A Large Arts and Crafts Villa - Essendon
This splendid Reformist (Arts and Crafts) style villa situated in the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Essendon has been sympathetically renovated to give it a second floor.
Built between Federation (1901) and the Great War (1914), the wide half timbered barge boards beneath the eaves of the gables are 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. This is also reflected in the original garden wall surrounding the property.
The upper floor extension has the same half-timbered wall treatment as the original gables and it features rough cast stuccoed brick between the wood. The stained glass windows, whilst old, are from the more decorative Art Nouveau period.
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.
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, even before the extension!
A Large Arts and Crafts Villa - Essendon
This splendid Reformist (Arts and Crafts) style villa situated in the inner northern Melbourne suburb of Essendon has been sympathetically renovated to give it a second floor.
Built between Federation (1901) and the Great War (1914), the wide half timbered barge boards beneath the eaves of the gables are 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. This is also reflected in the original garden wall surrounding the property.
The upper floor extension has the same half-timbered wall treatment as the original gables and it features rough cast stuccoed brick between the wood. The stained glass windows, whilst old, are from the more decorative Art Nouveau period.
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.
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, even before the extension!