McDonald house, 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Butler, Graeme18/1/1985
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Title:
McDonald house, 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
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Date of work:
18/1/1985
Reference number:
BIF-NORTH 107980
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Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
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Graphic materialsTextual material
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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GRAEME BUTLER 1983, CONSERVATION STUDY FOR THE CITY OF MELBOURNE OF NORTH AND WEST MELBOURNEGrading as at 1985: APeriod: Early Victorian (1857)Grantee: H Mendel 1854History- In 1857, this house was built for Alex McDonald, a coach builder, whose name appears on the parapet. He owned and occupied the house until 1873 when he left and proceeded to lease it to various tenants such as William Slocombe and wood merchants, Francis and Ellen Scully, from 1884. By 1888, the Scullys had purchased it, selling to the Australian Deposit and Mortgage Bank in 1906.Of note are the Alex McDonald Buildings at 604-6 Queensberry Street.Description- Described in 1858 as a brick house, with seven rooms and cellar. A quaint transverse-gabled and slated roof, face-brick cottage, in Flemish Bond, with a gabled central bay containing a four panel door, toplight and attic window over. Unusual, uneven window sashes are used as are eaves brackets which are incorporated into the gable as a masonry corbel. A sympathetic arrow-head picket fence has been built at the frontage and trim colours are also appropriate.Integrity - Generally original given above new fence and addition of an evaporative cooler at the attic; the barges appear to have been replaced.Streetscape- in a varied row of and earl v residential buildings including 594-88, 600-612.Significance - Architecturally, of an unusual small residential form, patterned on the Gothic Revival Picturesque cottage and more likely constructed for ecclesiastical purposes as a sexton's Iodge or parsonage (i .e. St. Peter's vicarage, Ross Street, Mornington; Secular examples include: 43 Were Street, Brighton. 37 Pakington Street, Kew; and 7 Walker Street, Northcote), also of sound face brickwork and given the earl v date, this is uncommon. (Compare with 159 Gipps Street, East Melbourne, 1862). It is also in a sympathetic 19th century setting: of State-wide importance.Historically, built by a prominent coach builder; being part of one of the areas typical industries of this area, relative to the metropolis: of regional importance.References:(RB= Rate book; D= Melbourne or Victoria Directory)1. National Trust File 2239, Anthony Hill, data sheet cite s rate book s, directories.___________________________RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2026VICTORIAN HERITAGE REGISTER H91Statement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The first North Melbourne lots were auctioned in 1852 and the area quickly developed as one of the setting out points for those heading for the goldfields. The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, was built in 1857. The house was constructed for Aiexander McDonald, a coach builder, whose name appears on the parapet. McDonald owned and occupied the house until 1873 after which he leased it to tenants. He sold the house in 1884. McDonald also built 604-606 Queensberry Street.The house was described in the rate book of 1858 as a brick house, with seven rooms and a cellar. The residence is a small one storey brick cottage with extensive cellar and attic. The gable roof contains attic accommodation. The house has a symmetrical facade to Queensbury Street, with a centrally placed front door flanked by a pair of plain, square headed sash windows. A small and steeply pitched transverse gable with finial and an attic window projects over the front door. The gable end has a plaque bearing the inscription '1857, Alexdr Mcdonald'. The roof, with bracketed eaves, is covered with slates.Internally the house retains little integrity as an 1850s cottage, most of the original layout and fabric being lost in the 1970s. A sympathetic arrow-head picket fence has been added to the small front garden.How is it significant?The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne is architecturally significant as a rare example of a picturesque Gothic cottage in metropolitan Melbourne. Despite being symmetrical, the use of the Gothic style incorporating picturesque elements such as face brickwork, a steeply pitched roof and a finial is representative of the pattern book style of picturesque architecture and was unusual for a town house of the period. The residence at 596 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, is of historical significance as one of the oldest extant houses in North Melbourne. This house survives in a row of varied commercial and residential buildings as a reminder of the early period of development in North Melbourne.
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1601011
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 107980 | 1 PDF : 2170 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |