Carmel

44 Mathoura Road TOORAK, STONNINGTON CITY

All information on this page is maintained by Stonnington City. Click below for their website and contact details.

Stonnington City

44 Mathoura Rd, Toorak

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    Carmel - Physical Description 1

    'Carmel', at 44 Mathoura Road, Toorak, sits behind a medium-sized front garden on the east side of the street. Like other houses on the street, it has only modest side setbacks so massing is strongly oriented to the front.

    The house is two-storeys in height with red brick walls with render dressings (overpainted to the facade), and a slate-clad roof. The roof shows a clear break from the low M-profile hipped roof of the Italianate style. Instead it comprises two tall transverse gable roofs, with a lower hipped roof to the rear third of the building. The front transverse gable is intersected by a jerkin-head gable which is a defining feature of the front facade, providing a picturesque medieval appearance. The side gables have decorative timber trusses, also medieval in origin. The three visible chimneys comprise a tall rectangular plinth and a slender shaft with chamfered cornices, both of red brick, terminating in a delicate cement render cornice.

    The facade is asymmetrical in composition. The northern half sits beneath the jerkin-head gable which is ornamented by double bargeboards resting on brackets and a row of inset panels in the apex. Atop the gable is a finial, probably of lead. At ground floor level there is a canted bay window which terminates in a medieval-inspired parapet wall decorated with impressed rondels.

    The west side of the facade has a full-length verandah to the first floor with cast-iron posts and a Gothic Revival influenced balustrade in a trefoil pattern, along with solid brackets that may be of timber. At ground floor level, there is a recessed porch beneath a wide segmental arch.

    The windows have margin glazing to the upper sash or highlight and cement render surrounds imitating quoining (seen clearly on the south elevation). A very unusual feature, in keeping with the medieval inspiration, are heavy masonry mullions that hide the meeting rails of the double-hung sashes. The front doorway has a segmental arch, echoing that of the porch. The highlights and sidelights feature pictorial leadlight windows and the door is four panelled.

    The house sits behind a high brick front fence which partially obscures the ground floor. The only external alterations noted are the overpainting of the bricks of the front facade, and the addition of a single-storey room to the north-east corner of the house (not visible from the street).

    Local Historical Themes

    Carmel - Local Historical Themes

    This place illustrates the following themes, as identified in the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, rev. 2009):

    5.2 Governing Australia

    'Caramel' is also of associative interest for its connection with its first owner, politician John William Foster Rogers.

    8.2 Middle-class suburbs and the suburban ideal

    8.4.1 Houses as a symbol of wealth, status and fashion

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Stonnington - City of Stonnington Victorian Houses Study

    Author: City of Stonnington
    Year: 2016
    Grading: A1

• Attachments
  • citation
    
• Location map
• Explore related places
  • Show:
    -- select -- Nearby Places Same era

  • 
    PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 1467

    

    Victorian Heritage Register H1032
  • 
    COMO HOUSE

    

    Victorian Heritage Register H0205
  • 
    BARWON

    

    Victorian Heritage Register H0825

  • 
    'Lawn House' (Former)

    

    Hobsons Bay City
  • 
    1 Fairchild Street

    

    Yarra City
  • 
    10 Richardson Street

    

    Yarra City
• Public contributions