Hawthorn, Victoria

Grace Park Estate, Hawthorn is located on a gently-sloping site in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and contains a residential subdivision to the north and public gardens and sporting facilities to the south. The residential portion of the estate contains three curved crescents, intersecting streets and Mary Street as the northern boundary. Streets are tree-lined and contain a fine collection of Victorian and Edwardian houses. A curved portion of open land runs through the estate, once the site of the Kew railway line. Grace Park Estate, Hawthorn, consists of the roadways and public open space within the boundaries of Glenferrie Road, the Melbourne-Lilydale railway reserve, Power Street and the laneway between Mary Street and Kinkora Road; excluding land associated with the Glenferrie Oval Grandstand which is already listed in the Victorian Heritage Register as H0890. This site is part of the traditional land of the Kulin Nation.

The 1884 Grace Park subdivision, which forms the boundaries of this nomination, was not completely realised. Instead areas to the south were unsold and acquired by the Hawthorn City Council and developed for public purposes in the twentieth century. The residential section to the north of the precinct retains the main pattern of gently curving crescents and perpendicular roads. Bluestone laneways remain largely intact and street trees have generally been replanted from the 1920s onwards. The bisecting of the residential estate by the Kew railway line had a large impact on development, necessitating the insertion of a cutting and the construction of bridges to enable the continuation of the crescents. The subsequent removal of this has left a wide reserve and altered the crescent pattern with the continuation of Hilda Crescent along the former railway reserve.[5]

Built by James Palmer (later Sir) in 1850 and the original source of the name of the current Burwood Road. Mayor of Melbourne in 1846, he established the first punt to cross the eastern Yarra around the current Bridge Road area in 1842. The cost was said to be around the equivalent of 45 cents (expensive for the time) but it was very successful and assisted the development and sale of the original Hawthorn allotments. The house was sold after Palmers death in 1871 and subdivided by entrepreneur George Coppin to create the landmark Saint James Estate.[6]

Probably Hawthorn's oldest and most famous house, built of bluestone in 1845 for James Denham Pinnock (1810-1875), Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, before there was a bridge across the river. His property stretched from Church Street to the river, between Denham Street and Lawes Street and was subdivided circa 1850. The homestead block, west of Calvin Street was acquired by pioneer squatter Henry Creswick, whose family remained there for 70 years. Its view was altered by the subsequent development along Creswick Street and Osbourne Court. In the 1856 electoral roll, Creswick's address was given as Hawthorne House. Both Pinnock and Creswick were leading members of the Anglican Church.[7]

One of Hawthorn's first hotels, it was constructed in 1855 and has been continuously operating for 157 years. Operated and owned by John Conran, the hotel was the site for many significant meetings that were instrumental in the development of Hawthorn. Important organisations such as the Boroondara District Road Board used it as a meeting place as they were responsible for the development of roads in an area of 5180 hectares (20 square miles). Now known as "The Hawthorn".

One of the most significant properties in Hawthorn, the house was constructed by Michael Lynch in 1858 on a massive parcel of 38 hectares (95 acres) bounded by Power Street to the west, Barkers Road to the north, Glenferrie Road to the east and down to Burwood Road in the south (where the original entrance drive was located). The house originally comprised 8 rooms but had grown to 18 by 1870 and after Lynch's death was occupied by Mrs Robert Colvin Clark's Ladies College in 1874. The Estate was subdivided in 1884 into the magnificent Grace Park Estate and lots were sold into the early twentieth century giving rise to its superb Victorian and Edwardian character. The old Kew railway line originally cut through the Estate in 1887 and the Barker railway station was on the northern boundary. The old train route is still easily discernible by the tract of parkland that gently curves through the streets.

The Hawthorn Town Hall building was designed by John Beswicke, and opened with a grand ball in October 1889. In 1911, architect John Koch designed extensions and renovations, with a balcony in the hall, new decorations and a clock in the tower. In 1930 Stuart Calder designed additions–a new Council chamber, new upper foyer and entrance portico. Weekly dances (Saturday nights), debutante balls, concerts, wedding receptions, soup kitchens, immunisation programmes and more recently craft markets are just some of the activities which have taken place in the beautiful ballroom of Hawthorn Town Hall. Over 2012-2013 the Hawthorn Town Hall underwent a $17.9 million refurbishment as a key Boroondara Arts and Cultural facility, with new amenities, including meeting rooms, new art galleries, a gallery commercial area, exhibition and workshop spaces and a café. It was reopened in late 2013 as the Hawthorn Arts Centre.

The house was built as Warrington for Robert Robinson in 1891 and 1892. It had 12 rooms and 22 acres of land in 1893. Frederick John Cato (of Moran & Cato fame) bought the house and moved in with his family in 1895. The name Kawarau comes from the name of a New Zealand river. Much later it became "Stephanie’s Restaurant" for some years. It is now occupied by Alia College. Frederick Cato's daughter wrote a book about the family. She contacted the historical society about names of Hawthorn streets. With the possibility of a brickworks on the north part of the original Tooronga estate, her father bought the property. It was partly subdivided as Tooronga Heights before World War I, with street names for family, friends and New Zealand place names, beginning with "B" for streets lying east and west and "L" for those lying north and south. In 1934, the present Cato Park was donated to Hawthorn.

Tay Creggan, 30 Yarra Street on the banks of the Yarra River, was built in 1892 and was perhaps intended by architect Guyon Purchas to be his own home. However, it was tenanted during the 1890s depression, then the McKean family before World War I and then by the Mortell family. Later, it was owned by the Roman Catholic Church and occupied by the "Ladies of the Grail" from 1939 until 1969. Now owned by Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School, it is used as a Year 9 campus. The roof and detailed chimneys were restored in 1993 and boatsheds built near the river. It is frequently rented out by the school to use the original hall for functions.

Christ Church Hawthorn, designed by Charles Vickers, is heritage listed by the National Trust of Australia. It is one of the earliest surviving suburban churches. The foundation stone of the church was laid on 19 November 1853, by Governor Charles La Trobe, who also donated the font in 1854. The organ and bell were presented to the church by prominent Melbourne businessman Sir James Palmer, MLA, who lived nearby. The church is noted for its elaborate wooden chancel screen and many fine historic stained glass windows including those by local craftsmen Ferguson, Urie and Lyon. The bluestone Gothic-style Anglican church is situated picturesquely on the hill at the corner of Denham and Church Streets.