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John Spencer's row houses, 1-3 Youngs Lane, North Melbourne, now 40A-40B Molesworth Street, North Melbourne

Allom Lovell & Associates, 1981-2005Jul-99
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Title:
John Spencer's row houses, 1-3 Youngs Lane, North Melbourne, now 40A-40B Molesworth Street, North Melbourne
Date of work:
Jul-99
Reference number:
110269 110270
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materials
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access
Use restrictions:
Refer to individual item records for Use Restrictions.Please contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
Grading as at 1999 : CPeriod : Mid Victorian (1884)___________________________ALLOM LOVELL & ASSOCIATES 1999 CITY OF MELBOURNE HERITAGE REVIEWHistory- The two houses at 1-3 Youngs Lane first appear in the rate books for 1884-85, described as a pair of three-room brick dwellings each with a Net Annual Value of £20. Youngs Lane was not known as such at that time, and the houses were addressed only as 'off Molesworth Street', between Nos 52 and 54. The property at No 54 was a four-room brick house that had been erected by John Gardiner, a constable, in 1880. Gardiner sold off the rear portion of his block to John Spencer, who erected the pair of houses known as 1-3 Youngs Lane. The first occupants of the houses were James Mason, a bootmaker and James Honer, a labourer. By 1886, the houses were acquired by Isaac Levi, who also owned six adjacent houses in nearby Molesworth Street.Description- They are a pair of single-storey painted brick houses, with corrugated galvanised steel gable roofs concealed behind parapets. These parapets, which are presently hidden by ivy, have concave corners and half-round pediments. The façade to each house has a pair of timber-framed casement windows, which are not original, and a timber door.Significance- They are of local historical importance, being a rare surviving example of simple workers' housing that have their principal frontage to a laneway rather than to a street. As such, they demonstrates speculative and unplanned type of residential settlement in North Melbourne, of which little evidence now remains.
Record types:
Images, maps and artefacts
Record number:
1526994
TypeReference No.ExtentStatus/Desc
Copy1102691 JPEG : 284 KB ; A4Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced)
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