Koonda, 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale
15 Moorhouse Street ARMADALE, STONNINGTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
'Koonda' at 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale, built in c1891 and comprising a substantial two-storey Italianate villa constructed to an asymmetrical plan form with a two-storey cast-iron verandah, is significant.
The house was built for William H. Gaunt, a judge who served as a police magistrate and warden of the goldfields until 1878. He served as a County Court judge in Victoria from 1889 until 1905, while in occupancy at 15 Moorhouse Street.
The house is significantly intact as viewed and appreciated from Moorhouse Street and is significant to the extent of its nineteenth century external form and fabric.
How is it significant?
'Koonda' at 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale is of local architectural significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
'Koonda' at 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale, is a fine representative example of a substantial Victorian Italianate villa residence built for a prominent Melbourne resident, of the sort that began to characterise the suburb of Armadale in the 1880s-1890s. The house is notable for its highly intact ogee-profile cast-iron verandah that returns generously on three sides, and is expressed to the side elevation. The cast-iron lacework is of a high quality which utilises a range of floral and bird motifs within the intricate frieze, bracket and balustrade patterns and fluted cast-iron columns. (Criterion D)
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Koonda, 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale - Physical Description 1
The residence originally known as 'Koonda' at 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale is a substantial two-storey Italianate villa that occupies a relatively wide allotment on the east side of Moorhouse Street in Armadale. The building is set back behind a small front garden which is concealed by a high masonry wall. A short driveway is located along the northern boundary of the property.
Constructed c1891 the building is built to an asymmetrical plan with a two-storey return verandah terminated at the north-west (front) corner by a projecting two-storey canted bay window. This form became popular during the 1880s, and in this respect the house at 15 Moorhouse Street stands as a large but relatively typical suburban Italianate villa. The building has a hipped slate roof with unpainted cement rendered chimneys with enlarged cornice mouldings and distinctive terracotta chimney pots. The cornice is notable for the deep moulding supported by elaborate paired eaves brackets set between cricket-bat mouldings. The walls are painted cement render above a bluestone base.
The two-storey return verandah is highly intact and retains its elegant ogee profile corrugated iron roof. The substantial verandah wraps around the entire southern facade, with a small return to the rear (east) elevation. The cast-iron patterns are of a high quality utilising a range of floral and bird motifs within the intricate cast-iron work and fluted cast-iron columns. Dentil mouldings to the verandah beams at both levels add further embellishment to the composition.
The windows to the front (west) elevation beneath the verandah are grouped in threes with a segmentally arched double-hung sash window flanked by round arched double-hung sidelights which are separately expressed by heavy surrounds of run cement render. The bay windows to the canted bay are largely concealed by canvas awnings. The front entrance is extravagant with a multi-light round arch highlight and sidelights that retain their decorative glazing and an elaborately panelled front door.
An aerial in 2016 shows that the exterior form of the house is largely unchanged from the 1902 MMBW plan.
Koonda, 15 Moorhouse Street, Armadale - Local Historical Themes
This place illustrates the following themes, as identified in the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, rev. 2009):
3.3.3 Speculators and land boomers
8.2.1 'Country in the city' - Suburban development in Malvern before WWI
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - City of Stonnington Victorian Houses Study
Author: City of Stonnington
Year: 2016
Grading: A2
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ARMADALE PRIMARY SCHOOLVictorian Heritage Register H1640
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ARMADALE HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0637
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STONINGTONVictorian Heritage Register H1608
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