Flats
7 Mangan Street BALWYN, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The flats at 7 Mangan Street, Balwyn, built in 1932 by brothers Frederick James and Frank Le Leu, are significant.
The front fence is contributory. The parking structures are not significant.
How is it significant?
The flats at 7 Mangan Street, Balwyn, are of local historic, architectural (representative) and associative significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
The flats at 7 Mangan Street, Balwyn, built in 1932-33 on the Canterbury Park Estate, are of historic significance as an early example of higher density accommodation built in Balwyn. Constructed by brothers Frederick James and Frank Le Leu, the compact two-storey flats reflect the pattern of development of estates during the land boom of the 1880s and the later increase in population in Balwyn in the 1930s. It appears that these were some of the first, if not the first, block of flats built in Balwyn. (Criterion A)
The flats at 7 Mangan Street, Balwyn, are representative of an unusual building type within the municipality, flats massed to resemble single dwellings. They are a good through restrained and highly intact example of the Old English style, and this is enhanced by extant garden elements including the original front fence, concrete paths and driveway. (Criterion D)
The flats at 7 Mangan Street, Balwyn, were built by brothers, Frank and Fred Le Leu, members of a prominent Balwyn family who actively contributed to the economic development and community of the area in the early-to-mid twentieth century. Their father, Edwin Leleu, was a builder, contractor and owner of a timber yard in Balwyn and a member of the Boroondara Progress Association. Frank and Fred Le Leu were proprietors of multiple shops, a hall named 'Le Leu's Hall', and timber yard in Balwyn. Fred Le Leu served as the honourable secretary of the Balwyn Progress Association and as a councillor, and later, mayor of Camberwell. As a councillor for Camberwell, he was generally supportive of development in the area. In response to a deputation of 100 ratepayers, concerning bylaws relating to the construction of flats, Le Leu proposed that when buildings were single-storied, 75 per cent of the land should not be built upon, and when they were of two storeys over 80 per cent of the land should be reserved. (Criterion H)
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Flats - Physical Description 1
7 Mangan Street, Balwyn, consists of four brick flats built in 1932-3. Located on the western side of Mangan Street, the flats are in close proximity to a commercial shopping strip along Whitehorse Road. The adjacent allotment, to the property's immediate south, is now an asphalted car park. The land falls south to north. Constructed in red blue clinker bricks with a terracotta tile roof, the flats display a simple Old English style with restrained detailing.
Configured as a pair of duplexes, one behind the other, the flats are designed to appear as a single-family home, set within a garden. The flats share communal concrete paths and driveway with courtyard spaces to the rear.
Each duplex building is asymmetrically arranged with a stepped transverse gabled roof intersected by a dominant street facing gable. This provides a picturesque broken massing that is reminiscent of the English vernacular.
The front and rear east facing elevations are mirror images but have subtle differences in the arrangement of shared elements. The ground floor flats are accessed through recessed porches whilst the flats on the top level are reached via external concrete stairs leading to porch landings. Porch openings are rectangular on the ground floor with those above having round arch heads. Balustrades are of solid rendered masonry and are in stark contrast to the otherwise picturesque quality of the facades.
Carefully articulated chimneys with corbelled brickwork break up the front facades and are capped with terracotta chimney pots.
Windows are six-over-six double-hung sashes with either straight or round arched heads. At the apex of each gable end three arrow slits in the brick work are inset with timber louvres acting as ventilators to the roof space.
The north and south elevations share a similar level of attention to detail with matching windows and gable ends. Timber stairs lead to recessed porches which are accessed through round arch openings. These act as secondary entrances to the flats on the upper level.
The back building has a large single storey addition with skillioned roof at its rear which is visible from the neighbouring carpark but not from Mangan Street.
The flats sit within an established garden of lawn and shrubs. Set behind a low stepped clinker brick front fence which appears early, a concrete strip drive runs down the southern boundary and has later concrete pavers set down its centre. A simple cantilevered carport runs along the southern boundary.
7 Mangan Street, Balwyn is of very high integrity with very few changes to original or early elements. The building remains almost as built and retains its original built form, roof forms, clinker brickwork and fenestrations. The integrity of the building is enhanced by the high level of intactness of these main elements, which include the timber framed sash windows, paned glazing, terracotta roof tiles, masonry and concrete stairs, detailed chimneys with chimney pots and gable end ventilators.
The integrity of the rear building is only slightly diminished by its rear skillioned extension as this is barely visible from the adjacent carpark.
The integrity of the place as a whole is enhanced by its setting within an established garden behind a low clinker brick fence which appears early. The integrity of the place is slightly diminished by the cantilevered carport on its southern boundary and by the adjacent public carport.
Heritage Study and Grading
Balwyn Heritage Study Peer Review Stage 2
Author: Context
Year: 2020
Grading: Local
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