Semi-detatched houses
17 Union Road and 19 Union Road ASCOT VALE, MOONEE VALLEY CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The semi-detached Edwardian Queen Anne pair at 17-19 Union Road, Ascot Vale, is significant. The pair was constructed as rental properties in c1914 for owner Thomas Barnby, who owned the nearby National Tower Hotel.
Significant elements include the:
original built form and hipped and gabled roof forms of the Edwardian pair;
roughcast and face brick surfaces, projecting square bays, original pattern of fenestration, stepped parapets, original chimneys and remaining terracotta chimney pots; and
decorative moulding and pediment, barge boards, bullnose verandahs and cast iron friezes, original window and door joinery and leadlight windows;
The rear extensions to the houses, the high front brick fences, and the glazed awning at the front of number 19 are not significant.
How is it significant?
The pair at 17-19 Union Road, Ascot Vale, is of local aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
The semi-detached pair at 17-19 Union Road, Ascot Vale, is of aesthetic significance for its unusual form and detail as applied to a house form that was common during the Edwardian period. While adopting typical elements of the house type and Queen Anne style, including separately massed roof form, strong gable-fronted elements dominating the front facade, red brick walls with smooth and roughcast render accents, chimneys with a red brick shaft and roughcast cap, cast-iron verandah ornament in a flat pattern that emulates timber fretwork, and banks of casement windows with highlights. It is distinguished from more typical examples by its massing and details. These include the massing of double-fronted houses to resemble a single-fronted house by means of the long pronounced gabled front roof, by the device of a projecting bay window that continues up to the eaves giving the dwellings a strong vertical emphasis, as well as exposing a greater depth of the boarded eaves lining creating a wings-like effect. Details of note include the Art Nouveau leadlight windows and the triangular pediment adorned with neoclassical bas-relief to the front windows, as well as the uncommon lattice pattern of the cast iron. (Criterion E)
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Semi-detatched houses - Physical Description 1
The dwellings at 17-19 Union Road, Ascot Vale, are sited on the western side of Union Road, a wide and busy road with a tramline, and a mixture of residential and commercial buildings. Crockford Lane forms the rear (western) boundary of the properties and provides secondary access to them.
The dwellings comprise a pair of semi-detached, single-storey red brick houses with a rendered stringcourse to the main elevation. Constructed in the Edwardian era, the matched pair of dwellings are Queen Anne in style. Each dwelling is double fronted in width, but the front facades is comprised of a single square central bay. They have hipped roofs over the rear half of the house with a gable-fronted roof to the front section. There are short bullnosed verandahs to either side of the project central bay with a cast-iron frieze and brackets in a lattice pattern. These very planar cast iron patterns were marketed during the Edwardian period, and attempted to emulate the flat appearance of the more up-to-date timber fretwork.
The dwellings are slightly asymmetrical in plan, with number 19 Union Road mirroring the layout of number 17, separated by stepped parapets to the common wall. The dwellings have six chimneys in total, with two shared chimneys to the central dividing wall: are all tall red brick with roughcast rendered chimney tops. Some of the chimneys retain their terracotta pots. The chimneys are restrained in the decorative detailing in comparison to others from the earlier Edwardian and Victorian eras but are typical of the 1910s.
The corrugated steel-clad roof is hipped at the main body of the dwellings with a prominent central gable to the main elevation, facing the street front. The gable ends have modest timber bargeboards with lobed ends. The timber finial to the gable end remains on 17 Union Road. There is a cream roughcast panel at the apex of the gable. Below this is a small circular air vent, with rendered moulding trim.
The centre of the main elevation has a shallow bay window which continues up to the apex of the gable. A rendered triangular pediment, with a neoclassical bas-relief, sits above the window. There are three decorative leaded glass casement windows to the front bay window that demonstrate elements of the Art Nouveau style.
The dwelling at 19 Union Road has a modern glass and metal-framed awning constructed in the front (east) courtyard that somewhat obscures views to the cottage. Both dwellings also have recent solar panels on the gable roof to the projecting bay. There is a high red brick fence at the Union Road boundary, which appears to be constructed at a relatively recent date. The houses sit behind a small courtyard and are both now largely obscured by the fence and vegetation. All of these changes, however, are considered reversible as they have not required the removal of original building fabric.
17-19 Union Road, Ascot Vale, is of high integrity with very few changes visible to original or early elements of the place. This pair of semi-detached residences retains their original building forms and original roof forms, verandahs, and fenestration.
The integrity of the buildings is enhanced by the high level of intactness of these main elements, which include the chimneys, party walls, unpainted face brick walls, detailing to gable ends, bay windows with decorative pediment, verandah decoration, and window and door joinery, including leaded glass sashes.
The integrity of the buildings is diminished by the rear extensions, although these are modest in size and scale and do not have any impact on the original roof forms.
The integrity of the place isdiminished by the high brick fence and the glazed awning (to Number 19) that obscures the main bay window.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley 2017 Heritage Study
Author: Context
Year: 2019
Grading:
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ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SHOWGROUNDSVictorian Heritage Register H1329
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FORMER ASCOT VALE TRAM SUBSTATIONVictorian Heritage Register H2323
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HOUSESMoonee Valley City
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"1890"Yarra City
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"AMF Officers" ShedMoorabool Shire
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"AQUA PROFONDA" SIGN, FITZROY POOLVictorian Heritage Register H1687
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'NORWAY'Boroondara City
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1 Mitchell StreetYarra City
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