A Large Victorian Italianate Villa - The Grove, Coburg
This large Victorian Italianate villa was constructed circa 1891, probably to the design of architects Little and Beardsley, as part of the former Moreland Park Estate in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg.
Built at the entrance to the Moreland Park Estate on Coburg's most prestigious elm lined street, The Grove, this villa is a mirror to that of its neighbour on the opposite side of the street, "Holyrood". These sentinals of Victorian upper middle-class respectability, wealth and aspirations to climb socially would have been very impressive when all that surrounded them was open famland. This villa represents the brief initial period of development prior to the bust of the 1890s and subsequent housing boom of the early 20th Century, in which much of Coburg's residential development occurred.
This single storey, Italianate style residence has a return verandah with elegant cast iron lacework. The roof is made of slate tiles with a geometric pattern laid out as part of the design, whilst the verandah is of corrugated iron. Its four chimneys are tall and corniced and its has its original mock ashlar walls. Perhaps its most outstanding feature is a distinctive pyramidal roofed low tower over the entryway,
The Grove, was part of the Moreland Park Estate. This was Coburg's most prestigious subdivision in the 1880s. In 1882 Charles Moreland Montague Dare, a St Kilda businessman, bought Jean Rennie's forty acre farm and, with his architect, T. J. Crouch, subdivided thirty acres of it into 147 allotments. The Grove was originally christened Moreland Grove after its owner. A covenant was placed on the subdivision prohibiting the building of hotels or shops, or any house under the value of 400 pounds. By 1890 there were twenty-four brick houses on the estate, twenty one of them owned by Charles Moreland Montague Dare himself. There was a caretaker to tend the streets, the wooden pavilion and the tennis courts, which soon became a bowling rink to suit the more sedate interests of the residents. Men of substance, including a banker, a merchant, a manufacturer and several civil servants and accountants lived on the estate and the Moreland Park Ladies' College in The Grove offered a genteel education. By the 1890s the Melbourne property boom had burst and by 1900 there were still only twenty seven houses in The Grove and many vacant allotments; Charles Moreland Montague Dare's own place at "Moreland Park", a ten acre property on Merri Creek, added to the rural atmosphere. In 1896 Dare fell into financial difficulties and had to transfer many of his properties to the Australian Widows' Fund Life Assurance Society. In 1900 he owned only seven houses, a few allotments and Moreland Park. He died in 1919.
A Large Victorian Italianate Villa - The Grove, Coburg
This large Victorian Italianate villa was constructed circa 1891, probably to the design of architects Little and Beardsley, as part of the former Moreland Park Estate in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg.
Built at the entrance to the Moreland Park Estate on Coburg's most prestigious elm lined street, The Grove, this villa is a mirror to that of its neighbour on the opposite side of the street, "Holyrood". These sentinals of Victorian upper middle-class respectability, wealth and aspirations to climb socially would have been very impressive when all that surrounded them was open famland. This villa represents the brief initial period of development prior to the bust of the 1890s and subsequent housing boom of the early 20th Century, in which much of Coburg's residential development occurred.
This single storey, Italianate style residence has a return verandah with elegant cast iron lacework. The roof is made of slate tiles with a geometric pattern laid out as part of the design, whilst the verandah is of corrugated iron. Its four chimneys are tall and corniced and its has its original mock ashlar walls. Perhaps its most outstanding feature is a distinctive pyramidal roofed low tower over the entryway,
The Grove, was part of the Moreland Park Estate. This was Coburg's most prestigious subdivision in the 1880s. In 1882 Charles Moreland Montague Dare, a St Kilda businessman, bought Jean Rennie's forty acre farm and, with his architect, T. J. Crouch, subdivided thirty acres of it into 147 allotments. The Grove was originally christened Moreland Grove after its owner. A covenant was placed on the subdivision prohibiting the building of hotels or shops, or any house under the value of 400 pounds. By 1890 there were twenty-four brick houses on the estate, twenty one of them owned by Charles Moreland Montague Dare himself. There was a caretaker to tend the streets, the wooden pavilion and the tennis courts, which soon became a bowling rink to suit the more sedate interests of the residents. Men of substance, including a banker, a merchant, a manufacturer and several civil servants and accountants lived on the estate and the Moreland Park Ladies' College in The Grove offered a genteel education. By the 1890s the Melbourne property boom had burst and by 1900 there were still only twenty seven houses in The Grove and many vacant allotments; Charles Moreland Montague Dare's own place at "Moreland Park", a ten acre property on Merri Creek, added to the rural atmosphere. In 1896 Dare fell into financial difficulties and had to transfer many of his properties to the Australian Widows' Fund Life Assurance Society. In 1900 he owned only seven houses, a few allotments and Moreland Park. He died in 1919.