Leongatha
5 Riversdale Road HAWTHORN, Boroondara City
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Statement of Significance
Leongatha, 5 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn, is of local historical and architectural significance. It is a well executed, if partly altered, example of a substantial 'Federation Italianate' villa, of a type which was popular in the Boroondara area in the late nineteenth century. The house occupies a commanding site, emphasised by its current proximity to the altered and widened Riversdale Road and Power Street intersection. It is also largely true to its original overall form, incorporating a single-storey, red face brick construction with stucco trim, with multiple-hipped slate-clad roofs with iron ridge capping, a return verandah, and a bay at the south-east corner. The addition of the canted bay window to the south-east bay and the renewal/replacement of the verandah materials and detailing, do not detract in any significant way from the presentation of the building or an appreciation of the original building form. Overall, the building elements combine to produce a striking fusion of Italianate, High Victorian and Federation forms.
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Leongatha - Physical Description 1
No 5 Riversdale Road is a large house from the early Federation period. It is a single-storey dwelling of red face brick construction with stucco trim, with multiple-hipped slate-clad roofs with iron ridge capping, and a return verandah. The original bay on the south-east corner of the building has a canted bay window which appears to be an addition, possibly an early alteration (although it is not evident on the 1903 Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works plan). The west facade behind the return verandah also has a canted bay addition, which dates from the 1980s. The building addresses the south and west, and combines Federation and Italianate elements. A decorative layer of three courses in hexagonal slate tiles runs across the roof, and the chimneys have stuccoed bases above their flashing, stacks in exposed face brick and sculpted stucco cornices. The eaves are boxed, supported with paired brackets interspersed with moulded swags applied to a frieze layer. The verandah roof is separate from the main roof, and is a skillion of galvanized steel that begins just below this frieze; the gutter is visually integrated with a dentilled moulding that runs the length of the verandah. The verandah posts, frieze and balustrades have been renewed; it is not known if they are based on the original elements. The main walls are in a plain-coursed red face brick, with a moulded stucco-dressed courseline running under the window heads; the wall corners are dressed externally in a stuccoed quoin pattern.
On the south wing, the stucco course runs around the canted bay which has three pent-topped windows crowned with vermiculated keystones; the windows are timber-framed, double-hung sashes. These are incised from below and linked by moulding runs into the cornice immediately above. The canted bay has a parapet and blind balustrade, behind which is a flat gable which has a combination of High Victorian and 'Queen Anne' detailing: High Victorian in the scrolled ends, intermittent bosses and panels of diagonal timber planking; and 'Queen Anne' in the cross tied finial base, with its fanned slatwork and small quadrant beams. The front steps up to the verandah are framed by two block balustrades with urns, and the front door with its fan and sidelight case appears to be original. Windows generally, including those under the verandah, are timber-framed, double-hung sashes. The non-original canted bay to the west has pointed pent window heads echoing those on the south bay. Beyond are a number of additions and extensions to the building, which have very limited visibility to the street. These include a wing, rear additions and a deck added in the period from the early 1980s to the early 1990s, and substantial internal renovations and works.[i]
The property has, on its western side, a composite retaining wall of bluestone and brick, a sloping concreted drive to a new garage at the rear. The south and west setbacks are planted with a garden in a formal style.
[i] City of Hawthorn Building Index, Permit #17206, dated 18 September 1981; #2210, dated 2 March 1984; # 2262 (0401), dated 11 May 1984; #7804 (8577), dated 12 July 1991; and #568193 (11925), dated 9 December 1993.
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Review of C* Grade Buildings in the Former City of Hawthorn
Author: Lovell Chen Architects & Heritage Consultants
Year: 2006
Grading: C*Boroondara - Hawthorn Heritage Study
Author: Meredith Gould Conservation Architects
Year: 1993
Grading:
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