Peterleigh Grove and Kalimna St
2-26 & 7-29 Ardoch St and 2-10 & 34 Brewster St and 1-9 & 4-10 Curtis St and 1-31 & 2a-4, 28-30 Kalimna St and 1-9 & 2-12 Kiora St and 64-90 Napier Cr and 253-285 Pascoe Vale Rd and 1-41 & 2-42 Peterleigh Gr ESSENDON, MOONEE VALLEY
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Statement of Significance
The Peterleigh Grove and Kalimna Street precinct in Essendon is aresidential area comprising houses from c.1880 to c.1945. The housingincludes Victorian and Edwardian cottages and villas, Queen Anne Revivalvillas, and inter-war houses and bungalows. The following elementscontribute to the significance of the precinct:
1. The houses and any associated early or original front fences, as appropriate, at:
- 7, 13-29, 2-8, & 12-28, 32-34 Ardoch Street
- 1-17, 2-16, 20, 26-30 & 34 Brewster Street
- 3-9 & 4-10 Curtis Street
- 3, 7-19, 23-31, 2, 28 & 30 Kalimna Street
- 1, 1A, 3, 5, 7, 2-6, 10, & 12 Kiora Street
- 64-78 & 82-90 Napier Crescent
- 253-285 Pascoe Vale Road (excluding 255A)
- 1-41 & 2-42 Peterleigh Grove
Key attributes that contribute to the significance of this precinct include:
- the consistency of scale (one or two storey), form, siting (uniform or similar front and side setbacks), and original materials and detailing (weatherboard face brick or render with iron or tiled hip or gable roof, verandah/porches with cast iron or timber detailing) of the contributory houses
- Peterleigh Grove is notable as an almost completely intact late 1930s estate where many houses also retain original or early front fences. The intact groups of Edwardian era housing in Kalimna Street and the large Edwardian villas and inter-war bungalows along Pascoe Vale Road are also notable.
- the high degree of intactness to the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century development dates
- contributory buildings that typically survive with their presentation to the street being largely unaltered
- original front fences and low height of fences meaning that dwellings are visible from the street
- road alignments and allotment patterns resulting from the nineteenth century subdivision
- the absence of vehicle accommodation in front setback areas
- the wide median strip and mature Canary Island Palms (Phoenix canariensis) in Brewster Street.
- the bluestone kerb and channel in various streets throughout the precinct, and the unmade rear laneways to some properties.
Other houses in the precinct, post-WWII fences, and non-original alterations or additions to contributory places are not significant.
How is it significant?
The Peterleigh Grove and Kalimna Street precinct in Essendon is of local historic, architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
The precinct as a whole is historically significant as a representative example of a residential area, which demonstrates key phases of development in Essendon. The nineteenth century houses are a reminder of the substantial villas and mansions built during the 1880s boom, while the later development provides a tangible illustration of how the development of improved transport networks in the twentieth century led to closer settlement, which included subdivision of nineteenth century mansion estates. The consistency of built form in each main period and the extent to which phase is clearly apparent provides a vivid illustration of this pattern of development. (Criteria A & D)
The early twentieth century residential areas are historically significant as an illustration of the 'garden suburb' estates comprising detached housing on garden allotments that characterised residential subdivisions in the early to mid-twentieth century. (Criterion D)
Peterleigh Grove is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a fine example of a mid-twentieth century residential area, which is notable for the consistent quality of its built form and the very high degree of integrity to its period of development. (Criterion E)
Kalimna Street is architecturally and aesthetically significant for the particularly fine cluster of Edwardian and Queen Anne Revival houses. The consistent quality of its built form and the very high degree of integrity to its period of development is notable. (Criterion E)
Pascoe Vale Road is architecturally and aesthetically significant as a fine collection of large middle class Edwardian villas and Inter-war bungalows. The consistent quality of its built form and the very high degree of integrity to its period of development is notable. (Criterion E)
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Peterleigh Grove and Kalimna St - Physical Description 1
The precinct comprises three distinct sub-areas, which are associated with the subdivisions of land within or surrounding the mansion estates of Ardoch Towers, Westgreen and Peterleigh Hall in the late nineteenth century, early twentieth century and late inter-war period respectively.
Note: 14, 16 & 34 Brewster Street, 5 and 12 Kiora Street, 6 & 34 Peterleigh Grove are all of individual significance and each has its own place record, which provides further information.
