Back to search results

ARMADALE HOUSE
117 KOOYONG ROAD ARMADALE, STONNINGTON CITY

All information on this page is maintained by Heritage Victoria. Click below for their website and contact details.
Victorian Heritage Register
ARMADALE HOUSE SOHE 2008
ARMADALE HOUSE SOHE 2008
ARMADALE HOUSE SOHE 2008
armadale house kooyong road armadale front view jan1985
armadale house kooyong road armadale balcony jan1985
armadale house kooyong road armadale entrance jan1985
H0637 title 1
H0637 title 2
On this page:

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
Armadale House was built in 1876 for Scottish-born businessman and prominent public figure James Munro. Originally located within extensive landscaped gardens but now on a reduced site, the house is a two storey brick and stucco Italianate mansion, traditionally arranged and complete with cast iron balcony verandah.
How is it significant?
Armadale House is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. 
Why is it significant?
Armadale House is of historical significance for its association with James Munro (1832-1908) who was an outstanding figure in the social, political and economic life of 19th century Victoria. One of the best known of the Land boom generation of developers and politicians, Munro was Premier of Victoria prior to the collapse of his personal fortunes and bankruptcy in 1893. His career exhibited the close ties between Temperance organisations, building societies and land speculation that underlay the boom of the 1870s and 1880s. In 1873 Munro began purchasing land on the eastern boundary of Prahran Municipality which became his large Armadale estate, named after the village in Sutherlandshire where he grew up. By 1876 he had initiated an ongoing process of subdivision and building in the area, and had erected his own mansion. The land developments were eventually to form a suburb that took the name of Munro's house. Armadale House thus provides a link with Munro's early career as a developer and stands as an important testament to the process of suburban development of metropolitan Melbourne.
Armadale House is of architectural significance as a solid but comparatively modest example of boom-era mansion design which is the focus of an urban conservation area, and for its associations with the important Victorian architect WH. Ellerker. In scale and design the mansion provides a contrast to some of the more extravagant mansions of other prominent boom figures, and as such is illustrative of the early, more humble, phase of Munro's career. Ellerker was chiefly notable as a competition-winning State school designer. Armadale House was built at the time he was most active in school design.
Show more
Show less

    • History

      ARMADALE HOUSE - History

      Contextual History:History of Place:
      James Munro migrated to Melbourne in 1858 from Armadale in Sutherlandshire, Scotland. In 1865 he began the Victoria Permanent Property Investment Building Society. By 1874 Munro was MLA for North Melbourne. He was closely involved with the Toorak Prebyterian Church and the temperance movement. Munro combined his political career with property speculation until the collapse of his fortunes in 1893, shortly after his brief tenure as Premier of Victoria, 1890-92.
      The development and sub-division of the Armadale suburb, which took its name from Munro's mansion built in 1876, was inextricably linked with railway building and property speculators, who like Munro, lost their fortunes in the depression of the 1890s. The connection of the Gippsland Line to the city via South Yarra in 1879 (with new stations at Hawksburn, Toorak and Armadale) benifited by association with local mansions, and thus Armadale Station also drew its name from Munro's mansion.
      Associated People: James Munro, Premier of Victoria 1890-92

      Permit Exemptions

      ARMADALE HOUSE - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

Public contributions

Note: Developments may span multiple time periods
Timeline browser

< to 1849
< - 1849
1850 to 1879
1850 - 1879
1880 to 1909
1880 - 1909
1910 to 1939
1910 - 1939
1940 to 1969
1940 - 1969
1970 to 1999
1970 - 1999
2000 to >
2000 - >