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Pensford
528 Orrong Road, Cnr Avalon Road,, ARMADALE VIC 3143 - Property No B6643
Pensford
528 Orrong Road, Cnr Avalon Road,, ARMADALE VIC 3143 - Property No B6643
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Statement of Significance
Pensford is of Regional significance as an example of the work of the important Victorian architect, Walter Richmond Butler, and as an early and relatively uncommon instance of Art Nouveau influence on domestic architecture in Melbourne.
Butler was a notable member of the group of architects in Melbourne who promoted a range of red-brick styles from the 1880s until the 1900s, all based on Arts and Crafts ideals and deriving ultimately from English Domestic Revival sources.
These styles included the Melbourne domestic Queen Anne style. Butler's domestic work was generally for wealthy clients and much was in the Toorak and Armadale areas. His work was always distinctive and his houses before about 1905 in particular reflect strongly his English training and association with the leading English Arts and Crafts designers, Ernest Gimson and W R Lethaby. His later houses display increasing American influence, and the simplified manner of Pensford appears to be transitional between the largely English Vernacular Revival style of his earlier houses and the later American influences.
The stylised plant form decorations on the west parapet and chimneys at Pensford are early examples of Art Nouveau influence in domestic architecture in Melbourne. Comparable examples in domestic architecture appear to be relatively rare, and in Butler's work was surpassed only by his slightly later remodelling of Billilla.
The Significance of Pensford is enhanced by its association with the almost contemporary house Thurla, also designed by Butler on the adjoining property at 1 Avalon Road. Thurla displays similar stylistic characteristics, including Art Nouveau decoration, but in bungalow form contrasting with the more directly English-influenced two storey form of Pensford. Pensford also is significant as a house designed for Butler's brother, R H Butler, and for its name which commemorates Butler's birthplace.
Classified: 05/09/1994
Revised: 13/11/1995
Butler was a notable member of the group of architects in Melbourne who promoted a range of red-brick styles from the 1880s until the 1900s, all based on Arts and Crafts ideals and deriving ultimately from English Domestic Revival sources.
These styles included the Melbourne domestic Queen Anne style. Butler's domestic work was generally for wealthy clients and much was in the Toorak and Armadale areas. His work was always distinctive and his houses before about 1905 in particular reflect strongly his English training and association with the leading English Arts and Crafts designers, Ernest Gimson and W R Lethaby. His later houses display increasing American influence, and the simplified manner of Pensford appears to be transitional between the largely English Vernacular Revival style of his earlier houses and the later American influences.
The stylised plant form decorations on the west parapet and chimneys at Pensford are early examples of Art Nouveau influence in domestic architecture in Melbourne. Comparable examples in domestic architecture appear to be relatively rare, and in Butler's work was surpassed only by his slightly later remodelling of Billilla.
The Significance of Pensford is enhanced by its association with the almost contemporary house Thurla, also designed by Butler on the adjoining property at 1 Avalon Road. Thurla displays similar stylistic characteristics, including Art Nouveau decoration, but in bungalow form contrasting with the more directly English-influenced two storey form of Pensford. Pensford also is significant as a house designed for Butler's brother, R H Butler, and for its name which commemorates Butler's birthplace.
Classified: 05/09/1994
Revised: 13/11/1995
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ARMADALE PRIMARY SCHOOLVictorian Heritage Register H1640
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ARMADALE HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0637
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ST KILDA CEMETERYVictorian Heritage Register H1081
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