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Villa
22 Murray Street PRAHRAN, STONNINGTON CITY

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The villa at 22 Murray Street, Prahran is significant. It was built in stages from c1876 for successful chemist, Thomas William Norris and his family. It was later occupied by notable resident, Sister Flora Amelia Tatlow (1877-1956), a former Army nurse for the AIF during World War I, ran a private hospital named 'Kia-Ora'.

It comprises a substantial single-storey Italianate villa with walls finished in cement render with a hipped roof and tall chimneys. The cast-iron verandah stretches across the front facade and returns to encircle the projecting canted bay to the side elevation.

It retains its generous setback from the street and is significant to the extent of its nineteenth century external form and fabric, and as viewed and appreciated from Murray Street.

The modern additions and alterations including the contemporary front fence and garage are not significant.

How is it significant?

The villa at 22 Murray Street, Prahran is of local architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.

The recent garage and swimming pool are not significant, and land they stand on, which formerly comprised 24 Murray Street, is excluded from the Heritage Overlay extent. In addition, the 2016 rear extension to the house is not significant.

Why is it significant?

Architecturally, the villa at 22 Murray Street is a fine representative example of a single-storey Italianate villa built following the early subdivision of the area and later extended during the boom years of the 1880s. It exhibits typical features of this type including the hipped roof form with tall corniced chimneys, a symmetrical facade and a generous return cast-iron verandah. (Criterion D)

Aesthetically, it is distinguished by its large garden setback from Murray Street, and for its refined use of Victorian detailing including the elaborate cast-iron verandah that stretches across the front facade and returns to encircle the projecting canted bay to the west. It is notable for its paired cast columns with Corinthian capitals and for the unusual cast-iron frieze of circle motifs, which is keyed between chamfered timber beams with matching brackets. The paired columns, and the clusters of three at each corner, have an arched insert between them which are of note. (Criterion E)

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- Physical Description 1
  
  Villa - Physical Description 1
  
  The residence at 22 Murray Street is a substantial single-storey Italianate villa that occupies a large allotment on the south side of Murray Street, mid-block between York Street and Lewisham Road North in Prahran. The house retains its large garden setback from the street, which has recently been cleared for major redevelopment works (2016). The front boundary has a contemporary masonry and metal fence.
  
  Constructed in stages from 1876, the building is distinctive for its refined use of high Victorian detailing. It is mostly symmetrically massed to the front, with a central entrance and a cast-iron verandah (c1888) that stretches across the front facade and returns to the west. The building has an M-profile hipped roof, clad in slate, with two cement rendered chimneys. The chimneys are typical of the Italianate style with heavy moulded cornices. The eaves have paired cast brackets set between cast panels. There is a projecting canted bay to the west to break up the otherwise plain long elevation, and the verandah returns along this elevation to encircle the canted bay.
  
  The walls beneath the verandah are plain painted render. Windows to either side of the central entrance have large double-hung sash sidelights. The front door may be a replacement, or the upper panels may have simply been replaced with glazing. The carved timber surround with glazing retained to the sidelights and highlight is certainly original. The verandah has a shallow skillion roof, clad in galvanised corrugated iron, supported on paired cast columns with Corinthian capitals. The unusual cast-iron frieze of circle motifs is keyed between chamfered timber beams with matching brackets. The paired columns, and the clusters of three at each corner, have an arched insert between them.
  
  Despite the major works underway in 2016 to construct a two-storey extension to the rear, the original extent of the house remains largely intact and the extension is legible as new distinct works while being sympathetic in scale. A new brick garage has been constructed in the front section along the east boundary of the property as part of these works which is an unsympathetic addition, but does not block views to the facade.
  
  Local Historical Themes
  
  Villa - Local Historical Themes
  
  This place illustrates the following themes, as identified in the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, rev. 2009):
  
  8.2 Middle-class suburbs and the suburban ideal
  
  10.4.1 Hospitals
  
  It is of historical interest as the residence of Sister Flora Amelia Tatlow (1877-1956), a former Army nurse for the AIF during World War I, and for its use as the 'Kia-Ora' private hospital.
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Stonnington - City of Stonnington Victorian Houses Study
  
  Author: City of Stonnington
  Year: 2016
  Grading: A2
- Show:
- PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 1467
  
  Victorian Heritage Register H1032
- PRAHRAN TOWN HALL
  
  Victorian Heritage Register H0203
- FORMER POLICE STATION AND COURT HOUSE
  
  Victorian Heritage Register H0542
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