Tara
749 Orrong Road TOORAK, STONNINGTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
Note that the relevant HERCON criteria are shown in brackets.
What is Significant?
Tara, 749 Orrong Road, Toorak is a substantial double-storey residence with an eclectic Georgian revival/Mediterraneancharacter. It was built in 1924 to designs by noted architect Marcus Martin.
Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):
- The original external form, materials and detailing of the building.
- The high level of external intactness.
- The domestic garden setting (but not the fabric of the garden itself)
- The front fence.
- The absence of modern garages or carports in views to the house from the street.
How is it significant?
Tara is of local architectural significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
Tara is architecturally significant as an impressive and highly intact interwar residence designed by noted architect Marcus Martin. It demonstrates a key transitional phase in Martin's career anticipating the refined neo-Georgian/Mediterranean expression that typifies 1930s domestic architecture in Toorak.
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Tara - Physical Description 1
Tara is a substantial double-storey house sited close to the Orrong Road frontage of a large property. It has a stately Georgian revival character with Mediterranean influences apparent in the complex massing and some of the rendered ornament. The exterior massing is complex with a balanced asymmetry. A formal entry statement is created by a portecochere with an elegant first floor Palladian window and rendered panels with a distinctive Italianate style circular ornament. The roof is hipped with terracotta tiles and has wide slatted timber eaves. The walls are roughcast render with smooth rendered dressings. Most windows are Georgian style twelve-paned and double-hung, but there are some arched windows at ground floor with keystone motifs. First floor windows are linked by a string course. The house's brick-paved forecourt has a double entry drive and a high rough-cast rendered fence, curving inward at the driveway entrances. The fence is presumed to be contemporary with the house.
The house appears to remain substantially intact externally. Council records show a terrace built in 2009 on the north elevation with a pergola and new door openings.[1] Various internal works were also undertaken at this time. These changes have not impacted on the character of the house as it presents to the street.[1] City of Stonnington Building File BL1160/2000900335/0
Tara - Local Historical Themes
Tara, 749 Orrong Road, Toorak illustrates the following themes, as identified in the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006):
8.1.3 The end of an era - mansion estate subdivisions in the twentieth century
8.4.1 Houses as a symbol of wealth, status and fashion
Tara is of some historical interest as evidence of a major phase of development that took place in the 1920s and 1930s when many of Toorak's large mansion estates were subdivided to create prestigious residential enclaves (TEH 8.1.3 The end of an era - mansion estate subdivisions in the twentieth century). Tara also illustrates the role of large architect designed houses as symbols of wealth, status and taste for Melbourne's upper classes of the interwar period (TEH 8.4.1 - Houses as a symbol of wealth, status and fashion).
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - City of Stonnington Interwar Houses Study
Author: Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd
Year: 2014
Grading: A2
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COMO HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0205
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TINTERNVictorian Heritage Register H0208
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CLENDON LODGEVictorian Heritage Register H0561
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