The Urquhart Street area was originally purchased by the Urquhart family in the mid to late nineteenth century and was leased for agricultural purposes to Chinese market gardeners until 1919 when, as the last substantial land holding remaining in Hawthorn, it was subdivided. The estate is bounded by Glenferrie Rd, The Boulevard, Auburn Rd and Swinburne Avenue.
Subdivision sought to continue the established Hawthorn garden suburb image. It protected the character of the new residential area with covenants requiring a minimum 30 feet garden setbacks, 10 feet between houses, and only private dwellings. Council reinforced these by proclaiming the subdivision a "brick area" and prohibiting iron roofs.
The housing which developed in the 1920s and 1930s reached a wider community through the new home funding arrangements pioneered by the State Savings Bank.
The Urquhart Street Precinct is of metropolitan significance for the illustration of the development of the Australian phenomenon of high levels of home ownership, encouraged and developed by the State financial institutions, and the garden suburb ideal transposed to the interwar period.
Common Characteristics
- Single detached residences frequently repetitive designs by a small number of builders.
- 30 feet (9m) garden setbacks and 10 feet (3m) between buildings.
- Dwellings of single width as a common feature with garaging behind the house, often distantly visible from the street.
- Medium size regular allotments.
- Fences of masonry in pier format approx. 750 high sometimes with piers and open panels. Gates of iron to driveways and pedestrian opening.
- Single storey generally two storey only in a design with integrated attic storey to the roof.
- Roof forms prominent, generally hipped with concrete or terracotta tiles. Rarely slate.
- Simple plan forms.
- Porches or verandahs a consistent feature of the principal elevation.
- Walls brick generally, sometimes render. Frequently with rough cast for tender trims or decorative brickwork patterns.
- Timber windows.
Now the cache is housed in a particularly small parcel of land at one entrance to the estate. Stealth and subtlety will be required to retrieve this one. Take care not to close the lid too tightly so others can get to it too.