• Vivamus lobortis
  • Ut porttitor urna ut pretium
  • Phasellus convallis tincidunt enim.

Windsor Court 22-24 Robe Street (Extant)

An early Victorian hotel and residence converted into apartments in the 1920s. The building is important as a
survivor from early times and provides a clue to the character of the street in the ninteenth century

 


26 Robe Street
St Kilda,Victoria
Australia 3182
  • Date Built: 1884
  • Demolished: Extant
  • First European Land Owner: 1855 Kearney Map Robe Street identified with Star and Garter as small building on Cnr with Neptune Lane 1873 Vardy Map MM4 building block on cnr of Neptune Lane now vacant Building allotment 72 73 ownership T Cocker and 74 ownership I H Blenires
  • Architects: W Pitt 1845 J & V Gillespie 1920
  • Description: Plans in the collection of the St Kilda Council indicate that this complex of buildings originally functioned as two premises. The western portion was the Star & Garter Hotel comprising three stories plus an attic and with a two storey verandah to the lower two floors. The eastern portion was presumably a three storey house. The two premises were erected at the same time and judging by the final appearance and detailing of the present street elevation were both converted to apartments at the same time. Plans, prepared by architects J. & V. Gillespie, survive for the conversion of the former hotel and show the construction of a new elevation and the conversion of the ground floor into two apartments with one apartment occupying each of the upper floors served only by one staircase. The original dormer windows of the attic floor were replaced by a long dormer to both front and rear facades. The roof was reclad in terra-cotta tiles.
  • History: An early Victorian hotel and residence converted into apartments in the 1920s. The building is important as a survivor from early times and provides a clue to the character of the street in the ninteenth century. The conversion by noted architect H V Gillespie has, in manner of most of this architect's works, produced a highly unusual edifice. The strange collection of openings, some glazed and some open, and its giant projecting gable oddly supported on tall masonry piers are notable and its siting directly on the footpath accentuates its over-scaled presence in the street. Glimpses of the earlier structure can still be seen beneath the built-on additions, adding a further level of complexity to the building. The building as converted is largely intact.
  • Sources: A Ward, Port Phillip Heritage Review, 1998 St K.C.C. building approval No. 4065, CoPP Citation No 793
  • Compiled by: Helen Halliday from sources above