124 Melrose Street

124 Melrose Street,
North Melbourne
A HISTORY
Prepared by Guy Murphy
for the 70th birthday of Sandy Dance
23 February 2018

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

Melrose Street – Early History
In the nineteenth century, North Melbourne was known as Hotham. 124 Melrose Street
sits near the northern edge of the suburb, not far from the boundary with Kensington to
the west, in part of Hotham that was subdivided and developed comparatively late
relative to the rest of the suburb. Government surveys of the area north of Erskine
Street to Flemington Road had been undertaken by the 1860s, when formerly open
bushland was subdivided into Sections 85, 96, 87, 88 and 89 of the Parish of Jika-Jika,
in the County of Bourke (see parish plan extract below). Rising in topography, this
area became known as Hotham Hill. The original pattern of subdivision of Section 87
between Curran Street and Flemington Road comprised 23 large allotments and
included the creation of Little Curran Street, a laneway providing rear access from
Melrose Street through to the eastern end of Curran Street. As further subdivision of
the larger original allotments later occurred, two smaller lanes branching from Little
Curran Street were also created, Curran Lane and Piers Lane.
124 Melrose Street was originally part of a much larger block, Crown Allotment 23 in
Section 87. Measuring 1 rood and approximately 25 perches, this land was bordered
by Melrose Street to the north and west, Little Curran Street to the south and adjacent
properties to the east and north. Section 87 was sold in government Land Sales held in
1867, apart from Allotment 23, which did not sell for several more years. It is unclear
why this occurred, but the allotment may have less attractive because of poor drainage
of the immediate area, which tends to result in flooding on the roadway including in
front of the adjacent intersection with Alfred Street. It was also a somewhat unusually
shaped block. Allotment 23 finally sold to J W Leonard in 1870.

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

The current boundaries of 124 Melrose Street emerged from the larger area of
Allotment 23 occurred in a complex series of transactions. Early titles indicate a pattern
of subdivision occurred during the 1870s that resulted it being included on a combined
title with parts of Allotments 2 and 22 under the ownership of plumber David Cornfoot
by 9 August 1879. 124 Melrose Street was subdivided off on a combined title with a
block further south between Little Curran and Curran Streets on 27 September, 1881
under the ownership of Martha Warburton. It remained in the Warburton family after
Martha’s death in 1896, before the two blocks were finally separated onto new titles
and sold in 1908.
It is unclear as to why 124 Melrose Street remained vacant for the first 40 years after
the land’s private sale. It is shown on the 1897 is comprising an empty, fenced portion
of land, not serving as a yard for the adjacent houses or containing the kind of structures
that might be expected if it accommodated horses. It may have provided a vegetable
6
garden and place for chickens for a dwelling on the other portion of land further south
along Melrose Street with which it shared a title. Martha Warburton was the widow of
a successful engineering products merchant Thomas Warburton, who was murdered on
a ship at Fiji in 1871. Her real estate holdings included multi-storey premises and the
New York Hotel along Bourke Street between Elizabeth Street and Hardware Lane, and
other land in Hotham including along Flemington Road. The Great Depression of the
1890s saw a drop in the value of city real estate that did not see values recover until the
1900s, likely making the development or sale of 124 Melrose Street unprofitable at this
time.4
After Martha’s death in 1896 her son Thomas Warburton (Junior) was general
manager of the family enterprise. Aspects of Martha and her husbands probate were
not resolved until Thomas Warburton (Junior)’s death in 1908, and it appears 124
Melrose Street was sold as part of the rationalisation of the family estate at that time. 5

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

Construction of 124 Melrose Street
The vacant block at 124 Melrose Street was acquired by Frederick George William
Jackson on 9 September, 1908.6 The title included carriageway access at the rear of the
site from Little Curran Street. Jackson soon constructed the existing brick dwelling on
the site, which was originally single storey in form. Four pieces of evidence indicate
the house was constructed in (early) 1910.

4 Land Titles Volume 1295/Folio 974 & Volume 1124/Folio 602.
5 Probates for Thomas & Martha Warburton (various), held at the Public Records Office of Victoria.
6 Land Titles Volume 3298/Folio 565.

