Windsor Castle Hotel, 89 Albert Street, Windsor
89 Albert Street, WINDSOR VIC 3181 - Property No 28767
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The Windsor Castle Hotel, 89 Albert Street, Windsor, is a double-storey corner hotel with an interwar Moderne style facade. The hotel was erected c1871 replacing a c1854 timber hotel, and was substantially remodelled in the mid 1930s.
How is it Significant?
The Windsor Castle Hotel is of local architectural and historical significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it Significant?
The Windsor Castle Hotel is of historical significance for its ability to demonstrate the major interwar trend of remodelling or rebuilding nineteenth century hotels that followed the introduction of the Licences Reduction Board. It is also significant for the enduring use of the site as a licensed premises for over 150 years, and as an example of a hotel which was built away from main roads to serve a local residential neighbourhood.
The Windsor Castle Hotel is architecturally significant as a representative and substantially externally intact example of a Victorian corner hotel with an interwar Moderne style facade.
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Windsor Castle Hotel, 89 Albert Street, Windsor - Physical Description 1
The Windsor Castle Hotel occupies a corner site in a predominately residential neighbourhood. It is a double-storey interwar Moderne style building constructed of rendered masonry with a parapet concealing a hipped corrugated iron roof. Both street facades are built directly on the property boundary with a chamfer at the corner entry. The facade is embellished with characteristic Art Deco ornament including a zig-zag patterned string course above the ground floor openings and horizontal banding at parapet level. The first floor facade has horizontal incisions in its render and regularly spaced timber-framed double-hung windows with horizontal glazing bars and curved reveals, creating a streamlined effect.
The strong horizontal emphasis of the facade is offset by the vertical form of the stair window on the Albert Street facade. The window has a rendered surround matching the zig zag pattern string course and sits above ground floor entry doors with presumably original port hole windows. A parapet above the stair window has a stepped profile and Art Deco style finial with a similar stepped design. Raised wrought iron letters on the parapet bear the name of the hotel and what appears to be the year '1935' (part of the last number has broken off). Similar wrought iron letters on the corner parapet read 'Est 1871'. These signs relate to the hotel's c1871 construction date and the year in which the present facade was created. Evidence of the hotel's original c1871 fabric is visible on the north elevation where there is exposed face brickwork and a typical Victorian era timber-framed double-hung sash window at first floor level.
The exterior of the hotel appears to remain substantially intact to its c1935 state aside from the relatively recent green and pink paint scheme, modifications to some ground floor openings and the removal of the black tiled dado described in the building history above. Alterations to the Albert Street facade include the bricking up of a window opening and the conversion of an adjacent window opening into a door. The original timber frames have also been removed from a pair of window openings at the eastern end of this frontage. On the Upton Road frontage, a window opening has been enlarged to fit a modern timber-famed door. The trio of pink elephants statuettes on the Albert Street parapet are also relatively recent fixtures. The hotel interior was not subject to a detailed inspection although it appears to retain little fabric of heritage interest.
Windsor Castle Hotel, 89 Albert Street, Windsor - Historical Australian Themes
The Windsor Castle Hotel illustrates the following themes as identified in the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006):
7.1 Serving Local Communities
7.4.1 Early Hotels
7.4.2 Developing a Modern Hospitality IndustryHeritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - Hotels in the City of Stonnington Heritage Citations Project
Author: Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd
Year: 2010
Grading: A2
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