Granby Terrace: 11-15 Clifton Street, Richmond. Melbourne, Victoria

Granby is a row of three double storey terraces. The cartouche on the central parapet includes its name and date of construction – 1880.

The terrace is typical of the kind built toward the top of the hill in Richmond in the early 1880s but with notable refinement of its verandah ornament.

Set back from the street, Granby’s rendered facade features a high parapet on the mid terrace with a arched cartouche flanked by scrolls. The long bold cornice is supported by a row of evenly spaced brackets below which is a frieze with patterns in rectangular blocks dispersed between the brackets and a row of medallions below. The party walls emerge below the cornice to frame the verandah and are topped by urn like finials and each level decorated by acanthus scroll corbells. They continue out to before becoming a palisade fence to frame the courtyard.

The verandah has a corrugated iron roof which is not visible from the street. It is dressed in decorative iron lace. However the upper sections are unusual, with the focus on the frieze and brackets, framed in wood, rather than the very fine cast iron fringe. Each house is divided into two bays by the central column which also features wooden brackets. Cast iron is again refined and restrained on the balcony which has spaced patterned panels. The terrace is wide enough for just one large room on each floor with one tall double hung window in each bay on the upper facade while on the ground level a single large window opening with side panels and large Victorian door with rectangular surround featuring tinted glass panels and stencilwork in the skylight.

Granby is part of the Richmond Hill Heritage Precinct covered by City of Yarra heritage overlay HO334.

I am not certain as to the origin of the terrace’s name.  If anyone knows anything I’d love to hear your comments.