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

Local builder James A Joyce of 66 Gatehouse Street, Parkville submitted a Notice of
Intent to Build to the City of Melbourne for a brick dwelling Melrose Street for
Frederick Jackson on 24th January, 1910, with the works scheduled to commence 1
February.7

The earliest available historic property service plan for the site indicates the Melbourne
Metropolitan Board of Works connected the new house to Melbourne’s water and
sewerage systems on 9 March 1910, the plan showing the original external footprint of
the house at this time.8

The 1909 City of Melbourne Rate Books for Hopetoun Ward identifies the site between
122 and 126 Melrose Street as vacant land owned by Frederick Jackson and valued at
6 pounds. In 1910, the still unnumbered site is described as containing a brick house
valued at 32 pounds.
Sands & McDougall directories include no addresses between 122 and 128 Melrose
Street in 1909 and 1910, listing Frederick G. Jackson at 124 Melrose Street for the first
time in 1911. These directories are presumed to list information collected the previous
year, in which case they also suggest 124 Melrose Street was erected in 1910.
The new house was elevated relative to Melrose Street. No architect was identified in
the Notice of Intent to Build, and it is likely James Augustus Joyce designed as well as
built the house. By then aged in his 60s, Joyce was a prolific and successful contractor
who had erected many buildings around Parkville and Carlton from the 1870s onwards.
The Australian Architectural Index9 identifies at least 15 houses built between 1873
and 1915. Hilary Lewis identifies Joyce as the builder of 117 & 119 Royal Parade, 67-
73 Morrah Street and 40 Story Street, Parkville.10 Joyce subsequently retired to Surrey
Hills, where he died 6 May 1918 leaving a substantial estate to his wife of 1200 pounds
including the house at 66 Gatehouse Street (VPRS 28/3/818).

7 Public Records Office of Victoria, VPRS 9288/P0001/Unit 20.

8 Various property service plans are held by CIS Services Pty Ltd.
9 Australian Architectural Index, http://mileslewis.net/australian-architectural/index.html 10 Hilary Lewis, South Parkville, Parkville Association, Melbourne (2nd Edition), pp. 100, 107 & 108. 11 Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages (Victoria), Death Certificate No 7596/67D 12 Age, 4 December 1878, p. 1., & 26 May 1952, p. 8 and Jill Baird (pers comm)

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

Frederick Jackson

Frederick George William Jackson was born in Footscray in 1883. He married Susan
Martha Collinson in Footscray on 25 July,1906, presumably building 124 Melrose
Street as a family home. The couple soon had 2 sons, Frederick Arthur Evan (born
1910) and Colin William (born 1913).

Frederick Jackson was a butcher, who operated in a timber shop directly across Melrose
Street at the north west corner with Alfred Street at 171 Melrose Street. There had been
a butchers at this intersection as early as 1878, when a butcher’s wanted notice appeared
in the Age for the help of a ‘strong youth’, with butchers continuing to operate at this
location as late as the early 1980s.

Frederick bred prize winning, pedigree fox terriers, doubtless helped by ample supplies of
bones and scraps from his shop. Various related advertisements appeared in the Age between
1912 and 1917 for the sale of puppies, bitches and kennels.13 Another sales notice in 1916
relating to the sale of a 5 seat car.14 The telephone number was cited as 7559.
Jackson sold 124 Melrose Street on 29 March 1923. Susan and Frederick later divorced in
1932, by which time Frederick was living in Blackwood Street, North Melbourne.15 He died
in Northcote in 1967 aged 82.

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

1992-1997 Renovations
In 1992 the architect Frank Ortolan was commissioned to undertake some minor works
principally to the north elevation, comprising
• installation of a bay window,
• a new narrow double hung casement window and
• enlargement of an existing external doorway.
In 1997 more extensive change occurred, with the construction on an upper level
addition designed by architect Suzanne Dance, sister of Sandy Dance. These works
comprised
• Partitioning of existing study
• Enlargement of living room
• Addition to the east side of house to create vestibule and stair
• First floor addition comprising 2 bedrooms & sink alcove

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

Suzanne Dance Profile
The following profile is reproduced from Wikipedia at and provides some context to the
1997 additions in the context of the architect’s broader body of work.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_Dance accessed 19 January 2018)

