A three storey building of rendered brick containing 12 apartments in the Art Deco style. As it faces Victoria Parade it is a symmetrical building with the main entrance at the ground floor level of the central element, and above French doors opening onto balconies. The balconies diminish in width as they progress up the building giving a sense of increased height. The lower balcony is supported on square fluted columns creating a portico over the entrance. On each side of the central element are double hung sash windows with horizontal glazing bars. The stucco façade is embellished with bands of horizontal fluting and the parapet is adorned with a simple pattern of vertical lines. A stepped, prism-like central tower caps the building.
History: Rupert Stanley Joseph, auctioneer, became the registered owner of the land now known as 458 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, in 1919 (Certificate of Title Vol 4196 Fol 131). In 1932, aged in his mid-50s and by then calling himself an investor, he married Doris Lilian Meinardi (Ancestry). In 1933, using the company name of East Melbourne Investments Syndicate, he commissioned I G Anderson to draw up plans for a 12 unit apartment building on the site. He gave the building the name of Dorijo in honour of his new wife, Doris Joseph. Anderson had completed his plans by the end of the year and advertised for tenders in The Argus on 16 December 1933. Almost exactly a year later an advertisement appeared in The Argus, ’EAST MELBOURNE DORIJO FLATS 143-145 Victoria Parade -New fire, sound proof building, 12 modern S C FLATS. Just completed free H W S, 3 rooms, tiled kitchen, bathroom. …. Only 3 flats available.’ These flats would have been three of the single bedroom flats that made up the two lower floors. The top floor contained two three bedroom flats. The street numbers in Victoria Parade changed c.1937. Joseph died in 1954 leaving the income from his estate to his widow for her life time, with Equity Trustees as his executors. After Mrs Joseph’s death Equity Trustees remained the sole proprietor selling to Peter Thomas Evan Rand in 1985. Rand died in 1997 and the executors of his estate, one his solicitor, Frank Ernest William Levy, became proprietors during a period of protracted dispute over the will. The property was sold in December 2014
The Age, 13 Mar 1934: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203837523
The Age, 21 Nov 1933: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203359378