East Melbourne, Albert Street 19, 23, Hatton Court

These two blocks of apartments were designed by architect Leslie J W Reed for sisters Hylda and Sophie Grattan. They were the daughters of William Grattan, a grazier who died in 1917. Their mother, Kathleen died in 1935. The occupation of both Hylda and Sophie according to the electoral rolls was home duties, so it would seem that it was inherited money that financed the construction of the flats.

They first appear in the rate books in 1942 yet an advertisement offering them for sale in 1951 claims that ‘These Flats Were Completed Just Prior to the War. When First-class Building Materials Were Available’. The ad also informs us that ‘Each Flat Has 3 Rooms, Hot-water Service. Refrigeration, and Other Conveniences, and All Are Extremely Well Furnished with Myers "Heritage" Furniture.’

In 1942 the rate books show the flats to be vacant but the following year all the flats, six in number 19 and eight in number 23, were inhabited by US Forces. During the years of the Second World War American forces were barracked at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, calling it Camp Murphy, and officers were billeted around East Melbourne. These flats therefore are an important reminder of a unique period in East Melbourne’s history.  Undoubtedly some of the tenants would have been clients of Madame Opportunity whose establishment shared a back lane with the flats [see link below for further on Madame Opportunity]

Leslie J W Reed (1893-1964) was awarded a diploma of architecture at the University of Melbourne in 1919. His known work is almost exclusively residential which he designed in the popular historicist styles of the day but by the time these apartments were built he had become adept in the Moderne manner of building. Taurea, 90 Toorak Road West, South Yarra (1937) is an attractive example of his work from this period.