East Melbourne, Simpson Street 066
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A two storey apartment block designed to look like a single house. The facade has four windows evenly spaced across the top storey while below the spacing is more awkward. The two right-hand windows lie squarely beneath their counterparts in the upper storey, but on the left hand side the two windows appear cramped together to allow room for the off-centre entrance. The entrance is flanked by Doric columns which support a pediment over the doorway. The effect is loosely Georgian.
The original plan shows shutters for each window. Whether these have since been removed or were never installed is not known. The roofline is also slightly different being shown as a straight horizontal line in the plans compared with the existing roof where the horizontal line is interrupted by a small central peak.
The building was constructed in 1939 by owner-builders Robert Charles Whittaker and Bertram Leslie Whittaker. In the electoral rolls they are both described as manufacturers but of what is not clear. They commissioned Robert Stanley Bisset to design the building, and although his name appears as architect on the plans, contemporary electoral rolls describe him as a joiner.
For a short time the building was known as Marlborough Flats.
The same team was responsible for the apartment block at 18-30 Grey Street, East Melbourne (1937).
Building plans. Public Record Office of Victoria, VPRS 11200/P4/unit 322, item 19798
Building files. Public Record Office of Victoria, VPRS 11201/P1/unit 238, item 19798
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