Melbourne Heritage Watch

Taking a Long Break …

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:42:47 +0000

Melbourne Heritage Watch is taking a break for some soul searching. When it will be back I can’t say. Many thanks to our avid readers.

Lonsdale House demolition has begun

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:45:10 +0000

The complete demolition of Lonsdale House begins this weekend with the closure of Caledonian Lane and will take place over the next couple of weeks. George Lekakis of the Herald Sun ran a story this week on the fate of the Melbourne landmark this week – “Melbourne’s heritage building Lonsdale House lost to wrecker’s ball“. Although [...]

Park Orchards Chalet survives redevelopment plans

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:54:58 +0000

It seems that the historic 1928 Spanish Mission revival architecture of the Park Orchards Chalet will live to see another day after Manningham City Council rejected a redevelopment plan to demolish most of it and replace it with a nursing home. The large former home, located in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs was used by the [...]

North Melbourne landmark deco hotel being demolished

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:18:23 +0000

2010 is not off to a great start for appreciators of Melbourne’s art deco heritage, with the heritage listed art deco hotel in North Melbourne currently called the “Red Back” (formerly the Royal) currently being completely demolished to make way for student accomodation. RealestateSource.com.au reported recently that the developer requested a permit upon purchasing the [...]

Heritage tragedy at “The Terricks”, Hawthorn

admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 03:31:31 +0000

The Leader has another story about Hawthorn’s heritage character being compromised. This time, the redevelopment of the Victorian mansion “The Terricks” described as a tragedy by Hawthorn historian Gwen McWilliam. The Terricks, a classically designed “Marvellous Melbourne” mansion dates to 1882 and was designed by one of Melbourne’s most significant firms Reed and Barnes. Despite [...]

Not a great time to be tudorbethan

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:46:34 +0000

Its been a bad day for tudor revival buildings. Just read that the state government is compulsorily carving up a historic property Westerfield’s to build a new freeway… The 1929 house it seems was saved through a heritage listing. On Mount Dandenong a suburb that’s character is defined by the Tudor Revival movement, a double storey interwar [...]

Former Surrey Hills Post Office demolished

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:09:09 +0000

A great little example of the Edwardian heritage of Surrey Hills in Melbourne’s east is gone as the local council did not move to protect it. The historic building at 609 Canterbury Road has been bulldozed. The polychromatic Federation Freestyle building had been restored as recently as the 1990s and ironically was for many years home [...]

Gardenvale Railway Station House destroyed by fire

admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:04:27 +0000

The Gardenvale Railway Station’s station house at Gardenvale station on the Sandringham line was destroyed by a suspicious fire this morning. The main weatherboard and hipped corrugated iron roofed station building was constructed in 1904.

Fitzroy deco gem demolished

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:08:27 +0000

Very sad times for Melbourne art deco fans. The long protracted death of Penfold’s buildings, a stunning but derelict moderne-style tram shed on the corner of Brunswick Street and Victoria Parade has inally reached its climax. One of the rare works of reknowned interwar architect Harry Norris, the result of a remodelling of an 1880s cable [...]

Hawthorn’s historic Avoncourt smashes real estate records

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:11:52 +0000

A new property sale record for Melbourne, was set by the heritage Avoncourt mansion- a mere $25 million. More proof that restored heritage homes still cuts it for at least some of the city’s elite. Avon Court is part of the historic St James Estate at 20 Shakespeare Grove, a pocket of heritage homes on [...]