BURNIE BRAE
1245 Toorak Road CAMBERWELL, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
'Burnie Brae', 1245 Toorak Road, Camberwell, including the main house and surgery /garage, built in 1921 for Dr Hildred Carlile, with additions, including a new surgery, and hard landscaping undertaken by subsequent owner Dr F. Elliot True from 1930.
How is it significant?
'Burnie Brae' is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
'Burnie Brae' is significant as it illustrates the pattern of development of combined doctor's residences and surgeries and the provision of health services within the burgeoning suburbs during the early twentieth century. Constructed as a doctor's residence and surgery in 1921 for Dr Hildred Carlile, the property demonstrates a pattern of service of this type of health care as it served as the home and place of work of multiple doctors during its history. This included Dr Elliot True, who based his general practice there from 1923 and extended it to incorporate a surgery. The property is uncommon in that while it is apparent that the main house accommodated the surgery as did many doctor's residences from the nineteenth century onwards, there is evidence that the surgery was originally accommodated in a specific stand-alone building prior to it being extended to incorporate a garage in 1930. Dr True's significant roles with hospitals, most notably the Royal Women's Hospital as a member of the Honorary Staff and honorary inpatient surgeon, saw him play a key role in the establishment of, and ongoing fundraising for, the Burwood and Hartwell branch of the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) Auxiliary in 1925, being the second oldest RCH Auxiliary in the City of Boroondara after that of Hawthorn established in 1922 (Criterion A).
The 1921 main house is aesthetically significant as a fine and externally intact example of the Californian Bungalow style with Federation undertones in the use red brick and render dressings and Arts and Crafts influences in the prominence of the chimney detail to the principal facade and the render reveals to the window openings. Significant bungalow details include the timber work front porch that exhibits Japanese influences in its carpentry details. The outbuilding, incorporating the garage and former surgery of Dr Carlile, exhibits similar render details as the house. Additional details of note include the little-known application of the single sash window, the detail of which saw the sash retract into a wall cavity above the window opening. (Criteria D and E)
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BURNIE BRAE - Physical Description 1
Description & Integrity
The subject property comprises a single-storey residence with detached garage, both within a garden setting. The garage is accessed via a gravelled driveway off Toorak Road, along the east boundary of the property. The pedestrian entrance is located toward the south-west corner of the property (Figure 257).
The design is based on a double fronted plan with central entry to the principal facade, with a recessed extension located on the eastern elevation. It is constructed from red pressed bricks with painted cement render window surround details, and a terracotta Marseille tile hipped roof incorporating a transverse gabled porch. A prominent face-mounted brick chimney is located adjacent to the porch, with an unpainted render and brick capping detail that incorporates a mini buttress; the chimney extends through the eave of the main roofline overhead. A projecting wing constructed c.1939 at the rear of the residence, extends toward the north and conceals several later additions of varying dates that are apparent in aerials (Figure 255 andFigure 257).
The transverse gabled porch at the centre of the principal elevation is Japanese-inspired with timber detailing, supported on brick and render piers. Low rendered walls flank the steps leading up to the porch. The front door is asymmetrically located adjacent to a side window and a high-level window that carries a similar glazing detail to the main windows seen throughout. The facade windows are divided into two separate sashes by a central mullion. The sash is further divided into two with a vertical glazing bar, with the top third horizontally divided and then vertically divided into four smaller panes. The sashes are operated by lifting vertically into a cavity above the window. Examples of this kind of sash were detailed in a 1926 issue of The Australian Home Beautiful (12 January 1926:52; Figure 261). An unusual corner window is seen on the southeast, which comprises the same arrangement on both faces with the corner delineated by a post. On the east elevation, the c.1939 wing incorporates a secondary entrance that appears to adopt similarly detailed cement moulding and timber side lights as those on the principal elevation.
An outbuilding to the north-east houses a garage and additional internal spaces. The hipped roof and red brick walls match that of the dwelling. A short, curved parapet on the roof suggests a later addition. The principal facade faces south and houses the original timber garage door and another corner window to the west. A soil vent pipe extending from the roof suggests an internal WC.
The front landscape features garden beds and a gravel-laid driveway. A tall hedge obscures views to the house from the street, however it is pierced by pedestrian and vehicular entrances to the property. A low clinker brick wall extends along the base of the wall, with openings flanked by piers.
While the house has been extended at the rear, confirmed by Council building records, it is apparent that the principal facade remains intact to that constructed in 1921, the footprint of the house according with that extant on the MMBW plan of 1925. As such, the presentation of the residence and outbuildings to Toorak Road are largely intact to their 1920s appearance.
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Municipal-Wide Heritage Gap Study: Vol. 2 Camberwell
Author: Context
Year: 2018
Grading:
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