48-50 Villiers Street, North Melbourne
Butler, Graeme15 Jan 1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
48-50 Villiers Street, North Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
15 Jan 1985
Reference number:
BIF-NORTH 109861
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
Grading as at 1985 : APeriod : Early Victorian 1854Grantee : John Freer 1852Freer sold this land to John Corcoran in April 1853 for an inflated £464: the house was built by 1854 and Robert McFarland leased it for over ten years. In 1866, Corcoran subdivided it into two dwellings and leased it to a number of skilled and unskilled workers (e.g. Michael Moylan, a labourer and Robert Robertson, a painter). David Dempsey, an excavating contractor, who lived in 52 owned the house from 1885 until he sold it to George Ruddell, an estate agent, in 1895. Their tenants included Robert Hamilton, a slater and Patrick O'Brien, a labourer.The third owner, David Dempsey was an Irishman and arrived in Victoria during 1867. Setting up business as a contractor, he excavated the sites for such significant buildings as The Exhibition Buildings, the Collins Street ES&A Bank, the Metropolitan Tramway Building in Nicholson Street, and many other large buildings around Melbourne [Victoria and its Metropolis Vol IIB p 635]A double-fronted duplex pair of beaded-board wall and iron roof cladding, under which there were shingles. A timber verandah with a shingled and iron roof and a picket fence/balustrade front the building. The uneven pitch of the two roof hips suggests two stages of construction, but the twelve pane fenestration and four-panel door placement does not, being symmetrical about the centre. Notable features include the fence; verandah roof and structure.Architecturally, an original building evocative of construction techniques in today's metropolitan area. Other examples of which having all but been replaced by masonry structures or prevented initially by application of building by laws: of State-wide importance. Historically, it represents an old and rare building type in the metropolitan area and is associated with builders and contractors who were numerous in the study area: on this occasion, Dempsey, undertook regionally prominent projects: of regional significance.Generally original: except the patched roof suggests a missing chimney or roof vent.
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Record number:
1618994
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 109861 | 1 PDF : 887 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |