HOUSE
33 THOMAS STREET, MOONEE PONDS, MOONEE VALLEY CITY

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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
33 Thomas Street, Moonee Ponds, a bluestone mid-Victorian house, built c1877, is significant.
Significant fabric includes:
original single-storey, symmetric building form oriented towards the west;
original hipped roof forms;
basalt walls, stone window sills, and brick quoins; and
original pattern of openings.
The rear extension, verandah and fence are not significant.
How is it significant?
33 Thomas Street, Moonee Ponds, is of local historical significance and rarity value to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
33 Thomas Street, Moonee Ponds, is historically significant as an early house in Moonee Valley, dated to the 1870s, and predating the 1888 subdivision of this area as the Hoddle Estate. Its orientation to the west, now a side boundary, is a tangible illustration of its pre-subdivision origins. The physical form and fabric of the house are expressive of this early date, particularly the use of bluestone (basalt) dimension stone with more expensive brick dressings to window openings. The M-hipped roof form is in keeping with its mid-Victorian build date, without the level or ornamentation seen on Italianate houses from the mid-1880s onward. (Criterion A)
33 Thomas Street is a rare example of the use of stone in residential construction in Moonee Valley. Stone, Moonee Ponds, is an atypical residential building material and rare amongst places on the Heritage Overlay. Houses in the City of Moonee Valley are most commonly of brick or timber construction. Bluestone was the first stone to be used in the Melbourne area, and is indicative of the early phase of development. 33 Thomas Street is a rare example of a house using bluestone as its main construction material, with only one other example identified (HO303 24 Ascot Vale Road, Flemington). (Criterion B)
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HOUSE - Physical Description 1
The single-storey bluestone house at 33 Thomas Street, Moonee Ponds, is located in close proximity to the Moonee Valley Racecourse. The residence is on the north side of the street, which doglegs around the north-western boundary of the racecourse and connects to Wilson Street, an arterial road. The carpark for the patrons is on the opposite side of the street. 33 Thomas Street has a relatively generous setback, in line with the later numbers 29 and 31 to the west of the site.
The original bluestone house is relatively modest in scale compared to other later residences in the street. The primary elevation was changed to the south as the result of subdivisions. As evidenced in the historical research, the Victorian-era residence was initially oriented to the west, which explains why its M-hipped roof is oriented to the side of the site. The recent boxy two-storey addition at the rear is visible in oblique views from the street frontage, though it is no higher in height and sits entirely behind the original roof form. To the rear of the house, there is a new garage with pitched gable roof.
The exterior of the house at 33 Thomas Street is mainly of bluestone, with dressing of face red brick to the window architraves (these were commonly use for bluestone buildings as they created precisely dimensioned window and door openings). The window sills are of a different type or finish of stone. The house had been rendered over the stone and subsequently restored and repointed. The main entrance is on the west elevation, but not visible from the street. There are three rectangular windows with double-hung sashes under the verandah, and on the east elevation, there are two windows and a doorway, which may had been the rear entrance to the premises. The present verandah structure is a recent replacement with a skillion roof and simple timber posts. It returns around the west and south elevations only. All chimneys have been removed, coinciding with the 2015 replacement of the corrugated iron roof with slate.
The brick-paved front yard and garden beds are of modern construction. The picket fence and gate on the street boundary is also recent addition.
33 Thomas Street, Moonee Ponds, is of moderate integrity with few changes visible to original or early elements of the place. The building retains its basic original building form and roof forms, basalt walls, stone window sills, and brick dressings.
The integrity of the building is diminished by the 1950s additions, loss of the original verandah and though the simplified replacement interprets the original appearance of the house.
The integrity of the place is diminished by subdivision that has constricted the setting of the building (the main facade of which originally presented to the west) and thereby compromising the orientation and appearance of the house. The positioning of the front door on a side elevation does, however, indicate the pre-subdivision origins of this house along with its bluestone construction.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Stage 1 Heritage Gap Study
Author: Context PL
Year: 2013
Grading:Moonee Valley - Moonee Valley 2017 Heritage Study
Author: Context
Year: 2019
Grading:
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