Ardoch Street area
This part of the precinct comprises the houses built on the lots created as a result of Ardoch Towers subdivision. As noted in the history, there were two key phases of development - in the late nineteenth century just before the 1890s depression and the second in the early twentieth century. The precinct comprises the relatively intact groups of nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century houses at 7-29 and 2-36 Ardoch Street.There are about a dozen surviving Victorian houses in Ardoch Street. While they are cohesive in scale and setting - consisting entirely of detached single-storey dwellings - they otherwise show considerable diversity in their form, materials and detailing. House types vary between single fronted terraces (e.g., Nos. 13 & 18) and double-fronted villas with facades either symmetrical(e.g., Nos. 20, 22, 30 & 34-36) or asymmetrical (7, 12 & 24).
The Victorian houses are evenly divided between timber and masonry construction. With the exception of a full weatherboard house at No.26, all timber houses are black-fronted. The masonry houses vary between painted brick (e.g. No.7), bi-chromatic face brick (16 & 34-36 - the latter has been over-painted), plain rendered brick (14 & 18) and, in one notable instance, block fronted cedar with deep chamfered joints to evoke rustication (No.12). The houses have hipped rooves, most being clad in slate (e.g., Nos. 7, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 & 34-36), although there are a few with corrugated galvanised steel rooves (Nos. 20, 22). Most retain original verandahs, with bullnosed or ogee-profile rooves of corrugated galvanised steel, supported on cast iron columns or turned timber posts, with cast iron lacework friezes.
The Edwardian houses in Ardoch Street are comparable in form, scale and materials to the Victorian ones. They mostly comprise detached double-fronted villas (either asymmetrical or symmetrical), although there are also a few single-fronted cottages (Nos. 29 & 32). With the notable exception of a Victorian-style c.1909 tuck-pointed red brick house at No.8, the Edwardian houses are of timber construction, typically conventional weatherboard. Many houses have rough-cast render to gable ends; at least one (No.29) has pressed metal. These houses invariably have hipped corrugated galvanised steel rooves, and bull-nosed verandahs with turned timber posts and timber stat or fretwork friezes. The prominent Victorian-style house at No.8 is distinguished by a slate roof with terracotta ridging, bluestone sills to paired windows, with cast iron columns and lacework to its verandah.
The relatively small numberof inter-war buildings clustered at the southern end of Ardoch Street on the east side are bungalows with terracotta tiled rooves either hip (Nos. 2 and 2A) or gable fronted (No.6). Nos. 2 and 2a are very intact and retain original or early brick fences with wrought iron gates.
Non-contributory buildings in the Ardoch Street precinct include blocks of single-storey villa units on the west side of the street (Nos. 9, 11), a c.1970s single storey house at No.13, and a double-storey block of flats at No 10.
Trees within the precinct that have been recorded in the City of Moonee Valley Significant Tree Database include the Washington palm (Washingtonia robusta) at No.4 Ardoch Street. The street retains bluestone kerb and channeling.
Kalimna Street & Pascoe Vale Road area
This portion of the precinct bounded by Kalmina Street, Brewster Street, Napier Crescent and Pascoe Vale Road is associated with the subdivision of the Westgreen estate and surrounding land from the early twentieth century onwards. Consequently it is strongly characterised by Edwardian and inter-war houses, which illustrate the two key phases of development prior to, and following, World War I.The Edwardian houses in this part of the precinct are located in the southern half of Kalimna Street, Kiora Street, and a few in the adjacent parts of Pascoe Vale Road and Brewster Street. Of red brick construction (sometimes tuck-pointed), these houses tend to be larger and more substantial than the simple block-fronted Edwardian houses in nearby Ardoch Street. They have hipped rooves, clad in either terracotta tiles (e.g., Nos. 3 & 9 Kalimna) or slate (7 & 15 Kalimna, 265 Pascoe Vale) - the latter sometimes with terracotta ridging. Gable ends are typically roughcast and/or half-timbered - of note,4 Kiora Street has a 'Rising Sun' motif on its south gable. Several houses have bay windows - either canted (e.g. Nos. 9 Kalimna, 2 Kiora) or rectangular (3, 7 Kalimna). All have verandahs: most with turned timber posts and friezes of timber slats (e.g., 3 Kalimna, 265 Pascoe Vale, 1 Kiora), pierced timber (9 Kalimna; 2 & 3 Kiora), turned balusters (15 Kalimna) or timber lattice (6 Kiora).
