55 The Boulevard
55 The Boulevard HAWTHORN, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
Architect Norman Seabrook's own house of 1935, as noted in the 'City of Boroondara Thematic Environmental History' (Built Heritage, 2012) and the 'Encyclopaedia of Australian Architecture' (eds P Goad & J Willis, 2011). It is a brick house (overpainted) with horizontal banding visible. The red brick fence at front appears to be original. A very simple and plain house which illustrates some aspects of Seabrook's style (especially the horizontal grooves in the brick pointing). The front entry, however, which was a major decorative feature of the facade, was demolished and reconfigured in 1993. Because of these alterations, it falls short of individual significance in its own right.
The house, however, is located within HO164 - Leslie Street Precinct, Hawthorn, and is currently graded 'non-contributory'. The precinct statement of significance notes that it 'has a particularly well-preserved and notable collection of the prevailing house styles of the 1880s through to the 1930s', and it 'illustrates the significant development phases affecting Hawthorn including ... interwar concepts of the garden suburb'.
As Seabrook's house dates to the interwar period, and is still identifiable as such (notwithstanding the new front porch), it also contributes to an understanding of interwar residential development in Hawthorn. It is particularly desirable to extend protection under this HO precinct, considering the architectural and associative significance of the house, namely for its associations with distinguished Modern architect Norman Seabrook and as an example of his work from the interwar period.
Recommended to be regraded to 'Contributory' to HO164.
'HO164 Leslie Street Precinct, Hawthorn
The Leslie Street Precinct, Hawthorn, which includes both Leslie Street and the Urquhart Estate and Oxley Road precincts, is an area of heritage significance for the following reasons:
The place illustrates most of the significant development phases affecting Hawthorn including the early years of settlement (1835-1855), the growth of Hawthorn as a Victorian garden suburb, the Federation-era prosperity of 1901-1919; and interwar concepts of the garden suburb.
- The place contains a number of individually significant buildings exemplifying High Victorian and Italianate design, the Federation style in its formative phase, and a series of characteristic interwar designs.
- Individually significant buildings in the Oxley Road precinct include institutional buildings such as St Columbs Church, Auburn Uniting Church and its accompanying buildings, and notable houses including Terrick Terricks and Auburn House.
- The place has a particularly well-preserved and notable collection of the prevailing house styles of the 1880s through to the 1930s, with homogeneous concentrations of style in several streets. The interwar Old English and Mediterranean is particularly well represented in Urquhart Street and Swinburne Avenue and homogeneous arrays of 1920s Bungalows are found in The Boulevard and Lyall Street. Oxley Road, Elmie and Goodall Streets have a good variety of Victorian and Federation houses. Leslie Street is a homogeneous run of 1880s workers' cottages, and Minona Street has a relatively intact group of small late interwar housing units.
-Through the road layout, the footpaths transecting parts of the precinct, the broad street lawns in the Urquhart Estate component, mature street trees and other landscape features, and concrete road paving (Swinburne Avenue), the place clearly demonstrates the application of the 'garden suburb' ideal as variously interpreted in the later nineteenth century, Federation and inter-war periods. In Hawthorn the precinct compares interestingly with its primarily Victorian and Federation predecessor, the Grace Park Estate (HO152). The Urquhart Estate component (Urquhart Street, Swinburne Avenue, and The Boulevard) was the last substantial land holding in Hawthorn to be subdivided for residential purposes (in 1919).
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Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Individual Site Assessments 2012
Author: Boroondara Council
Year: 2012
Grading:
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AUBURN RAILWAY STATION COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Register H1559
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GLENFERRIE RAILWAY STATION COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Register H1671
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GLENFERRIE PRIMARY SCHOOL (PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.1508)Victorian Heritage Register H1630
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1 Fordham CourtYarra City
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10 Fordham CourtYarra City
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