DOCTOR'S SURGERY, DENTISTS' SURGERY & RESIDENCE
57-59 THE CRESCENT, ASCOT VALE, MOONEE VALLEY CITY

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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The doctor's surgery (former) and residence at 59 The Crescent and the dentist's surgery (former) at 57 The Crescent, Ascot Vale, are significant. The doctor's surgery began as a house of c1889, which was given a new Federation Bungalow style front wing c1918 by owner Dr Sydney J Newing. Dr Newing then had the dentist's surgery built next door in 1922, which was occupied by his brother-in-law, dental surgeon Ambrose J McCormack. Dr Newing led the medical practice until 1936, after which it was taken over by Dr Grieve, 1936-1980, then his daughter, Dr Helen McCleave, with her husband, Dr. Peter McCleave, until 2003. Ambrose McCormack continued to practice in the dental surgery until the mid-1950s or later.
The doctor's surgery incorporates a single-storey, double-fronted c1889 hip-roofed dwelling hidden behind an L-shaped two-room addition of c1918. The front section has a gabled slate roof, and walls of red brick with black tuckpointing. The projecting front gable has a half-timbered treatment.
The dentist's surgery is a narrow building of a commercial type, in the Free Style, built to the front boundary, with the tiled roof hidden behind a front parapet.
Later alterations and additions, such as the front fence to No. 59 and the metal grilles to the facade of No. 57, are not significant.
How is it significant?
The doctor's and dentist's surgeries are of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
They are historically significant for their long use as local medical facilities (the doctor's surgery for over 85 years). (Criterion A)
The two buildings are aesthetically significant for their fine detailing and for the prominent position of the dental surgery vis-à-vis the Ascot Vale Railway Station. The doctor's surgery at No. 59 is distinguished as a high-quality Federation Bungalow with details of note including the leadlighted bow windows and circular pictorial window beneath the porch. The dentist's surgery is distinguished by its Free Style details including the unusual and picturesque front parapet which combines raking sides with a stepped central section, mirrored by a recessed rendered panel below, and framed by piers that extend above the parapet and are decorated with vertical strips. The render dressings and details retain their original unpainted finish, which is increasingly rare. The dentist's surgery retains leadlight windows and its original large front window with arched joinery. (Criterion E)
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DOCTOR'S SURGERY, DENTISTS' SURGERY & RESIDENCE - Physical Description 1
The doctor's surgery-residence at 59 The Crescent and dental surgery at 57 The Crescent are located mid-block on the west side of The Crescent, facing the Ascot Vale Railway Station, between St Leonards Road and McCully Street. The residence is a Federation Bungalow dwelling set back from The Crescent behind a brick fence (non-original) and landscaped front garden. To the south of the residence, the Free Style dental surgery is constructed to the front boundary, presenting an angled facade to meet The Crescent.
The doctor's surgery incorporates a single-storey 1889 hip-roofed dwelling hidden behind an L-shaped two-room addition of c1918. This front wing has a gabled slate roof and a prominent projecting front gable, with a massing that looks forward to the California Bungalows that were so popular during the 1920s. The walls are constructed in red face brick with dark tuckpointing. The gable treatment comprises half-timbering of pressed-metal sheets (to look like roughcast) and timber battens jettied over timber corbels. The wide eaves of the gable rest on triangular timber brackets. Beneath the projecting gable is a front porch accessed via a cement-render round-arch opening. Its form is mirrored on the wall behind it by a circular window with a broad render dressing and pictorial leadlight. The front facade contains two bow windows with leadlight highlights and casement windows, below eaves with decorative rafter tails.
The 1922 dental surgery is constructed in red face brick with faded white tuckpointing and unpainted cement-render dressings. The single storey surgery has a tiled hip roof hidden behind the front parapet. The front parapet is raked-stepped, flanked by two piers that extend above the parapet with cement-render coping and decorative vertical lines below. The distinctive parapet form is repeated below in a cement-render stylised blind arch with T-shaped tie, above a continuous unpainted cement lintel to the entrance and window. On the left-hand side of the facade the original inner and outer entrance doors have been lost, though black and red tessellated floor tiles survive. The front door and large front window retain geometrical leadlight highlights, and the front window has arched joinery. The south elevation presents a uniform brick wall to the vacant lot, while the northern elevation, visible due to the setback of the doctor's residence contains two one-over-one double-hung windows with leaded glass to the upper section and painted cement-render lintels. The aluminium grilles to the entrance and front window are recent additions.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley Heritage Study
Author: Context Pty Ltd, 2015
Year: 2015
Grading: LocalMoonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Stage 1 Heritage Gap Study
Author: Context PL
Year: 2013
Grading:
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