Ripplesmere (extant), 34 Grey Street

Ripplesmere was built in 1883 for Charles C. Arnell, a partner in tobacco merchants Dudgeon & Arnell.

The architect is unknown, but may have been Frederick De Garis, who was active in the area, had earlier done work for the company, and in 1886 designed Halcyon in Acland Street for Mrs Dudgeon, the widow of his business partner. The putti below the main parapet are however distinctive elements of the work of designer/builder Norman Hitchcock, who also used unusual combinations of elements, or even unique features, both in evidence here.

Arnell died in 1911, and Mrs Arnell sold the contents of the house in 1912. By 1913 rooms at Ripplesmere were advertised for rent. A separate block containing 6 studio apartments, also called Ripplesmere, was built on the rear boundary possibly as early as 1915. The rear wing was altered probably at the same time to provide rear access to some apartments in the main building. The style implies it was built some time in the 1920s or early 1930s, though the address ‘off 34 Grey Street’ first appears in 1910 in the directories for Dalgety Street.

A photo from 1980 by Heritage Victoria shows the upper verandah had been glazed in, with some walling in shingles, typical of the 1910s and 20s.

It was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 1989, and the citation notes that the elaborate decoration of the main rooms remained intact.

It was renovated In 1998, the ground level becoming offices, with self-contained apartments upstairs and to the rear. It was likely at this time that the verandah glazing was replaced with large single sheets of glass. Current rental ads indicate it is still in one ownership.