Among these Edwardian houses, particular notable examples include12Kiora Street, a substantial red brick house with a distinctivetowerwith conical roof, and 257 Pascoe Vale Road, with its bluestoneplinth,tuck-pointed brickwork, return verandah and canted cornerbaysurmounted, once again, by a squat tower with conical roof.Equallyinteresting is the house at 8 Brewster Street, which hasatypicalmoulded string-courses and a projecting central bay withrenderedornament. Also of note is 5 Kiora Street, a picturesque andsubstantialred brick and rough cast Federation villa with steeplypitched slateroof and tall chimney stacks with terracotta pots and ridgecresting.Gable ends are half timbered and dominant elements, emphasisbeing givenon the diagonal axis by means of the entry vestible withsurmountinggable ends and the projecting gable ends on either sides.The inter-war houses are mostly in the form of bungalow-style dwellings from the 1920s. Most of these bungalows are single-storeyed, although there are some attic-storeyed ones (e.g., Nos. 1, 3, 7 & 15 Brewster; 13, 23, 27 & 29 Kalimna; 72 & 74 Napier, 271 Pascoe Vale) and two fully double-storeyed examples (82 Napier, 267 Pascoe Vale). All are of red brick construction, often enlivened by roughcast render, and they have hipped, gabled or (less commonly) jerkinhead rooves clad in terracotta tile or, in once unusual instance, terracotta shingles (13 Kalimna). Gable ends have timber shingle infill. Many houses have bay windows - usually curved (e.g., Nos. 23, 30 & 31 Kalimna; 3 & 8 Curtis, 271-75 & 279 Pascoe Vale), but sometimes canted (11 Brewster, 17 & 19 Kalimna, 255 & 269 Pascoe Vale) or, rarely, rectangular (72 Napier). Porch detailing varies, but includes those with tapered pillars (9 Brewster, 19, 23 & 31 Kalimna, 78 Napier, 3 Curtis, 261 & 281 Pascoe Vale), short timber posts on capped piers (13 Brewster, 25 & 29 Kalimna; 72-76 Napier, 271-75 Pascoe Vale), full-height piers (82 & 86 Napier, 4 Kiora), miniature columns on plinths (277, 283 & 285 Pascoe Vale), or full-height timber posts with shaped brackets (27 Kalimna, 8 Curtis). Several houses also have porte cocheres (e.g. Nos. 17 Kalimna, 82 Napier and 3 Curtis).
Pascoe Vale Road is especially notable for its fine collection of large Edwardian villas and inter-war bungalows, constructed presumably to take advantage of the elevated position overlooking the Moonee Ponds Creek valley. Notable examples include the aforementioned No.257, and the transitional villas at Nos. 265 & 275 which each have complex terracotta-tiled hip and gable roove.
Other inter-war houses include a unique example of a double-storey rendered brick duplex dwelling at 11 Kalimna, having a recessed porch with Tuscan columns. There are also a few inter-war houses of somewhat less determinate style - simple rendered brick (6 & 10 Curtis, 10 Brewster) or clinker brick (2 Kalimna) houses with little architectural pretension, which can still be considered as contributory elements in the precinct.
There is also an early postwar brick dwelling, with an interwar character, at 4 Curtis Street. It is a 'triple-fronted' brick veneer dwelling. It has a terracotta tile hip roof, and a broad chimney, rectangular in plan, on the Westgreen Court (west) elevation. It has steel framed windows with tilted brick sills (rendered) with two curved corner window frames and glazing to two of the frontages that demonstrate the modern influence. The curves of the window frames and glazing are echoed by the curved cantilever awning to the corner entry porch. The walls are face red and clinker brick. Both front and side setbacks allow for generous garden, which is open to the street, set behind a modern metal fence.
The house has high integrity, with most original details and finishes retained, and no alterations or additions visible from the street.
The non-contributory post-war buildings include a double storey blockof1960s flats (80 Napier), a block of villa units (5 Kalimna) andseveraldetached individual houses dating from the 1950s to the 1980s(e.g.,Nos. 1, 1a, 2a, 6 & 21 Kalimna; 2b & 9 Kiora). Anotableexception is the remarkable concrete block house at 14 BrewsterStreetwith Its deep window reveals and shallow mansard roof, whichisconsidered as a significant building in its own right. Thishome,designed by noted architect Graeme Gunn, won an RAIA award in 1966.
