AMELIA AVENUE
29-39 AMELIA AVENUE, ESSENDON, MOONEE VALLEY CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
29-39 Amelia Avenue, Essendon, a small residential area comprising a short row of timber Interwar-era bungalows built c1924-c1930 by Thomas FitzGerald, is significant.
The following features contribute to the significant of the precinct:
. The houses constructed c1924-c1930, as shown on the precinct map.
. The overall consistency of housing form (gable roofs, asymmetrical bungalow form), materials and detailing (weatherboard external cladding, gable end decoration), and siting (elevated siting, consistent front setbacks).
The houses at 29, 31, 33, 35, 37 and 39 Amelia Avenue are Contributory.
Non-original alterations and additions to the Contributory buildings are not significant. The front fences, while sympathetic in style and materials, are also not significant.
How is it significant?
29-39 Amelia Avenue, Essendon, is of local historical, representative (architectural), and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
Historically, the Amelia Avenue Precinct, Essendon, is significant as an illustration of what was a typical pattern in the suburbs of Moonee Valley in the Edwardian and interwar periods, when large Victorian-era mansion estates were subdivided for suburban development as they became too expensive to maintain, and then were almost completely developed during the intensive period of suburban expansion that followed World War I. This pattern of development demonstrates the accelerated suburban growth of Essendon and of the municipality during the interwar years, encouraged by improved transport connections and other important services such as being sewered and having made roads. (Criterion A)
The houses in the Amelia Avenue Precinct, Essendon, are representative of the Californian Bungalow style popular during the 1920s, all of which exhibit a high level of intactness. They demonstrate the principal characteristics of interwar bungalows constructed in timber, illustrating the transition from Edwardian to typical interwar bungalow forms. Most of the houses have characteristic massing with an asymmetrical, bungalow form, set beneath a dominant gabled roof sheltering a subsidiary projecting gable to the principal facade. Each dwelling has walls clad with weatherboard, some have a band of notched weatherboards from sill-rail height (29, 35, 39), and a raised front verandah with simple capped timber balustrades and varied post treatments; some have turned timber posts (29 and 35), while others have simple timber posts with decorative brackets (37 and 39). (Criterion D)
Aesthetically, the Amelia Avenue Precinct is significant because of its picturesque streetscape, afforded by the shared distinctive roof forms, materials and stylistic details, elevated siting and consistency of setbacks and scale of the dwellings. The precinct is distinguished as a row of free-standing interwar bungalows built to similar designs and presenting a highly unified streetscape. The high level of intactness of most of the dwellings, particularly to the gable ends, door and window joinery, and integrity of the precinct as a whole enhances the picturesque quality and visual unity of the precinct. (Criterion E)
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AMELIA AVENUE - Physical Description 1
This small precinct stretches along a gently curved stretch of road, comprising a short section of the northern side of Amelia Avenue, a quiet residential street with concrete kerb and channelling. It has wide nature strips on both sides, grassed on the north side and mature eucalypts and shrubs planted after 1945 on the south side, screening the railway line.
It is a consistent, though small, streetscape of interwar Californian Bungalows of timber construction, likely erected by the same builder, (Gerald) Thomas FitzGerald, between c1924 and c1930. Each dwelling has an elevated siting and consistent front setback. Most fare set behind front garden spaces with a grassed area and garden beds adjacent to the building line. Fences among the properties, while later, are sympathetic in style and scale: numbers 29 and 35 have capped timber picket fences; number 31 has a twisted wire fence with timber posts; number 33 has a simple timber picket fence. The properties at numbers 37 and 39 do not have a front fence.
Most of the dwellings are characterised by an asymmetrical, bungalow form, set beneath a dominant gabled roof sheltering a subsidiary projecting gable to the principal facade. Number 29 is almost symmetrical in plan; instead of a projecting bay, only the gable end projects, and in doing so creates a porch space beneath. Number 33 differs in that it has a main transverse gabled roof form. Irrespective of these differences in form, the consistency in siting, setback and scale unifies the streetscape visually.
Roof cladding is either terracotta tiles (31, 33, 39) or has been replaced with corrugated iron (29, 35, 37). Red brick chimneys remain at numbers 31, 33 and 35. Each dwelling has walls clad with weatherboard, and numbers 29, 35 and 39 have a band of notched weatherboards from sill-rail height.
Gable end details vary among the dwellings, and typically comprise an arrangement of shingles at the apices with either fishscale pressed metal (29 and 35), or roughcast or panel board with timber strapping to emulate half-timbering (31, 33, 37 and 39). Most gable ends have a louvered attic-style window, each differing slightly in the treatment of the timber frames. Number 35 retains a scalloped pressed metal treatment to the bargeboard.
Fenestration among the houses is intact, generally comprising timber-framed double-hung windows with leaded glass to the upper sashes. Numbers 31, 35, 37 and 39 retain windows with leaded upper sashes. Number 29 has a Federation-style hood to the window beneath the main gable. Number 33 has a bow window beneath the street-facing gable with its own roof resting on exposed purlins with lambs tongue profile, and four timber-framed double-hung windows.
Each house has a raised verandah, with simple capped timber balustrades and varied post treatments. Most are serviced by a timber stair. Some have turned timber posts (29 and 35), while others have simple timber posts with decorative brackets (37 and 39), and number 31 has lost its verandah detailing. The verandah to number 33 is not as elevated as the others, is serviced by brick steps and supported with coupled timber posts atop heavy red-brick piers.
The Amelia Avenue Precinct has good integrity, with few changes visible to original or early elements of the houses. Overall, the visual cohesion is strong, and most dwellings are largely intact, each retaining key details characteristic of the Interwar Californian Bungalow style. Each dwelling retains intact fenestration and original timber window treatments. While some of the dwellings have been altered (replacement of roof cladding, loss of chimney or verandah detailing), have a visible addition (second-storey to number 29, carport to numbers 37 and 39), or garage (31 and 35) constructed in a similar style to the house, the original style and form of the dwellings remain legible. Visual consistency is achieved by the consistent setbacks, elevated sitings and use of similar form, materials and details among the dwellings.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Stage 1 Heritage Gap Study
Author: Context PL
Year: 2013
Grading:Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley 2017 Heritage Study
Author: Context
Year: 2019
Grading:
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