Original post March 2018 :
The #PatonBuilding, 1905, architect #NahumBarnet. One of the wonderful #TallArchedRedBrickRomanesque, a style peculiar to Melbourne, combining American #RomanesqueRevival (the tall arches, maybe from #LouisSullivan), #QueenAnne, and sometimes #ArtNouveau details. The panels between the windows are tulips ? pomegranates? but a bit like octopuses too.
The red brick here is actually mostly large brick coloured #terracotta cladding. There’s also an old #neonsign that’s falling apart, The Light House, guess they sold lights! Update March 2012: yes Lighthouse was a lighting shop which opened here in 1960.
And I like that it’s part a good bit of heritage #streetscape, all from 1900-1915. Barnet was pretty prolific. And ok, you can find this style in Sydney too, but brown brick, and less decorative, used only for warehouses.
December 2019
Found pics from 1965 when it was a branch of Collins Book Depot, but somehow looks much older, the grime I suppose.
Storey of Melbourne 