East Melbourne, Hoddle Street 1101

The house was built by Charles Turner of Hawthorn for Mrs Clark in 1871 to the design of the prominent architectural firm of Reed and Barnes. Joseph Reed was known for his ability to design in a variety of styles and it is a pity that this house has been denuded of any clue to its stylistic embellishments. 

Nothing is known of Jane Clark other than that she was the widow of Peter Clark of Belfast, Ireland. She died in 1877 and the house, which she had named Dunowen House, was put up for sale.  It was described as having on the ground floor: dining room, drawing room, bedroom, servant’s room and kitchen. Upstairs were five bedrooms and a bathroom. The sale notice confirmed that the architect was Reed and Barnes. Probate documents reveal that it was sold for £1915.15.3.

It was bought by James McBean, a jeweller with a business in Collins Street. He renamed it Elmore and lived there until about 1890 when he moved to St Kilda. He continued to own the house and rented it to tenants until his death in 1916.  It remained in his estate until 1942 when The Union Trustees Co. of Australia Ltd. sold it for the sum of £1,950. In 65 years the house had gained in value only £35 ($70). 

From 1898 until 1913 it was rented by Annie Kelly (nee Gallin) and her husband Francis Kelly, an engineer with the Victorian Railways. Annie was one of six sisters, five of whom trained as nurses.  From 1904 Elmore is listed in the Directories as a Trained Nurses Home but it may well have functioned as such earlier. It doubled as a hospital.

Annie died in 1913 and one of her sisters, Mary Gallin, is listed as the occupant of the property until 1819.  Mary in fact joined the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1917 and served overseas.  The discrepancy in dates is no doubt a simple time-lag in the Council collecting the information for the rate books. [For more information on the Gallin sisters see the links below.]

Alvin Edgar Roberts, an accountant, was the next tenant, along with his wife and children. He remained there until 1937. They took in boarders as was a common practice at the time. 

After the house’s sale in 1942 it underwent a transformation and was next advertised for sale in 1953 as follows:
'11 Large Rooms with Spacious Reception Halls, Interior Completely Modernised, with All-tiled Bathroom, Elaborate Fireplaces. H.W.S., 2 Toilets, &c. Rear Entrance. Fully Furnished.-VACANT POSSESSION. Easy TERMS Available. Ideal Professional Purposes, Private Hotel, Guest House, Apartments, &c.'
This time it sold for £8500. 

In 1960 it was on the market again:
‘EAST MELBOURNE 1101 Hoddle Street. Block of 4 Modern flats, returns over £2,000 per annum.’

By 1971 the Victorian era was making a come-back:
'MAGNIFICENT 2-storey terrace villa, with old-world charm and appeal, and inexpensively renovated into charming 6 bedrms., lounge, large formal diningrm, den, wine cellar. Immaculate condition thr’out.'

And again in 1980:
‘One of East Melbourne‘s finest homes, gracious and impressive two storey Victorian family residence of 8 main rooms featuring wide entrance, grand sweeping staircase, marble mantels, moulded cornices and unique curved door.’ 
This advertisement was accompanied by a line drawing showing that the balcony had been removed.  Very possibly it had disappeared much earlier. 

In 1983 it was auctioned yet again and sold for $152,500,