Mt Alexander Rd and The Strand
800-816 MOUNT ALEXANDER ROAD, 1 THE STRAND, and 12 CRAWFORD STREET, MOONEE PONDS, MOONEE VALLEY CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Mount Alexander Road/The Strand precinct, which is a residential area comprising a small group of houses constructed c.1890 to c.1920 at nos. 800-816 Mount Alexander Road, 1 The Strand, and 12 Crawford Street, Moonee Ponds is significant. The following buildings and features contribute to the significance of the place:
- The original form, single storey scale, siting and detailing of the Contributory houses, which include nos. 800-816 Mt Alexander Road and 1 The Strand.
- The extent to which development in one period from c.1910 to c.1920 is apparent.
- The low front fences, which allow views to the front and side elevations of the houses.
- The relatively high intactness of most of the houses when viewed from the street.
- The contrast in scale between the single storey houses and St Monica's Catholic Church, which is a local landmark and forms the northern boundary of the precinct.
Non-original alterations and additions to the Contributory houses, the house at 12 Crawford Street and other buildings in the precinct are not significant.
How is it significant?
The Mount Alexander Road/The Strand precinct is of local historic and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
Historically, the precinct demonstrates the recovery in residential building in the early decades of the twentieth century, which was stimulated by the development of the electric tramway network. (Criterion A)
Aesthetically, the precinct is significant as a particularly cohesive streetscape of late nineteenth and early twentieth century houses, which are related in scale, form and detailing, and complement the historic character of Mt Alexander Road and Queens Park. (Criteria D & E)
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Mt Alexander Rd and The Strand - Physical Description 1
The Mount Alexander Road/The Strand precinct is a residential area, which comprises a small group of houses constructed c.1890 to c.1920 at nos. 800-816 Mount Alexander Road and 1 The Strand, Moonee Ponds. The Contributory houses are mostly detached, of timber construction, originally single storey with garden setbacks. Although no front fences are original, all are low and also views of the houses and to and from the adjoining historic landscapes of Queens Park and the broad Mt Alexander Road median.
The house styles include transitional Federation villas, Edwardian bungalows and gable fronted cottages. The first type is represented by the houses at 1 The Strand and 802 Mt Alexander Road, which are double-fronted timber houses of typical symmetrical design with M-hip roofs. The houses are very similar in appearance, which suggests they were constructed by the same builder. Both have false Ashlar (block) fronting and paired eaves brackets, and corbelled brick chimneys with identical detailing (it appears that one chimney to 1 The Strand has been removed and the other is now overpainted). The verandah to 1 The Strand is hipped with a cast-iron frieze, while 802 Mt Alexander Road has a convex profile verandah with simple timber brackets (which may not be original). Both have central doors with sidelights and highlights flanked by double hung sash windows. Both are relatively intact when viewed from the street.
The Edwardian bungalow type is represented by nos. 800, 806, 808, 810 and 816 Mt Alexander Road. They are asymmetrical in plan with a projecting gable and a tall hip roof (sometimes with gablets) that (with the exception of no.816) extends to form the front verandah. Some have decorative barge boards and half timbering to the gable ends, and there is a variety of verandah decoration including ladder fretwork (e.g., no. 800) and cast iron (e.g., no. 806). The verandah to no.816 is supported by a tapered rendered brick pier with a rendered balustrade that appears to be a 1920s alteration. Windows in the main elevation are double hung sash (the windows to no.808 have been replaced) and the front doors have sidelights and highlights. Apart from the changes noted most are relatively intact when viewed from the street - the exception is no.810, which has a two storey addition at the rear. The houses all have corbelled brick chimneys, some (nos. 800, 806 & 808) with identical detailing to the Federation houses, which suggests that the chimneys (and perhaps the houses themselves) were the work of the same bricklayer/builder.
The other type is the gable fronted cottage. The house at no. 804 has a slightly convex verandah that returns on one side. It is one of the least intact houses in the precinct, having been reclad, windows replaced and with a two storey addition. The houses at nos. 812-14 are semi-detached, sharing a common wall and some similar detailing, but do not appear to have been built as a pair as no.812 is in brick, while no.814 is timber. They are both very intact. Both have convex profile verandahs (with a small return to no.814) with cast-iron frieze and triple casement style windows. The house at no.812 has half-timbering to the gable end and brick and render chimneys with terracotta pots, while no.814 has a carved bargeboard to the gable end and a corbelled brick chimney.
As noted above fences throughout the precinct are uniformly low and most are sympathetic to the style and era of houses (the privet hedges to nos. 800 and 802 may conceal original or early fences). The precinct has a high degree of intactness with all of the original houses surviving - the only Non-contributory building is the house at 12 Crawford Street, which was constructed in the rear yard of 810 Mt Alexander Road.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley Heritage Overlay Places Review
Author: David Helms Heritage Planning
Year: 2012
Grading: LocalMoonee Valley - Essendon Conservation Study
Author: Graeme Butler
Year: 1985
Grading:
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