A notable Red Flowering Gum (Corymbia ficifolia) once stood on the corner of Kiora and Kalimna Streets. This tree has since been removed. The layout of Brewster Street, with its wide central median planted with Canary Island Palms (Phoenix canariensis) at regular intervals, is also of note. Other features associated with the historic development of the area are the bluestone kerb and channels and the unmade laneways at the rear of some properties.
Peterleigh Grove area
The Peterleigh Grove area is a remarkably intact late inter-war residential precinct. It comprises single-storey detached houses that were mostly erected between 1939 and 1943 on the Peterleigh Grove subdivision (which also includes the properties at 24, 26, 28 & 30 Brewster Street and 64, 66, 68 & 70 Napier Crescent) that, despite somewhat disparate construction dates, show considerable cohesion in their form (typically double-fronted homes with hipped rooves and corner porches) and materials (mostly face brick and terracotta tiles). Most of the houses are either cream brick (e.g., Nos. 1,3,5,7,9,27, 40,etc) or clinker brick (Nos. 4, 11, 12, 15, 24, 25 Peterleigh, 64 Napier, etc), although there are a few of orange brick (Nos. 18, 23, 33, 39), red brick (No.19) or with a rendered finish (Nos. 13, 14, 21, 22, 42). Many are further enlivened by stringcourses, coping, quoining and other decorative use of Roman tapestry bricks.Most of the houses in the street represent the initial burst of construction in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Of these, the majority reflect, to various degrees, the prevailing Moderne style of the day. Many of these houses have open porches with cantilevered curved concrete slab rooves (e.g., Nos. 2, 12, 13, 17, 23, 26, 40 & 41, etc), while several have fully enclosed porches with curved walls (Nos. 5, 20, 21 & 27). This streamlined theme is also evident in the use of curved bays (e.g., Nos. 6 & 34) or curved corner windows (12 & 26). Some houses have more specific Moderne detailing such as porthole windows (e.g. No.40), glass bricks (6 & 34), and stepped chimney breasts (17 & 25 Peterleigh, 68 Napier). The houses at Nos. 6 and 34 - with their concealed rooves, terraces, curved projecting bays and glass block windows - are the two most assured examples of the Moderne idiom in the street.
The Tudor Revival style is represented in Peterleigh Grove by about six houses. As with the Moderne houses, the degree to which the houses reflect the style varies considerably. Some display only a rudimentary influence such as corbelled eaves to gable ends (e.g., Nos. 7 & 31); others have the typical enclosed porches with raked parapet, eaves corbels and round or Tudor arches edged with Roman brick (Nos. 30 & 32). By far the best example is the house at No.16, which has all of the above details, plus mild steel grilles, lozenge glazing and louvred timber shutters.
Among the other houses in the street is one (No.1) that shows a Classical Revival influence in the use of Tuscan columns to its corner porch. The remaining houses (e.g. Nos. 9, 19, 33, 39 etc) are more stylistically indeterminate, with generic decorative detailing such as Roman and/or tapestry brick stringcourses, coping, quoining or panels. The houses immediately after World War II invariably have lesser architectural pretension, but are nevertheless contributory elements, as they sympathetically echo the earlier houses in their scale, form and materials (e.g., Nos. 35, 37). The only truly non-contributory building is the c.1970s brick house at No.8.
The cohesive streetscape of Peterleigh Grove is enhanced by the retention, in most cases, of original front fences. With the exception of a few random stone walls (e.g., No.3), these fences take the form of brick dwarf walls (often with piers), often enlivened by bullnosed or plinth brick coping, castellations or geometric Moderne detailing. Several properties also retrain their original wrought iron driveway gates (e.g., Nos. 5, 34, 36, 40, etc).
The street has concrete kerbs and channels with semi-mature plantings of Norfolk Island Hibiscus (Lagunia pattersonii), which is a typical mid-century street tree.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - Review of HO precincts
Author: David Helms HPM
Year: 2010
Grading: LocalMoonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Heritage Review Stage 3
Author: Bernadette De Corte
Year: 2003
Grading:Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley 2017 Heritage Study
Author: Context
Year: 2019
Grading:
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FORMER NORTH PARKVictorian Heritage Register H1286
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CANARY ISLAND DATE PALM AVENUE (PHOENIX CANARIENSIS)Victorian Heritage Register H1200
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MOONEE PONDS CREEK 1Victorian Heritage Inventory
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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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'Lawn House' (Former)Hobsons Bay City
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1 Fairchild StreetYarra City
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10 Richardson StreetYarra City
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