Mid terraces. 82-102 Victoria Street. Potts Point, New South Wales

Not sure if the terraces at 82-102 Victoria Street in Potts Point have a name but the row of 13 would almost certainly have to be the longest row of three storey terraces in Australia in one of the most beautiful and interesting streets you will find in this country.

The row marches slightly downhill, and the backs of the terraces are highly visible from beneath the cliff in Woolloomooloo.  At street level, the tall terraces have their roofs completely hidden by the parapet which is a rather simplistic affair of repeated circular keystone balustrades.  Every set of about three  has a slightly different colour scheme. A repeated pattern adorns the frieze beneath a cornice.  The upper storey is quite plain, punctuating at the end each terrace with a pair of classical corbels and a down pipe.  There are two upper windows per terrace with a simple undressed classical ledge.

The verandah roof is corrugated iron, with an undressed bargeboard.  The effect accentuates the almost Georgian style of the upper storey.  It descends with grille columns that separate a pair of french doors.  The balcony has a very fine cast iron lacework pattern.

The bottom level has an arched door and triple arched window with sashes showing the Romanesque influence common to many Sydney terraces.  Solid looking cast iron ionic columns hold up the verandah above.  The original gates and posts are all intact.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this terrace is the archway creating a small alley midway down the row which is closed to cars but allows pedestrians through and may have once let horses through to rear stables.

I’m not certain of the date or architect, but the style and size would suggest that they date to the late 1880s, perhaps 1886-1887.