Bush Inn Estate
TOORAK, STONNINGTON CITY
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![Victorian Terrace, corner Williams Road and Evelina Road Victorian Terrace, corner Williams Road and Evelina Road](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/071/549.jpg)
![Victorian Terrace, corner Williams Road and Evelina Road Victorian Terrace, corner Williams Road and Evelina Road](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/071/549.jpg)
![Victorian villa at 3 Evelina Road Victorian villa at 3 Evelina Road](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/074/611.jpg)
![Victorian terrace at 4-8 Evelina Road Victorian terrace at 4-8 Evelina Road](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/074/612.jpg)
![Victorian cottages on Mell Street Victorian cottages on Mell Street](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/074/613.jpg)
![Victorian housing on the south side of Evelina Road Victorian housing on the south side of Evelina Road](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/074/614.jpg)
![1882 plan of the Bush Inn Estate 1882 plan of the Bush Inn Estate](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/074/615.jpg)
Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Bush Inn Estate precinct, Toorak, is a residential area created during the land boom era of the 1880s.The precinct retains a large number of dwellings from this period including grand double-storey terraces and handsome villas as well as modest single-storey cottages. The 1890s depression led to a dramatic downturn in building activity leaving some parts of the precinct undeveloped. It was not until the economy recovered in the 1910s that most of these vacant lots were filled in with new dwellings,tpyically comprising gable roofed villas and semi-detached cottages in red-brick. The precinct was largely completed to its current state by c1926. Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include:
-Late-Victorian, Edwardian and interwar building stock including double and single storey terrace rows, freestanding villas, semi-detached cottages and the commercial buildings on Williams Road.
-Individually noteworthy early dwellings of high architectural quality
-The single and double-storey scale of existing built form.
-The pattern of settlement resulting in middle class terraces and villas along the Williams Road frontage and higher density streetscapes of less ornate single-storey cottages and villas in the eastern half of the precinct.
-Road layout and allotment patterns resulting from late-nineteenth century subdivisions.
-Built form from two distinct periods illustrating development during the boom of the 1880s and the resurgence of development after the economic recession in the Edwardian period.
-Intactness of the area to its c.1926 state arising from the very low proportion of modern infill.
-Intactness of individual buildings to their original states. Dwellings typically survive with their presentation to the street largely unaltered retaining verandahs and decorative detailing. The area is notable for the absence of prominent additions and alterations.
-The consistent, modest scale of the built form in May Road, Mell Street and the eastern half of Evelina Road.
-The detached form of the early dwellings, other than the terraces and semi-detached cottages, with generally uniform (within each streetscape) front setbacks and modest side setbacks.
-Face brick (including unpainted polychrome brickwork), render and timber materiality.
-Roofscapes with parapets, chimneys, and pitched roof forms in corrugated galvanised iron, slate or terracotta tiles.
-Bluestone kerbs and channels (to the extent that they survive).
How is it significant?
The Bush Inn Estate precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance.
Why is it significant?
The Bush Inn Estate precinct is of local historical significance as an example of the urban development which transformed the inner suburbs of the municipality during the land boom of the 1880s. The precinct also illustrates the effects of the 1890s depression whereby many speculative residential estates created in the 1880s near railway lines were left incomplete until the second major phase of rapid residential growth occurred in the Edwardian period (Historic Theme: 3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940).
In addition, the precinct provides a vivid illustration of the modest standards of accommodation and amenity available to the late Victorian working class compared to the much more ostentatious built form which underscores the aspirations of the wealthy middle class of the 1880s (Historic Theme: 8.2.1 Mansion Estates and the Higher Ground - Middle Class Estates in Prahran).
The Bush Inn Precinct is of aesthetic significance as a substantially intact collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. It includes handsome single-storey Victorian villas and double-storey terraces as well as more modest forms of housing on small blocks. The dramatic contrast in scale and grandeur between the large double-storey terraces and villas found close to Williams Road and the smaller cottages in the eastern part of the precinct is an important aspect of the area's character.
The aesthetic significance of the precinct is further enhanced by the presence of many individually noteworthy buildings, including the Victorian terrace row at 200-210 Williams Road, the towered Italianate villa at 3 Evelina Road and the distinctive Edwardian Free style villa at 220 Williams Road.
The precinct also contains a small number of interwar dwellings which are generally sympathetic to the surrounding Victorian and Edwardian building stock in terms of their architectural form, materiality and scale. As such, these interwar dwellings make a valuable contribution to the early character of the precinct.
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Bush Inn Estate - Physical Description 1
The Bush Inn Estate precinct is a residential area developed in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century on the south side of the railway line, near Hawksburn station. Building stock in the precinct includes ornate Victorian terraces and middle class villas derived from Italianate sources as well as modest single-fronted cottages. Edwardian and interwar dwellings can also be found intermingled among earlier Victorian building stock.
The Williams Road frontage between May Road and Evelina Road contains a sequence of handsome asymmetrical bichrome brick villas. North of Evelina Road, there is a row of double-storey Victorian terraces with cast iron lacework verandahs. The c1887 terrace at 200-210 Williams is a particularly fine example of this building type and is distinguished by its staggered facade setbacks and unusual decorative tiles. The late Victorian character of this streetscape is reinforced by the c1895 commercial buildings at 212 and 218A Williams Road.
One the of largest and the most architecturally distinct houses in the precinct can be found at 220 Williams Road, on the north side of the railway line. Designed c1910 by architect P G Fick, it has a symmetrical cement-rendered facade with unusal curved parapets.
The western half of Evelina Road contains asymmetrical boom period villas and terrace housing similar to that found on Williams Road. There is also fine towered Italianate villa at 3 Evelina Road.
Moving east along Evelina Road, the building stock becomes far less grand. This is particularly the case for the southern side of the street where double storey terraces give way to modest single-fronted Victorian cottages, occurring as semi-detached pairs or in terrace rows as at 12-22 Evelina Road.
Turning south into Mell Road, the street narrows and assumes a higher density character more commonly associated with the Victorian working class areas of Prahran and Windsor. Housing stock in this part of the precinct includes Edwardian semi-detached pairs with gable ends facing the street and modest Victorian timber villas with small setbacks to the front and sides.
Housing stock on May Road remains fairly modest in character although it does include a number of singe-fronted Victorian villas with ornate rendered parapets. The precinct's interwar building stock includes pair of duplexes at eastern end of May Road and a fine double-storey bungalow style villa at 2 Evelina Road.
Little development has occurred in the precinct since c1926 aside from the post war block of flats at 2A Evelina Road and the relatively recent infill terrace at 10-10A Evelina Road.
Early building stock in the precinct generally remains in good original condition and there are few visible modern additions.Some front setbacks have been modified to provide car parking bays but properties most remain free from visually intrusive vehicle accommodation.
Bush Inn Estate - Historical Australian Themes
The following themes are drawn from the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006, Addendum March 2009).
8.2.1 Mansion estates and the higher ground - middle class estates in Prahran
3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940
Bush Inn Estate - Local Historical Themes
8.2 Middle Class suburbs and the suburban ideal
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - City of Stonnington Heritage Overlay Gap Study - Heritage Overlay Precincts Final Report
Author: Bryce Raworth P/L
Year: 2009
Grading: Various
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ARMADALE PRIMARY SCHOOLVictorian Heritage Register H1640
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CLENDON LODGEVictorian Heritage Register H0561
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ILLAWARRAVictorian Heritage Register H0701
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