Pontefract
199 Whitehorse Road BALWYN, Boroondara City
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Statement of Significance
Pontefract, at 199 Whitehorse Road is of local historical and architectural significance. Reputedly designed by little-known architect, Henry James Proctor, the residence has all the hallmarks of a developed prototype for two-storey housing in the Federation period. It is in the first phase of Federation-style houses and is contemporary with other early known examples. The house sets out most of the distinguishing elements of Federation architecture: the return verandah with punctuating wing, the balance of wing gables against a main roof form (though this would be articulated more by Beverly Ussher in subsequent designs), the abandonment of cast iron in the verandah construction, the wholesale adoption of Shaw-pattern window casements, the control and stucco and its new use in textured form, the verandah frieze, extraordinarily plain for its time, the shortening of internal corridors and the new dominance of a stair hall in the plan. While the major additions on Hardwicke Street are imposing and detract somewhat from the street presentation of the building, they are visually distinct, allowing the original building to read as such.
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Pontefract - Physical Description 1
Pontefract is a double-fronted brick house with a return verandah and west-facing gabled wing, dating from 1892, at the outset of the Federation period. Its number for Council records is 199 Whitehorse Road, but its address for its sale was more recently given as 2 Hardwicke Street, reflecting the fact that entry is now from the side street to the west.[i] The roof is terracotta tile in a Marseilles pattern: the main roof runs north-south, ending in a gable at the south end facing Whitehorse Road, and transforming into a short transverse hip north of the west-facing wing. This wing is, in turn, balanced by an east-facing wing, so the pair form a kind of transept. The east wing is terminated with a broken gable and has the main views of the Dandenong Ranges. The walls are in face brick toward Whitehorse Road and Hardwicke Street, sienna-coloured with red-orange brick striping. The verandah is a double-storeyed and timber posted structure, with a flattened segmental frieze in timber planking. The verandah balustrades are in timber panels with a half-timbered Old English patterning on them, and similar half-timbering and textured stucco line the gables. Most of the original windows are grouped casements in the Norman Shaw manner, some with a grid of amber panes in their upper lights. The ground window on the west wing is arched in a broad arc. The gable corbel and the first floor roof corbel on this wing are clad in textured stucco.
Like many houses of its size Pontefract was converted to the Chaddesley Flats in 1934, and it is thought that at this time a large addition was constructed to the north of the original house and almost equal to it in size. Graeme Butler has noted that this wing (which now incorporates three garages) may have replaced an earlier service wing, probably single-storied.[ii] More recently, in 1984, the property was converted back into a single residence. At this time and subsequently (in 1990), extensive alterations were undertaken; however these focussed on the rear (non-original) wing rather than on the original house.[iii] In its current form, this rear wing appears as a stripped down version of the original house, in painted, rendered brick with pitched tiled roof and timber joinery and balconies.
Despite its large additions, Pontefract's original design still reads clearly. The proportions and form of the original house are still readily discernible, with the later wing separated visually from the original house by a recessed bay with balustrade, which accentuates the separation of the two.
There are several large trees in the garden that are probably original or early, though the formal path and fountain from Hardwicke Street looks more recent. The long and relatively high brick fence is not original but has been completed in a carefully chosen brick that emulates the stripes and colouration of the original house walls. A swimming pool was added in 1989.
[i] Fletcher and Parker: Prestige Property Division, advertisement. 'Pontefract: a fine example of period restoration' where 'precise attention to meticulous detail' has achieved 'a splendid revival of the original grandeur'.
[ii] Council records for this period do not survive, however, Graeme Butler has noted that they are shown on the MMBW Drainage Plans for the property. Butler notes that the work was probably carried out by FW Le Leu, a local builder. Camberwell Conservation Study 1991, vol. 4, 315.
[iii] Details sourced from the City of Camberwell Building Index, #75297, dated 6 April 1984 (conversion from flats); #75850, dated 2 July 1984 (heightening fence); #89679, dated 18 December 1989 (swimming pool).
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 - Camberwell Conservation Study
Author: Graeme Butler
Year: 1991
Grading:
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FROGNALLVictorian Heritage Register H0707
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RESIDENCE (FORMERLY COLINTON)Victorian Heritage Register H1399
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MallowBoroondara City
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"1890"Yarra City
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"AMF Officers" ShedMoorabool Shire
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"AQUA PROFONDA" SIGN, FITZROY POOLVictorian Heritage Register H1687
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