A Victorian Italianate Villa - Ascot Vale
Standing proudly behind its white picket fence, this large, double fronted symmetrical Victorian Italianate villa constructed in the 1890s is situated in the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale.
This single storey, Italianate style residence has a double bow front verandah with elegant cast iron lacework. The roof is made of slate tiles with metal capping and features ornate metal finials, whilst the verandah is made of corrugated iron. Two bay windows with decorative mouldings flank the glass pane front door. Its two chimneys are corniced and its has its original mock ashlar walls with stencil detailing.
Adding to the symmetry of the house are the two large pines that stand on either side of the photograph. Planted when the house was first built, they are part of a very formal garden of lawns and brick edged garden beds of perennials including geraniums, a few exotic palms and various useful plants such as rosemary and lavender. It was not unusual for the Victorians to have useful plants that were also asthetically pleasing in their gardens. The front garden is divided into two by a black and white tile garden path. The same pattern of black and white dimaonds appear on the verandah.
Ascot Vale, etablished in the late 1880s and early 1890s is bound in the west by the Maribyrnong River, in the north by Maribyrnong and Ormond Roads, in the east by the Moonee Ponds Creek, and in the south by Lyons Road, Epsom Road to the railway line thence generally north-east to Moonee Ponds Creek. Like its neighbouring suburb Flemington, Ascot Vale had a mixture of lower middle, middle and upper middle-class citizens. Situated on Union Road, this large residence would have been for the latter of these groups. Houses like these would have suited a large Victorian family, and would have required a small retinue of servants to maintain.
A Victorian Italianate Villa - Ascot Vale
Standing proudly behind its white picket fence, this large, double fronted symmetrical Victorian Italianate villa constructed in the 1890s is situated in the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale.
This single storey, Italianate style residence has a double bow front verandah with elegant cast iron lacework. The roof is made of slate tiles with metal capping and features ornate metal finials, whilst the verandah is made of corrugated iron. Two bay windows with decorative mouldings flank the glass pane front door. Its two chimneys are corniced and its has its original mock ashlar walls with stencil detailing.
Adding to the symmetry of the house are the two large pines that stand on either side of the photograph. Planted when the house was first built, they are part of a very formal garden of lawns and brick edged garden beds of perennials including geraniums, a few exotic palms and various useful plants such as rosemary and lavender. It was not unusual for the Victorians to have useful plants that were also asthetically pleasing in their gardens. The front garden is divided into two by a black and white tile garden path. The same pattern of black and white dimaonds appear on the verandah.
Ascot Vale, etablished in the late 1880s and early 1890s is bound in the west by the Maribyrnong River, in the north by Maribyrnong and Ormond Roads, in the east by the Moonee Ponds Creek, and in the south by Lyons Road, Epsom Road to the railway line thence generally north-east to Moonee Ponds Creek. Like its neighbouring suburb Flemington, Ascot Vale had a mixture of lower middle, middle and upper middle-class citizens. Situated on Union Road, this large residence would have been for the latter of these groups. Houses like these would have suited a large Victorian family, and would have required a small retinue of servants to maintain.