Pascoe Vale Road Precinct
189-237 PASCOE VALE ROAD, 20A BUCKLEY STREET, 1, 2 & 4 FLETCHER STREET, and 13 LOEMAN STREET, ESSENDON, MOONEE VALLEY CITY
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Statement of Significance
The Pascoe Vale Road precinct in Essendon is a residential area that was developed from c.1880 to c.1940 and contains predominantly Federation, Edwardian and interwar houses and bungalows with two Victorian houses.The following elements contribute to the significance of the precinct:
1. The houses at:
- 189, 193, 197, 199, 203-213 & 217-237 Pascoe Vale Road, 20A Buckley Street, 1, 2 & 4 Fletcher Street and 13 Loeman Street contribute to the precinct. The houses at 189, 193, 205 & 207 Pascoe Vale Road are also of individual significance.
2. The original or early front fences at 189, 199, 203-207, 211 & 235 Pascoe Vale Road.
3. The bluestone kerb and channel and mature street trees (Elms and Oaks) in Fletcher Street, and the laneways in Pascoe Vale Road between nos. 223 and 225 (which has a pitched bluestone central drain) and nos. 235 and 237 (paved in bluestone pitchers), and the early post box outside 2 Fletcher Street.
Key attributes that contribute to the significance of this precinct include:
- the scale, form, siting, materials and detailing of the Significant and Contributory houses
- the high degree of intactness to the development dates from the late Victorian to interwar periods
- Significant and Contributory houses that typically survive with their presentation to the street being largely intact
- the consistently low height of front fences
- road alignments and allotment patterns resulting from the nineteenth century subdivision
The flats and houses at 191, 195, 201 and 215 Pascoe Vale Road, non-original front fences, and non-original alterations or additions to Contributory or Significant places are not significant (this includes the alterations and new built elements at the rear of 193 Pascoe Vale Road).
How is it significant?
The Pascoe Vale Road precinct in Essendon is of local historic, architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
It is historically significant as a representative example of a residential area, which is associated with the suburban development and expansion of Essendon during the early twentieth century. The nineteenth century houses are a reminder of the nineteenth century origins of this area, while the Edwardian and inter-war housing provides a tangible illustration of how the opening of the electric tram in 1906 stimulated residential development along its route. (Criteria A & D)
It is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a fine collection of Edwardian villas and Inter-war bungalows, many of which are complemented by original front fences, and garden walls and landscaping. The high quality of much of the housing and the high degree of intactness to the original period of development is notable. (Criterion E)
The house at 189 Pascoe Vale Road is aesthetically significant as an intact example of the Spanish Mission style. The asymmetric, triple-fronted form with hipped roof massed like separate pavilions, the dominant porch with a decorative Baroque-inspired parapet with a scrolled cartouche above a triple-arched loggia with barley-twist columns (smaller columns frame the blind window to the side of the garage), and the Serlian moulding (with tiled detailing) above the windows either side of the porch are all expressive of the style. The house is also of architectural significance for including an integrated garage, which is an early example, as most garages of the pre-World War II period were freestanding (Criteria D & E).
The house at 193 Pascoe Vale Road is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a fine and early example of a California Bungalow, which demonstrates the Japanese influence seen in seminal examples in the United States designed by architects such as Greene & Greene. It was constructed in 1916 and designed by architects Gawler & Drummond. Of note is the low gable pitch with very wide eaves, flat verandah roof with shaped rafter ends, resting on chunky timber brackets and the use of single storey pavilions in front of a two-storey mass, which is a very unusual composition in Victoria. Other details of note include the heavy dwarf verandah posts with timber corbels at base, casement windows with diamond leadlights and Arts & Crafts floral highlights, timber shingles in gables resting on timber corbels, and walls of roughcast render above a tuckpointed red brick plinth. The significance of the house is enhanced by its high degree of intactness. (Criteria D, E & F)
The houses at 205 & 207 Pascoe Vale Road are of aesthetic significant as fine and well detailed examples of Arts & Crafts bungalows, constructed by the same builder (Shaw Bros.) with similar detailing, but distinctive designs that are complemented by original brick and render panel and pier front fences with decorative ironwork and gates of identical design. No.205 is of note for the distinctive Jerkinhead roof profile to both the roof and the porch, which is double-arched and supported by square rendered columns with buttressed corners and clinker brick highlights, while notable features of no.207 include the circular window placed at one corner with a shingled canopy and the gable ends, which have taper-cut bargeboards and an elaborate gable vent with louvered and lattice set inside a Japanese-influenced aedicule set within a band of faux half-timbering, suggesting timber post framing, and timber shingles in the apex, which sit proud above small modillions. The significance of the houses is enhanced by their high degree of intactness. (Criterion E)
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Pascoe Vale Road Precinct - Physical Description 1
This precinct is a residential area that comprises a mix of housing predominantly from the Federation/Edwardian and interwar periods with two Victorian era houses. The houses are all detached, and mostly single storey and set within mature gardens with deep front setbacks.
