Bruce Court and Environs
Bruce Court ELSTERNWICK, GLEN EIRA CITY
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Statement of Significance
The Bruce Court estate of William White and Sons of Parkside Street, Elsternwick, was formed in 1927 and developed by them in 1928-29 with nos. 32-34 Parkside Street being undertaken by others in 1931-33 and "Miranda" at no. 48 predating the subdivision but incorporated in it. It is historically and aesthetically significant. It is historically significant (Criterion A) as a very early subdivision demonstrating the planning principals of the Garden Suburb Movement in the highly sophisticated manner of the late 1920s. These principals include the treatment of the street and residential front gardens as a single garden landscape exemplified by the use of low front and side fences, coupled crossing, uniform street tree plantings, 45 degree corner spalys at the entry to the court and a curved wall closing the vista at the far end. The historical importance of the subdivision rests also on the fact that the houses built by the Whites and which constitute the principal elements of the place post date the earliest comparable subdivision undertaken by the better known estate developers Dickson and Yorkston Pty. Ltd. in St Kilda East by only a year. Bruce Court compares chronologically also with Linden Court, Windsor (1928) and Crompton Court, Caulfield South (1929) whilsts others of similar urban character were to follow. The survival of "Miranda" is of historic interest as the house that preceded the development of the court but survives as evidence of this earlier time. The blocks on which the houses of the early "thirties facing Parkside Street are located formed part of the original estate and are of historic interest in this respect. No. 34 is of importance also as it marks the entry to the court, together with No. 48.
The subdivision is of aesthetic importance (Criterion E) not only for its Garden Suburb character but also for the manner in which the Whites' houses, though stylistically diverse in the manner of the period, use a common architectural vocabulary the imparts aesthetic unity to the court. In this respect the place epitomizes the qualities that distinguish the Garden Suburb Movement in metropolitan Melbourne during the late 1920s.
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FORMER ELSTERNWICK POST OFFICEVictorian Heritage Register H0640
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FORMER UNION CHURCHVictorian Heritage Register H0704
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PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.773Victorian Heritage Register H1708
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