King Ethelbert School, Birchington-on-Sea

King Ethelbert School in Birchington-on-Sea

A House in Devonport

This is a house in Devonport, Tasmania caught in the early morning light.

I especially like the circle motif that is included in the metalwork of the fence, gate and railings on the steps up to the front door.

It is even featured at window-level on the chimney.

Merri Park Sports Ground, Northcote

This gateway was erected in 1937 to commemorate the opening of the Merri Park Sports Ground. The curving stepped metal railings are pure Art Deco.

Roosevelt Middle School, San Francisco

In 1928 San Francisco architects, Miller and Pflueger, won the bid to bid a new building for the Roosevelt Junior High School.

They choose to build the school using brick, a rare choice after the 1906 earthquake, and were probably influenced by the Dutch Expressionist buildings and the Dutch Pavilion at the 1925 Paris Exposition.

The building opened in August 1930 and as the Roosevelt Middle School is still used for education today.

References:
Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger, Therese Poletti

Drinking Fountain, Carlton North

Unlike yesterday's sad example, this drinking fountain is in much better condition. Perhaps because it is in Curtain Square, a park just off busy Rathdowne St in Carlton North, it has avoided the worst of any vandalous attacks.

The inscription on this fountain reads

PRESENTED TO THE
CITIZENS OF MELBOURNE
BY
ALDERMAN
SIR WM. BRUNTON KB
(LORD MAYOR OF MELBOURNE 1923-26)
1930

Disused Drinking Fountain, Northcote.

A deco drinking fountain, non-operating, near the corner of St Georges Road and Merri Parade in Northcote.

Once it held a place of honour in the community and provided a function of drinking water for walkers and cyclists using the nearby Merri Creek Trail. Now it is unloved and unused.

A plaque on the other side reads

Erected by Citizens of Northcote
In Memory of
Cr Joseph Henry Green JP
Elected 27.6.1927 Mayor Year 1930-31
Died 22.9.1939

I wonder what those citizens and the late Cr Green's family would think of it now.

Ararat Hotel, Ararat

The Ararat Hotel, in Barkly Street, Ararat was built around the end of 1939 or the start of 1940. It must have caused quite a stir when it arrived in rural Victoria just a war was starting.

The main features are the large fins supporting the curved balconies about the main doorway.

Also there is a decorative Art Deco panel above each of the windows.

I'll have to go back when it is open and have a beer. All in the name of research, of course, to see if there is any decoration inside.

Reference:

Landmark Disappearing, COUNTRY NEWS. (1939, June 9). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), p9

Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12137293

Maller's Flats, Carlton North

These flats at the corner of Sutton St and Fenwick St, Carlton North were built in 1942 for Leba Maller.

As with flats and houses from this period in other parts of Melbourne different colour bricks are used as highlights. There is a line of dark bricks on the low wall and columns surrounding the property. Also on the facade of almost at the bottom of the upper and lower storey windows, at the top of the windows and on the chimney.

You may also have noticed the curved wall around the entrance and the stairwell constructed completely of dark manganese bricks that make this building unique in Carlton North, possibly all of Carlton, Melbourne or perhaps even the whole world.

Reference:
City of Yarra Review of Heritage Precincts 2007, Graeme Butler and Associates, p291