Darling Road Precinct
MALVERN EAST, STONNINGTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Darling Road Precinct is a residential area in Malvern East which was mainly developed in the 1920s with bungalow and villa housing.
Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):- high degree of intactness of the area to its c1925 state;
- variety in character and expression within consistent suburban bungalow and villa forms;
- intactness of individual buildings to their original states. Dwellings typically survive with their presentation to the street largely unaltered, retaining verandahs and decorative render and timber detailing;
- the consistent, modest single-storey scale of the built form;
- the varied face brick, timber and render materiality within most streetscapes and the consistent timber materiality in Chaucer Avenue and Baker Street;
- gabled or hipped roofscapes with chimneys and terracotta tiles or plain corrugated metal cladding;
- the detached form of most early housing with a generally uniform pattern of front and side setbacks;
- the open landscape character of the area brought about through broad streets, mature street trees and undeveloped front setbacks with low fences in most sections of the precinct; and,
- the discrete form and siting of vehicle accommodation in side setbacks with single driveway access.
How is it significant?
The Darling Road Precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance.
Why is it significant?
The Darling Road Precinct is of historical significance for its ability to demonstrate the major phase of suburban development in Malvern in the years after World War I (Historic Themes: 8.2.3 'The city of real homes - suburban development in Malvern after World War I). This type of housing development transformed a once rural area into a predominately middle class dormitory suburb connected to the city by rail and tram networks. The proximity of the precinct to the Waverly Road tram terminus further illustrates the interdependence of public transport and suburban development in this period.
The precinct is of aesthetic significance for substantially intact and cohesive collection of interwar housing. While individual buildings are reasonably typical of the period, the area is notable for its consistent character, which is derived from single-storey bungalows and villas with a similar scale, form and materiality. Chaucer Avenue and Baker Street are of particular note for their uniform timber bungalow character.
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Darling Road Precinct - Physical Description 1
The Darling Road precinct developed out of a patchwork of subdivisions executed between c.1913 and the mid-1920s. The subdivisions were undertaken quickly and, apparently, with little regard for one another. Streets through the area vary in width and character. Thoroughfares terminate abruptly and estates are frequently connected by narrow lanes and access ways. The isolation of developments on Lot 156 from those on Lot 157, for example, is typical of the ad hoc planning which perpetuated during the rapid development of the area during and after WWI.
Despite the inconsistencies in terms of urban planning, the built form is remarkably uniform, comprising polite bungalows and villas. The northern end of Darling Road is characterised by red brick interwar bungalows. To the north, in the former Electric Tramways Estate, timber bungalows are more common. Baker and Chaucer Streets, in particular, retain intact groups of simple timber buildings in largely original condition. Building regulations from the mid-1910s would limit the extent to which timber construction would be permitted in Malvern East. Waverley Road and Serrell Streets retain more substantial bungalows and villas incorporating (in some instances) Mediterranean influences into their designs. Despite piecemeal development across a number of subdivisions, the area is unified by the scale and character of its buildings, their garden settings and the intactness of the streetscapes.
Darling Road Precinct - Local Historical Themes
The following theme is drawn from the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006, Addendum March 2009).
8.2.3 'The city of real homes' - suburban development in Malvern after World War I.
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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CAULFIELD RAILWAY STATION COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Register H1665
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PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.2586Victorian Heritage Register H1710
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CAULFIELD RACECOURSEVictorian Heritage Register H2415
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