Shop and Residence, later Shakespeare Hotel, 165-167 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Graeme Butler and Associates01/07/1989
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Title:
Shop and Residence, later Shakespeare Hotel, 165-167 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
01/07/1989
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 103598
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
Period: 1850-1875Date of construction: 1858Notable features: Old sign south face.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1989, LITTLE BOURKE STREET PRECINCT CONSERVATION STUDYHistoryBuilt: Reconstruction 1858-9, renovation 1871Robert Deane was the grantee in 1840, subdividing almost immediately and selling at least two of the lots to Redmond Barry, noted solicitor and later a judge. 1 However, this lot was created in 1843 when Christian Brown sold it to William Cameron and Elizabeth Masson for £112/10/-In 1858, Elizabeth sold to Joseph Lyons (£670), who resold almost immediately to Dr. Alex Fisher who mortgaged it for £800. Fisher lived in the house, then 4 rooms with kitchen and stable and numbered '81 Stephen Street’ 3. Fisher appears to have also leased one of a group of similarly described houses in the 1850s, each 4 rooms and of brick, which had replaced timber houses on the site in 1853-44 This was during Masson and Cameron's tenure. After Fisher acquired the site, the valuation doubled and the room count increased to six 5.Hodgkinson's 1853 survey of Melbourne shows two brick verandahed buildings on this and the adjoining site. Number 163 was also verandahed but of timber 6. Fisher's sale to Mark Moss, in 1867, preceded major renovations to this building in 1871. However, prior to this, Fisher had already built a three-storey house (probably former 169-171 Exhibition Street 1) in 1858. This may have survived until c1971.The sign 'Shakespear Hotel' was revealed on the upper side of 165-167, after demolition of 163, indicating an earlier date for this building. Mark Moss bought the adjoining lot on the south (163) in 1866 and this lot in the following year, paying £700 and £1075, respectively. It is probable that he built 163 soon after covering up his own sign and demolishing an existing cottage. Despite Mark Moss's ownership of the land from 1867, it was Henry Mays, an hotel broker, who arranged for additions to what had become the Shakespeare Hotel, in 1871.8 Renovation of the house probably converted it to its present commercial form then. Mays occupied the hotel from the late 1860s, sharing it with the long term lessee, Abraham Levi (clothing warehouse).9 The German, Jewish and retail clothing occupation continued with Jacob Richards into the 1890s, prior to a long tenancy by Philip Schuler, a hairdresser and tobacconist. 10 Margaret Lawler of Camberwell was the owner throughout the latter period. 11 L.H. Lim, a herbalist, was the only known Chinese occupant 12.A photograph from the c1870s shows this building as part of a continuous early commercial, mainly two-storey streetscape. It appears 10 have a street verandah and the publican's lamp is suspended on a long arching bracket fixed to the parapet. The contrast between the red face brick and cemented mouldings is also evident.DescriptionA conservative Italian Renaissance revival upper level facade of (painted) face brickwork, with cement details including architraves and window sills, presumably from the 1871 renovation. The lower level has been renewed with new shop front and stuccoed piers. A sign 'SHAKESPEAR HOTEL 3d' has been painted {black on white) on the recently revealed south wall. A cast- iron vent in the footpath reveals the former cellar below and presumably allowed kegs to be loaded into it. The outline of a single storey gabled roof house. is on the south elevation.External IntegrityBricks painted, shopfronts renewed, canopy added.Streetscape:Part of an old commercial streetscape extending around into Bourke Street as Longs 1853 chemist shop.SignificanceAn early surviving face-brick building in the CAD, among the earliest group of shops and residences, part of an early commercial Streetscape and, for a short period, a public house.. Its Jewish ownership and occupancy marks the early stages of the precinct's occupation by this ethnic group which occurred principally after the Hebrew Congregational Synagogue and School was established at 275-285 Exhibition Street in 1860.Contributes to precinct.NOTES1 SN 23032 '2 SN 318873 RB1865,890: RB1859, 1534 RB1853, 1221f timber: RB1854,821f brick;5 RB1859,1536 C. Hodgkinson. 'Survey or the Sewerage and Water Supply of Melbourne·(May to April 1853)7 RB1873, 19098 BA 45489 D186910 D1900-D192011 RB1935, 1248: RB1905,150412 D1939.Lewis, M. Australian Architecture Index:HENNESSY & LALOR: Tenders wanted - erection of additions to Shakespeare Hotel, Stephen St., for H.J. May.Argus 4.9.1871, p 3;75320 Fisher, Dr Alexander Melbourne VIC Houses Stephenson, Henry - Cardigan St 1858 10 14 809 MCC registration no 809 [Burchett Index]. Fee 2.10.0three-storey house - Stephen (Exhibition) near Bourke.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites `Victoria Illustrated': 165;
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Research and reports
Record number:
1207544
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 103598 | 1 PDF : 768 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |