Steve and Julie's Victorian Home: Demolition

Friday, January 07, 2005

Demolition

Our block is quite large and already has a house on it. (See link.) The house was built in the 1950's and we have to get it demolished. We received our first quote today for the demolition work - its A$7800 to removed the house, footings, septic tank and immediate vegetation. This includes a "demolition permit", which takes a few weeks to arrange via the council. The quote includes the cost of the permit, which the council charge A$660 for!

1 Comments:

LBA said...: Did I mis the link ?

Found you through Houseblogs, and am starting at the start :)

I also live in Melb, in a 1950's home, but one we are not demolishing :); 9/30/07, 12:17 PM

Background to the Design

The design of our house is based on very late Victorian architecture, as seen in Melbourne, Australia during the years 1895 to 1905. Technically, the Victorian period ended in 1901 when Queen Victoria died. This was at the same time that Australia was undergoing federation into a collection of states, with a centralised national goverment. In Australia, housing built from 1901 to around 1914 is referred to as "Federation style" (which might be considered to be an Australian version of British "Edwardian" architecture). Our house is mainly Victorian in style, but has tiny hints of Federation in it (e.g. glazed front door).

Our aim is to create a house that is strongly representative of the late Victorian style. We cannot duplicate it, as materials and techniques have changed too much in the last 100 years to do that. Key features of our Victorian home are:

* 3.6m (12ft) ceilings throughout
* Hawthorn bricks, with contrast bands and detailing
* External mouldings and quoins
* Slate roof with galvanised cappings (not zinc-alume)
* Suppressed roof line (with central valley)
* Large double-hung windows, with counter-weighted sash balances
* Suspended timber floor on stumps and strip footing

The external appearance of our house is based on that of Coolattie, a Victorian home in Canterbury, Victoria, Australia. That home was designed by Richard Malvern Gutheridge, built in 1897, and is registered on the Melbourne Mansions Database, published by Miles Lewis.

Above: Coolattie, a Melbourne home built during the transition from Victorian to Federation.

You can find a summary of Australian architectural styles at:
"What House is That?" or at
"A Guide to Australian Style"

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Steve and Julie's Victorian Home

Friday, January 07, 2005

Demolition

1 Comments:

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Background to the Design