Elsfield
241 Cotham Road KEW, Boroondara City
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Statement of Significance
Elsfield, at 241 Cotham Road, Kew, is of local historical and architectural significance. A relatively intact brick suburban villa of c. 1887, the house is of historical significance for its association with William David Vaughan, long-time Kew councillor and Mayor in 1937-38 and again in 1947-48, who resided here from the late 1920s. Architecturally, the house is an unusual and distinctive composition. While it uses relatively standard Italianate forms in its canted bay and cast iron return verandah, it differs from other examples in the extraordinarily scale of the bay and the pronounced gable over its verandah window. These read as discrete episodes, held together in precarious yet successful architectural unity by the verandah. Though altered through overpainting and minor changes to windows, the house is generally relatively intact as viewed from the street.
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Elsfield - Physical Description 1
Elsfield at 241 Cotham Road, Kew, is a single-storey double-fronted Victorian villa of brick construction and asymmetrical planning. The slate roof is unconventional in form, being mostly hipped with a single gabled section with circular vent, which is further accentuated by the adjoining portion which extends over a broad projecting canted bay. There is a single rendered chimney with moulded cap which retains an unpainted finish. The canted bay terminates a cast iron return verandah with shallow convex roof, fluted Corinthian columns, cast iron frieze and brackets and timber floor. The facade and side returns display an overpainted ruled ashlar rendered finish on a bluestone plinth, while the remaining walls are of Hawthorn face brick. The main entrance contains a panelled timber door with glazed surrounds and timber-framed screen door. It is flanked by a single full-height window opening to the verandah with timber-framed double-hung sash, moulded architraves and bluestone sill. The windows elsewhere are conventional double-hung sashes.
It is noted that the combination of the unconventional roof forms with the oversized canted bay is unusual, and it is possible that the arrangement reflects an early alteration to the front of the house.
A rear addition of red brick is visible on the eastern side of the house and dates from the 1960s. Other than for the overpainting of the render and replacement of a small number of windows in the east elevation, the house appears otherwise intact externally when viewed from the street.
The brick and cast iron front fence is non-original.
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Review of B Graded Buildings in Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn
Author: Lovell Chen Architects & Heritage Consultants
Year: 2006
Grading: BBoroondara - City of Kew Urban Conservation Study
Author: Pru Sanderson Design Pty Ltd
Year: 1988
Grading:
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