165-171 Australia Street, Camperdown. Sydney, New South Wales
Terrace Houses: 165-171 Australia Street, Camperdown. Sydney, New South Wales.
This row of eight double storey terrace houses has a former corner store on its end terrace situated on the corner of Lands Lane. The row runs along Australia Street between Federation Lane and Lands Lane.
The houses themselves are built up to the property line on the street with their double storey veranahs. There are parapets on each house in the Melbourne style, however they stagger up the hills either singularly or in pairs in typical Sydney fashion. The parapets hide the steeple of large gabled corrugated iron roofs with chimeys. They have a central raised curve simulating a semi-circular pediment atop a set of string courses and a circle motif with a heavy cornice below. The party walls are decorated with scrolls at the upper level and acanthus leaves and scrolls at the lower level.
The verandahs are dressed in iron lace with delicate fringes, balustrades and grille columns marking the entry ways. Some of the balconies have been built in and some of the terraces have had their render removed to expose their brickwork. Some of the corrugated iron verandah roofs retain their original alternating colour bands of maroon and white.
A great shot of the terraces in their pre-painted state during the 1980s
The end terrace has some italianate features including window sashes and a chamfered verandah. The bottom balcony has been built in to provide room for the shop with a set of arched windows acting as a shopfront.
It is difficult to date these terraces as they may have been modified, however due to the restrained ornament and composition I would guess at late 1870s.
What a delight it was in the 80s to see so many unrenovated Terraces. One feels a stronger connection to the past when finding untampered – with terraces than when such buildings are
” tastefully ” restored. A kind of elegant aging.