The two Victorian houses are simple, symmetrical block-fronted timber houses with M-hip roofs. The example at 1 Fletcher Street is clad in weatherboards and has an original slate roof with two rendered chimneys with moulded cornices. It retains an original verandah with cast iron friezes and posts with Corinthian capitals. The windows are double hung sash. The other example at 227 Pascoe Vale Road ('Airedale') has more elaborate detailing including Ashlar boards to the facade, a four-panel timber door with sidelights and highlights flanked by tripartite windows with barley twist colonettes, and paired eaves brackets. The convex profile verandah has a cast iron frieze and the posts have Corinthian capitals. The roof is slate and there are two rendered chimneys with moulded cornices.
The majority of the twentieth-century housing comprises two key styles: Federation and Edwardian Queen Anne villas and variations on the bungalow style. The Queen Anne villas are characterised by asymmetrical planning, hip roofs with prominent projecting gables, half timbering or roughcast to the gable ends, verandahs formed as an extension of the main roof with ornamental timber slat frieze or valance, tall brick and render chimneys with terracotta pots, and casement sash windows (sometimes with coloured or leadlight toplights). Roofs are clad in terracotta or slate tiles with terracotta ridge capping and finials and walls are clad in either face brick and render (197 Pascoe Vale Rd) or weatherboards and render (225 & 231-237 Pascoe Vale Rd). They include examples that have windows placed at the corner giving a strong diagonal emphasis (219, 225, 231 & 237 Pascoe Vale Rd). One house, no.235 Pascoe Vale Road, has an early capped timber and wire fence.
The range of bungalow styles includes Federation, California and Arts and Crafts bungalows. The house 'Aloha' at 221 Pascoe Vale Road is in the form of a symmetrical Federation bungalow with hipped roof clad in slate with terracotta ridge capping that extends to form a return verandah with a central gablet over the entry. The verandah is supported by timber posts with timber valance set on brick bricks with brick balustrade. The front door has sidelights and highlights and is flanked by large windows with leadlight glass.
The 1920s bungalows, with two exceptions (229 Pascoe Vale Rd and 1 Loeman St, both clad in weatherboards), have face red brick walls (often with rendered or roughcast trim) and gabled terracotta tiled rooves (typically with roughcast, half-timbered or shingled gable ends, sometimes in combination, often with gable ventilators) with broad front porches or verandahs (either as a continuation of the main roof or as a projecting gable) variously supported by tapered rendered pillars (205 & 223 Pascoe Vale Rd, 4 Fletcher St), timber posts (217 Pascoe Vale Rd) or Tuscan columns (213 Pascoe Vale Rd) set on brick piers with brick balustrades. Of note is the unusual corner porch at 2 Fletcher Street, which has a conical roof. Windows are timber framed, double-hung sash, some with leadlights to the upper panes, and some have bay windows, either curved (205 & 217 Pascoe Vale Rd, 4 Fletcher St) or curved and canted (2 Fletcher St). Most retain brick chimneys, some with terracotta pots.
Of particular note is the bungalow at 193 Pascoe Vale Road. Constructed in 1916 this is a relatively early example of the California Bungalow style with strong Japanese character, possibly influenced by original examples of this style such as the Gamble House, Pasadena, California (1908-09) designed by Greene & Greene. This is evident in the low gable pitch with very wide eaves, flat verandah roof with shaped rafter ends, resting on chunky timber brackets and the use of single storey pavilions in front of a two-storey mass, which is a very unusual composition in Victoria. Other details of note include the heavy dwarf verandah posts with timber corbels at base, casement windows with diamond leadlights and Arts & Crafts floral highlights, timber shingles in gables resting on timber corbels, and walls of roughcast render above a tuckpointed red brick plinth. The house is very intact, and is identical as viewed from Pascoe Vale Road as shown in a 1918 photo, apart from replacement of the original front fence (The Australasian, 19 January 1918, p. 51). To the rear is a later enclosure of the back porch, a separate bungalow, carport and swimming pool.
