in poor condition. No.10 retains its original chain-link wire and timber fence.
The other type within the precinct is the gable-fronted bungalow - examples are at 1 and 28-30 Bain Avenue and 5, 7 and 9 Boundary Road. In one example the minor gable forms a porch (e.g., 28 Bain Avenue) while in all the others, a hip profile verandah extends across the facade (e.g., 1, 30 Bain Avenue, 5, 7 & 9 Boundary Road). These houses have timber shingles in the gables with Japanese-influenced timber vents at the apex.
The houses at 4-20 Bain Avenue share common driveways between pairs of houses and some appear to have original or early garages situated at the rear of the block. The houses at 1, 28 & 30 Bain Avenue and 9 Boundary Road have single driveways, while the three corner houses have access from the rear.
The houses are all in good condition and have varying levels of integrity - alterations include the replacement of windows (e.g., 3 Bain Ave), and replacement or modification of verandah pillars or columns (e.g., 3 & 16 Bain Ave). Additions made to the rear of the houses are generally not visible from the street. The house at 22 Bain Avenueis the most altered in the precinct - the facade has been rendered, the front windows and verandah replaced, however, the form of the house and detailing to the side elevations remains intact.
A single-storey inter-war shop survives at the corner of Bain Avenue and Plaisted Street, however, it has been significantly altered and is not contributory to the precinct. Another non-contributory element is the house at No.26, which is a recent infill.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moreland - City of Moreland - North of Bell Street Heritage Study
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2013
Grading: Local
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MOYLE PIPE ORGAN-ST LINUS ANGLICAN CHURCHVictorian Heritage Register H2159
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FORMER NORTHCOTE CABLE TRAMWAYS SITEVictorian Heritage Register H2129
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COBURG DRIVE-INVictorian Heritage Register H2218
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"1890"Yarra City
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"AMF Officers" ShedMoorabool Shire
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"AQUA PROFONDA" SIGN, FITZROY POOLVictorian Heritage Register H1687
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'YARROLA'Boroondara City
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1 Bradford AvenueBoroondara City
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