A large two storey brick house, with an arcaded timber verandah below and a timber balcony above; and an octagonal turret with elaborate cement decoration beneath the eaves. A bungalow behind.
Eliza Jane Sprigg (maiden name: Eliza Jane Louis James) married first, William Hodgson, artist; and second, (1902) William Gardiner Sprigg. Eliza Jane Sprigg also owned the neighbouring properties 148, 150, 152, 154 and 158 Wellington Parade, now all demolished and the site redevloped as 1 Powlett Street Apartments; and 17 Powlett Street [qv]. Eliza Jane Sprigg died in 1916 and left the house to her son, Herbert Thomas James Hodgson; her husband, William Gardiner Sprigg, was given a life tenancy. He died there in 1926. The family sold the house in the 1950s. An office building was built on the site, which has since been converted to apartments
c. 1908- : Eliza Jane Sprigg and husband, William Gardiner Sprigg, accountant, speculator, secretary of Melbourne Tramway Co. and a founding member of the Albert Street Baptist Church. The terrace houses at 204-208 Albert Street were built for him in 1859.
1940s: Mrs. Franzi. Mrs. Franzi leased the house and ran it as a boarding house. When the owner died she was given first right of refusal but thought it would mean having all her eggs in one basket and she rejected the offer. Her young son, Kevin, lived with her. He went to Collingwood Tech. His first job was as a messenger boy for Mr. Williams, the local chemist. On leaving Collingwood Tech he was initially employed by Herschell's, documentary film producers, of Agnes Street, Jolimont. This was the first step in a career of over sixty years as a photographer and photo journalist. He was for a time senior editor with Crawfords and worked on the TV series, Homicide.
Sands & McDougall Post Office Directories Phone conversation with Kevin Franzi 11 January 2005 Information from Lois Chartres, great grand daughter of Eliza Jane Sprigg: email 1 June 2009