Timber Shop
415-417 High Street KEW, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The timber shop at 415-417 High Street, Kew. It is a timber building built to the front boundary. The front wall is clad with ashlar-boards, while the gable ends are later brick parapet walls with corbelling to the eaves. An attached residence is located to the rear.
The shop was built in 1887 for Frederick Bosse, who had previously been a miner on Victoria's gold fields, but worked as a gardener once he had moved to Kew. Bosse rented the shop to confectioners, and from 1907 to 1912 it also housed a tea room. It is likely that the north-east end of the shop was enlarged by one bay c1906 to accommodate two commercial tenancies. It appears that the two timber shop windows at this end and shop doors were replaced at this time. This Edwardian-era extension and remodelling is considered part of the significant fabric of the building.
The 1970s extension to the rear residence is not significant, nor is the 1970s reproduction shop window at the south-west end of the facade (which replaced an earlier sash window).
How is it significant?
The shop is of local historical and architectural significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
Historically, the shop is a tangible illustration of the tourist trade that grew up around Boroondara in the 19th century. In the 19th and early 20th century, the cemetery attracted large numbers of leisure day trippers from around Melbourne and beyond, who came to view its impressive monuments. The tram, opened in 1887 - the same year as the shop was built, was the main mode of transport to the cemetery from Richmond and Melbourne until the mid-20th century, and made this leisure traffic possible. The position of the cemetery gates and the tram terminus at the intersection of High Street and Park Hill Road made this an ideal location to cater to this tourist traffic, with a confectioner's and later a tea room. (Criterion A)
Architecturally, the shop exhibits typical traits of suburban 19th-century shops including the integration of rear living quarters with the shop(s) at the front. Its simple form and lack of front setback are also typical of its type, as are the modest-sized shop windows which allow for areas of solid wall to the facade. The detailing of the facade, particularly the doors with diagonal boarding and simple angle window glazing bars to the shop windows, is typical of the Edwardian period. Timber shops were the first to be built in new suburbs and shopping areas in the 19th century, but were gradually replaced by brick buildings, leaving few of this type in the metropolitan area. It is the earliest known timber shop in Kew, and one of a very small group of surviving Victorian and Edwardian timber shops in the City of Boroondara. (Criteria D & B)
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Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Individual Heritage Citations
Author: City of Boroondara
Year: 2016
Grading:
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SPRINGTHORPE MEMORIAL, BOROONDARA GENERAL CEMETERYVictorian Heritage Register H0522
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POLICE STATION AND FORMER COURT HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0944
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FORMER KEW POST OFFICEVictorian Heritage Register H0885
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