Also of note are the Arts & Crafts bungalows at 205 and 207 Pascoe Vale Road, constructed by the same builder, which are highly intact and have very fine detailing. No.205 has a distinctive Jerkinhead profile to both the roof and the porch, which is double-arched and supported by square rendered columns with buttressed corners and clinker brick highlights. The gable ends are shingled or half-timbered. The adjoining house at No.207 has similar detailing, but a different form with a broad gabled roof and a corner porch, also with arched openings. The curved bay windows to the main elevation have hipped hoods and there is a circular window placed at one corner with a shingled canopy. The gable ends here have taper-cut bargeboards and an elaborate gable vent with louvered and lattice set inside a Japanese-influenced aedicule set within a band of faux half-timbering. The timbers suggesting timber post framing. Above that are timber shingles in the apex, which sit proud above small modillions. The houses are complemented by identical brick and render panel and pier fences with decorative ironwork and gates.
The 1920s bungalows are supplemented by several interwar houses, some in popular styles such as Old English Revival, Spanish Mission, Mediterranean and Moderne, which emerged in the 1930s. These houses are, with one exception, constructed of rendered brick and have hipped tiled roofs with boxed eaves and plain brick and render chimneys. Windows are often 'Chicago style' with one fixed centre panel flanked by two smaller double-hung sash windows, some with original window boxes below. Many retain original brick or brick and render pier and panel front fences, some with decorative ironwork and iron gates. A typical 1930s house is no.203 Pascoe Vale Road, which has a corner porch and is complemented by an original fence.
The house at 20A Buckley Street is a fine example of the Old English style with characteristic form and detailing including the complex steeply pitched hipped and gabled terracotta-tiled roof, gabled parapets with eaves corbels, clinker brick highlights, multi-paned windows, the clinker brick chimney placed centrally in the main street-facing gable, and porches and doorway with round arches, edged with clinker brick.
The adjoining house to the east, at the corner of Pascoe Vale Road (no.189) is a finely detailed and very intact example of the Spanish Mission style. Typical of the style, this house is clad in stucco and has an asymmetric, triple-fronted form with hipped roof massed like separate pavilions, a dominant porch with a decorative Baroque-inspired parapet with a scrolled cartouche above a triple-arched loggia with barley-twist columns (smaller columns frame the blind window to the side of the garage), and the Serlian moulding (with tiled detailing) above the windows either side of the porch, which have 'Adamesque' leadlights in a spiderweb pattern. Other original details include the shingling over the one window, the rendered chimneys, which have unusual boxed tops with diamond tile insets and the Marseilles-pattern terracotta tiled roof, originally painted green. The house is also of note for including an integrated garage, which is an early example, as most garages of the pre-World War II period were freestanding. The house is complemented by the original brick and render fence with steel gates along both frontages. The related Mediterranean style is demonstrated by the arcaded porch/loggias to the houses at nos. 199 (which also retains an original brick front fence, retaining walls and garden steps) and 211 (original front brick and render fence) Pascoe Vale Road.
The one timber 1930s house at 13 Loeman Street has Arts & Crafts detailing redolent of the 1920s. It is clad in shingles to the lower part of the wall with weatherboards above, and the flat-roofed porch has timber fretwork and a shingled balustrade. The porch adjoins a square bay window to the left and a canted bay window to the right, both with leadlights to the upper panes.
While there have been some alterations (e.g. replacement of windows and alterations to porches/verandahs) the majority of houses in the precinct are very intact when viewed from the street. The Edwardian house at 195 Pascoe Vale Road has been extensively altered, and is Non-contributory. There are only three post-war buildings in the precinct at nos. 191, 201 and 215 Pascoe Vale Road.
Front fences throughout the precinct are uniformly low. Of note are the original front fences, as noted above whilst several other houses have reproduction fences that are sympathetic to the housing style. There are no intrusive high solid fences.
Other features that contribute to the historic character of the precinct are the bluestone kerb and channel and mature street trees (Elms and Oaks) in Fletcher Street, the early post box outside 2 Fletcher Street, and the laneways in Pascoe Vale Road between nos. 223 and 225 (which has a pitched bluestone central drain) and nos. 235 and 237 (paved in bluestone pitchers).
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Stage 1 Heritage Gap Study
Author: Context PL
Year: 2013
Grading: LocalMoonee Valley - Moonee Valley 2017 Heritage Study
Author: Context
Year: 2019
Grading:
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