Originally built as the grand Westbourne Terrace in 1859, it was transformed in 1909 into the Killeen Guest House with a three level timber verandah replacing the elegant single storey poches. Further alterations took place in 1937 along with a name change to Oslo, which became a run-down boarding house by the 1980s. In 2019 the building was transformed again, back into five terraces for The Block TV renovation show, retaining and restoring the 1909 verandahs, but little else.
1859 G. & W. Gripe
By 1873 Dalgety Blackwood and Co.
1909 A. Kozminsky
From the one photo of Westbourne Terrace, it was a design of austere elegance, with each terrace marked only by vertical quoins and unadorned windows, arranged asymmetrically. The ground floor had a continuous arcaded porch, forming open balconies above and verandahs and entrances below. A few other houses had similar open first floor porches, but only over porched entrances eg Oberwyl and Charnwood (dem), but these were the only terraces with this feature.
After the reconstruction into a guest house, the porches were replaced with three levels of verandahs, with brick arches at ground level and lightweight arched timber verandahs above. The facades were also faced in roughcast, and some windows become doors, and the fence was rebuilt, with one entrance instead of the previous three.
After the 2019 Block transformation, the fence was rebuilt with five entrances, and the gardens landscaped. The rear sections were removed and each house extended to the rear boundary.
Westbourne Terrace was completed by September 1859, when the first ads appeared announcing them as available for rent by the ‘Messrs Gripe’ (DH). One of the very early residents was Ebenezer Syme, publisher of The Age, whose funeral left the terrace on 15th March 1860. The 1861 Rate Books lists the owners as G. & W. Gripe, with a description of 5 dwellings of 9 rooms and offices constructed of brick and slate. One of the occupants in this year was Commander Cox, very likely of the 1865 Cox Survey (HR).
The 1873 Vardy plan shows the houses had stables to the rear, but did not have rear wings. It also shows that the owner was F.G. Dalgety, who had earlier owned the blocks adjacent known as "Dalgety’s Paddock", which he had subdivided and sold in April 1853, creating Burnett and Gurner Streets.
The 1897 MMBW plans show that the rear wings were added to the houses sometime in the late nineteenth century.
In 1909 then owner A. Kozminsky obtained a building permit for alterations and additions, converted thee whole terrace to small single room tenancies, and the name changed to Killeen (Guest House). Some newspaper articles refer to the rooms as 'flats', but it is evident that they were not true flats as they were not self-contained. A new three level verandah was added across the front, the lowest level in brick arches, the others in lightweight timber. (DH)
1917 Mr Kosminksy obtained another permit to convert the c.1890s stables to a garage. (DH)
In the late 1930s additions were made in accordance with plans prepared by architect Harry R. Johnson. This included a Moderne style single storey addition at the front and a four storey building at the rear, retaining one of the original stables and demolishing the others. (DH)
One of the original stables survives to 2017. The name changed to Oslo at this time.
In early 2019 the Channel Nine programme 'The Block' purchased the building for conversion back to separate terraces, and individual sale. They removed the 1930s extensions to the front and rear, and made large additions to each house back to the rear boundary. The frontage of the one remaining stables block was retained. The front facade was generally restored to its 1909 appearance, with new fence gates and gardens.
HR - Howard Raggatt research report 1976
DH - David Helms, City of Port Phillip heritage planner.
Contemorary news reports.