Hollyford: 57 St Vincent Place Sth, Albert Park. Melbourne, Victoria

Hollyford is a spectacular double fronted Victorian villa in the terrace style found overlooking Albert Parks beautiful St Vincents Gardens.  Built in 1873 in polychrome brick and render, this single storey terraced house features incredible detail typically associated with the Melbourne “boom style”.

Central to the design is the large rendered and unpainted parapet which hides a double hip roof.  A series of pediments is the most prominent architectural feature.  The first of which, a dramatic round pediment broken around an urn frames the cartouche with the name of the house.  A classical temple motif is flanked by unusually shaped scrolls above a knot linked circle balustrade with four festoon laden urns on pedestals dispersed between the two party walls.  A bold cornice features double brackets with medallions and other mouldings with a crowned triangular pediment breaking front in the centre.  The pediment has another cartouche with the date of construction above a pair of linked festoons.  The mouldings on the party walls add significant depth and detail to the facade and include faceted classical columns with ionic capitals.

The prominent verandah features proudly displays its corrugated iron roof.  It features a wooden frieze and cast iron lace fringe with round brackets and pendants.  However the gable, held up by two magnificently thick cast iron classical columns, is the feature which completes the dramatic centre of the house’s facade.  The gable is intricately detailed in wooden dentils and eave brackets.  The ground level facade is a intricate brickwork in hawthorn brick featuring orange, black and cream bricks resembling quoins and arching around the window openings with string course mouldings resembling stone.  The doorway features a stunning window surround complete with stained and etched glass composition and mouldings in the timber including a festoon in the arch above the door.

The gate is a heavy cast iron composition complimenting the dramatic centre facade and flanked by a palisade fence framing the small front courtyard.  The entry and balcony is paved in Victorian parquetry tile flooring.

It is heritage registered as part of the City of Port Phillip’s St Vincent Place precinct heritage overlay HO258.