Background
Susanne Dance graduated from The University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of
Architecture in 1965. Upon receiving her degree, Dance was introduced to the concept
of Urbanism, and realized that the buildings surrounding the city of Melbourne
encouraged the idea of a “rich communal life”, an ideal supported by many leading
urban architects. At the time, these nineteenth century buildings were inexpensive and
required renovation, thus her first projects as a sole practitioner were from clients
owning these particular houses and requesting alterations and additions.
Dance’s fascination with the built urban fabric of Melbourne eventually “led to work
in conservation for various community groups and led [her] to undertake a post graduate
course in Architectural conservation in Rome” in 1981. Whilst completing her
postgraduate course, she identified Rome as a “benchmark for a successful city” for its
utilisation of space and common outdoor areas, while still incorporating occasional
architectural outbursts. Dance then applied the same concept to Melbourne stating that
by 2030 buildings in the inner city should share boundary walls, small courtyards,
eliminate lifts and share solar power and the ability to cross ventilate. These changes
may provide similar population density to high-rise towers, without the environmental
drawbacks.

Notable Projects
Boyd/Caswell House
Originally built in the early 19th century, located on outskirts of the city (Carlton), this
terrace house remained untouched until the addition designed by Dance in 1994. The
clients requested that the addition to the house create two separate living zones; one for
the couple of the household and another for their teenage daughter. Dance achieved this
by retaining the first two rooms of the terrace, making them the daughter’s bedroom
and study, thus Dance could design a new section of the house solely dedicated to the
use of the parents. The new wing incorporated a bedroom, study, en suite and
kitchenette. To ensure a clear division, Dance created a second staircase joining the
kitchen on the first floor to the parental zone on the second, therefore the two zones did
not connect through a shared staircase. For Dance the renovation did not only separate
the two zones through program but also though the high contrast in design. The
extension was made with corrugated steel to contrast the original brick building. The
added curved roofline added a sense of space, with the roof reaching 3.5 meters at its
highest point. A deck was added between the two zones acting as a communal space
and a light well, sending shafts of light through the irregularly shaped windows outlined
in bright red. It has been suggested that sometimes extensions should amplify the
differences to enhance the original

source: Guy Murphy 2018.

Conservatory Home
This house began as 1870’s Victorian terrace, which was left boarded up and
inhabitable for 15 years before Dance renovated it and made new additions. Like many
Victorian style terraces, this house had a well planned façade with large windows.
However the rear looked like an afterthought and a series of make shift rooms that may
have been added at a later date. This resulted in a house that was poorly lit and very
dark towards the back of the terrace. Dance approached this project aiming to leave as
much of the existing structure as she could, thus leading to her building a conservatory
that protruded form the outside of the building. The Conservatory consisted of floor to
ceiling glass windows underneath a new pergola. The glass structure allowed for light
to creep into the original parts of the house such as the kitchen and living areas. A
similar aesthetic was also applied to the upper floor at a smaller scale to allow light into
the bedroom.

Actor’s House and Studio
The Actor’s house and studio was designed by Suzanne Dance in Melbourne, 1976. It
was awarded the RAIA Victorian Chapter, Housing Category Medal. Corrugated iron
was used as a primary material for this structure as it was used internationally and
locally for its flexible and malleable properties, which then helped Dance achieve a
primitive and a strange futuristic image. The building was wrapped using this material
to clad both the inside and outside of the back half of the house. This helped to elongate
the form of the building, which was placed on an already very tight and vertical site.
Corrugated iron is nestled behind a wall of trees making the house blend into the
environment. The materials that dance chose to use for this project highly influenced
the form of the building, which further influenced how corrugated iron is used in the
suburbs of Melbourne.

List of projects
Boyd/Caswell House, Carlton (1994)
Caswell Koletsis House, Fitzroy (1990)
Napier Street Residence, Fitzroy (1991)
Actor’s House and Studio (1976)
Residence, Ivanhoe (2007)
A Garden Room, Brunswick (2000)
Conservatory Home, West Melbourne (1870)
Fitzroy Housing Repair Service

Awards
1979: RAIA Victorian Chapter Urban and Community Design Award Medal, for her
participation in the Fitzroy Housing Repair Service
1980: RAIA Victorian Chapter housing Category, Medal for ‘Actors studio’ North
Melbourne

source: Guy Murphy 2018.