45-53 Chaucer Street, Moonee Ponds. Melbourne, Victoria
Freestanding terraces at 45-53 Chaucer Street viewed from the north. Photo by Ian Macwhirter (all rights reserved) used with permission.
We’re extremely lucky to have such an avid readership and one passionate reader Ian Macwhirter, responded to our call for contributions with a photo and well written piece about a beautiful boom style freestanding terraces of Chaucer Street in Moonee Pond and provided permission to publish them here. Ian writes:
Chaucer Street is in a neighbourhood of streets named after famous British poets. This row of six free standing double storey terraces was built between 1888 and 1890. Similar rows of free standing terrace houses are rare in Melbourne and this row of six is unique to the area. The availability of land in this area at the time of building could account for the row’s design.
57-61 Eaglehawk Road, Ironbark. Bendigo, Victoria
Terraces: 57-61 Eaglehawk Road, Ironbark. Bendigo, Victoria
As a lover of both the gold rush city of Bendigo and the variety of terraced housing to be found there it is suprising to find that while heritage overlays exist across most of Bendigo, this single storey row of three homes simply named “Terraces” in suburban Ironbark is afforded no heritage protection. This is despite an Ironbark heritage study being published as recently as 2010.1
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Dorset Terrace: 136-144 St John Street, Launceston, Tasmania
Dorset Terrace
As far as terraces go, Launceston is definitely one of Australia’s most suprising cities. Its inner streets could be straight out of inner Sydney or Melbourne, all in a city a tenth the size of Adelaide such was the popularity of this housing style during its boom period. Despite all this, almost all prominent texts on the subject point to one example, Alpha Terrace (which will be posted in due course possibly due to its bizarre mix of Sydney and Melbourne idiosyncrasies), though in my personal opinion there are many more notable examples of the style, some on the same St John Street stretch, such as the spectacular heritage listed1 “Dorset Terrace”2 a row of five homes erected in 1888 and likely named after Dorset county in south west England, possibly overlooked due to its self aggrandizing Melbourne style.
4-16 Burton Street, Glebe. Sydney, New South Wales
Double storey row at 4-14 Burton Street Glebe Sydney New South Wales
Glebe, like Paddington is one of those areas where you can almost get lost in the uniformity of the long stretches of double storey terraces. Burton Street, set near the railway line, while not possessing many homes of great individual character is typically Sydney, but refreshingly different in its Victorian era charm with its narrow rising aspect and hodge podge of double and single storey terraces and styles. The longest row in the street is this unnamed row of five, erected in 1881.
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Baker’s Terrace: 156-184 Lake Street. Perth, Western Australia
This row of fifteen double storey terraces, erected in 1897 is the longest remaining in Perth and Western Australia.
It was named after a cartage contractor – Robert Baker.1
Purchased for speculative development in 1895, the land was part of the Northbridge estate, however was aimed at a middle class clientele and began selling in 1897. The row was purchased by Hyan Hester in 1921 and the houses progressively sold to individuals. 2
It was condemned by the government in the 1950s but was fortunately saved.3
The terrace received heritage listing in April 1996.4
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Shakspeare Terrace: 329-343 Punt Road. Richmond, Victoria
Shakespeare Terrace as viewed from Richmond station
Shakspeare Terrace (an obvious if curious mispelling of the famous Shakespeare) is a row of eight double storey Victorian Italianate terraces positioned as one of the most visible in Melbourne commanding a prime position between the Punt Road Oval (and iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground) and Richmond railway station, it is also one of the most sadly neglected terraces in Melbourne.
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17-23 Catherine Street. Maitland, New South Wales
Double storey terraces at Maitland, New South Wales
Maitland is one of those regional heritage cities that definitely punches above its weight when it comes to terraces. The city has some good examples of both double and single storey terrace housing that have their own regional variation and flavour. This row of four terraces in Catherine Street is particularly interesting for its detail and polychrome brickwork and refined use of ironwork verandah decoration.
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