A Large Arts and Crafts Villa - Essendon
This splendid Reformist (Arts and Crafts) style villa is situated in one of the finer areas of the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Essendon. Built on the crest of a hill, it affords splendid views from its bay window and French doors, across the inner nothern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne all the way to the Dandenongs on the far east horizon.
Built between Federation (1901) and the Great War (1914), the wide shingled barge board beneath the eaves of the gable is very Arts and Crafts inspired, as is the choice of red brick to build the villa with. The latticed glass windows featuring blue stained glass diamond panes are also in keeping with the Arts and Crafts movement. The builder has shown his admiration for the Arts and Crafts movement by making the bricks real features in their design and layout across the differing sections of the facade.
Arts and Crafts houses challenged the formality of the mid and high Victorian styles that preceded it, and were often designed with uniquely angular floor plans. This is an example of a more traditional floor plan, featuring a central hallway off which the principal rooms were accessed.
Essendon was etablished in the 1860s and became an area of affluence and therefore only had middle-class, upper middle-class and some very wealthy citizens. A large villa like this built in one of the finer pockets of the suburb suggests that it was built for an aspiring upper middle-class family of some means. This villa would have required a small retinue of servants to maintain.
A Large Arts and Crafts Villa - Essendon
This splendid Reformist (Arts and Crafts) style villa is situated in one of the finer areas of the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Essendon. Built on the crest of a hill, it affords splendid views from its bay window and French doors, across the inner nothern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne all the way to the Dandenongs on the far east horizon.
Built between Federation (1901) and the Great War (1914), the wide shingled barge board beneath the eaves of the gable is very Arts and Crafts inspired, as is the choice of red brick to build the villa with. The latticed glass windows featuring blue stained glass diamond panes are also in keeping with the Arts and Crafts movement. The builder has shown his admiration for the Arts and Crafts movement by making the bricks real features in their design and layout across the differing sections of the facade.
Arts and Crafts houses challenged the formality of the mid and high Victorian styles that preceded it, and were often designed with uniquely angular floor plans. This is an example of a more traditional floor plan, featuring a central hallway off which the principal rooms were accessed.
Essendon was etablished in the 1860s and became an area of affluence and therefore only had middle-class, upper middle-class and some very wealthy citizens. A large villa like this built in one of the finer pockets of the suburb suggests that it was built for an aspiring upper middle-class family of some means. This villa would have required a small retinue of servants to maintain.