A House in Ararat

This sweet little deco house is in the Victorian town of Ararat.

I really like the porthole window near the door. It is framed in the same bricks that have been used in the two lines that run around the entire front of the house.

It is difficult to see in the top photo but the corners of the house are curved and the windows cut across them to creating an interesting effect. I also like the small eyebrow above the window on the right hand side of the house.

Town Hall, Numurkah

The Town Hall in Numurkah was designed by Melbourne architects A C Leith & Bartlett. It was constructed in 1938 by builder L L Bode of Seymour.

An article in The Argus at the time specifically mentions the arrangment of the windows for the main hall. ' ... two rows of square glass panels, separated by dark-toned bricks running the full length of the hall.'

The artical also talks of a planned projection room with 'the equipment mounted on special swivel gear' to allow screenings in the auditorium or an open-air theatre at the rear of the building.

I wonder if the projection room was installed. It isn't mentioned in the Argus article when the Town Hall was offically opened on 16th November 1938 by then neither is the brick decoration spelling out the words 'TOWN HALL' above the door.

References:
NEW TOWN HALL FOR NUMURKAH. (1938, February 25). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), p. 4. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11151660

NEW TOWN HALL AT NUMURKAH. (1938, November 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), p. 14. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12064030

Hamilton Railway Station

The railway came to Hamilton in the 1870s long before the Art Deco period but obviously something happened in that interwar period and they built a new entrance to the station.

Perhaps they built a whole new facade. When I explored around the corner of the building, the side was constructed from weatherboard so perhaps a new concrete or rendered front was put onto the old wooden station.

The trains no longer stop at Hamilton but the large station building is used for buses and coaches.

Reference:
Wikipedia - Hamilton Railway Station

Cenotaph, Griffith

Seventy-one years ago today, the cenotaph in Griffith, NSW was dedicated. It is no accident that the days coincide. Anzac Day, 25th April, is one of the most observed days in Australia. As the numbers of actual veterans of war have declined over the years I think the commemoration of those killed during conflict has become stronger. The waste of life on all sides has come into sharper focus and while we honour their memory, their are possibly moe people opposed to war today than at any point in our history.

So, on 25th April 1940, the cenotaph in Griffith was dedicated to 'our glorious dead' from WWI. Additional plaques have been added for those who 'made the supreme sacrifice'.

The Register of War Memorials in New South Wales says 'pencil perspective drawings were done by Arthur Buckley Long with Allan Brayne doing the dimensions and working drawings'. I think you'll agree they designed an impressive and fitting memorial.

LEST WE FORGET

Reference:
Griffith Cenotaph, Register of War Memorials in New South Wales

Target Country, Hamilton

This impressive metal lettering spelling out the word IMPORTERS belongs to, what is now, the Target Country store in Gray Street, Hamilton. It possibly dates from the time when the building was owned by David Laidlow & Co (who also owned Millers Department Store which was next door in Gray Street).

Early this century, the building was extensively damaged by fire and the subsequent rebuilding brought the unexpected benefit of exposing some the original facade that had been covered by cladding. To their credit, the owners Coles Myer, restored the facade to its original appearence.

In an earlier form, G J Coles & Co, made structural alterations to the building in 1936, probably using designs by Harry Norris who worked on many Coles stores.

Reference:
Hamilton - Art Deco & Modernism, Diane Luhrs & Linley Bramall, 2011

Fourteen Peterleigh Grove, Essendon

A couple of recent posts on Andrew's excellent High Riser blog (I see deco #1 & I see deco #2) prompted me to revisit my photos of Peterleigh Grove in Essendon. And while Andrew does refer to me and this blog in those posts, I have been a follower for some and often find myself lingering there jumping from item to item on his wide-ranging topics. But Art Deco is my thing so back to the topic in hand.

Peterleigh Grove is a magnificent residential street with most of the houses dating from 1939 and through the early years of WWII.

I've featured some of the houses in the street already and you can find all the posts here and today I'm giving you a glimpse of No. Fourteen.

Reference:
Art Deco in the Western Suburbs tour booklet, Art Deco and Modernism Society

Shops, Griffith

A pair of deco shops in Banna Avenue, Griffith, NSW.

Beaumont Estate, Ivanhoe

The Beaumont Estate in Ivanhoe was developed by A V Jennings from the 1930s. It includes a range of interwar housing styles by architect Edgar Gurney including English Domestic Revival, French Provincial and Modernist.

These flats are in Melcombe Road, near the entrance to the estate. I believe they were used as the sales office when the estate was being developed. I didn't see anything else like them in the surrounding streets which have almost exclusively family homes.

What about those amazing bushes (!!!) either side of the driveway. Eighty years ago they probably were small bushes but now they are fully sculptured trees although the one on the left, as we look at the driveway, seems a bit woolly at the top. Perhaps the extension lead on the electric trimmer doesn't quite reach that far.

And I do like a low wall where the beauty of the building is still there for all to see after all these years.

Reference:
Beaumont Estate Heritage Guidelines, Banyule City Council, Prepared by Andrew Ward Architectural Historian with Ian Wight Planning and Heritage Strategies, Adopted: 16 May 2005