The House that Slater Built
A little information on our house as it stands
Our house was built in 1888 by The Slater Brothers*, as part of a set of four terrace houses on a main street in Fitzroy, Melbourne, three of which are still standing. The house is 127 years old!
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| The street plan circa 1905, complete with middle of the road sink. |
The original Victorian era house was a two-story double-brick terrace with four rooms, oriented north-south and sharing the east and west walls with its neighbours. The downstairs was originally just a hallway with two rooms and a terrifyingly steep staircase running across the house between them. The upstairs consists of two rooms separated by the staircase. Three of the four rooms had a fireplace. The house got a weatherboard add on in 1905 which now comprises a lounge room and at the very back, a kitchen, with a fireplace between these two rooms. The house also has a crumby lean-to add on like many of these houses, which includes a fairly gross bathroom and
laundry.
The block is 134 square metres, and of this the house takes up 80 square metres. The block has a small backyard accessible by a laneway, which means it is also accessible by strangers.
A recent council Heritage Assessment rated the integrity of the heritage-iness of the facade of the house to be low. Luckily they had an expert assess it because it would be difficult to work that out with your eyes. <--
It is safe to say the inside of the house is the same. Some of the original Victorian details are in place but not many. The main ones are the beautiful archway in the hallway, and some of the cornices and architraves.
The house is in okay structural condition, and reasonably good living condition, although we will be making some changes to make it slightly less gross before we move in. The goon bags masquerading as fairy lights in the back yard may have to go.
*Gary had to dig deep through the local archives to find out about the dates, people and circumstances surrounding the house's historical details. The main treasure troves were the State Library of Victoria website, The Victorian Heritage Database and the Fitzroy Town Hall, which included an adventure into microfilm!
laundry.
The block is 134 square metres, and of this the house takes up 80 square metres. The block has a small backyard accessible by a laneway, which means it is also accessible by strangers.
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| Sir, it is difficult to tell if that is the original aluminium window from 1888. |
It is safe to say the inside of the house is the same. Some of the original Victorian details are in place but not many. The main ones are the beautiful archway in the hallway, and some of the cornices and architraves. The house is in okay structural condition, and reasonably good living condition, although we will be making some changes to make it slightly less gross before we move in. The goon bags masquerading as fairy lights in the back yard may have to go.
*Gary had to dig deep through the local archives to find out about the dates, people and circumstances surrounding the house's historical details. The main treasure troves were the State Library of Victoria website, The Victorian Heritage Database and the Fitzroy Town Hall, which included an adventure into microfilm!
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