11 April 2021

The old #RussellTeaRoom on King Street is up for sale; #LolaRussell and her husband George had to move out aged 95 because the side wall has become unstable and they couldn’t afford the repairs. George died soon after, and Lola is now 99 and in a nursing home, so the family now has to sell. They hoped the @cityofmelbourne might buy it for about $4mill, but they said no – I’m not sure they should, it’s safely on the #victorianheritageregister, but then they could buy it, repair and resell without losing $, but Councils in Australian rarely do that sort of thing.

My photos are from 2017, and this is what I said then : #RussellTeaRooms, King Street. Dunno if it’s really about to fall down but it sure looks wonky. Built in 1850, just before the #goldrush, maybe not built so well….also famous as being a the family home of one time actress #LolaRussell @citykid.lolarussell since she was born here 93 years ago, only moving out last year due to wall instability which they couldn’t afford to rectify (but Council have paid for the #propping). A crowd funding initiative didn’t raise the $100,000 and the funding bodies refuse to give any more, since they’ve had numerous grants over the years.

3rd photo their grandkid Owen Dixon The Age today, 4th Lola & George, The Age 2017.

Sale finally advertised July 2021, now we get to peek inside:

Great drawing from the state library taken from Flagstaff Hill in 1858 clearly shows it in its original 4 rooms state; two more were added upstairs later. Also a photo from the 1860s I think.

22 December 2024

In the Age today because it’s still propped up and no repair work seems imminent. It was bought by a developer in 2021, who owns the three adjacent buildings, and says that getting permits from Heritage Victoria is hard, but meanwhile they ordered him to fix it up in August last year. There’s no comments from them, but deputy chair of the National Trust Australia Lachlan Molesworth points out that the penalties for letting something fall down arnt strong enough, which is quite right. HV have to go to VCAT I think to enforce anything, just like Councils, but even then owners can delay or just mot act. The only thing that has happened is the big old oak in the backyard was cut down a few months ago, no reason given (no tree pic @tristan_davies). There’s no reason to think the developer would be allowed to demolish part of the shop or even cantilever over it, so he might as well fix it up as a bar or something, because it’s going to remain quite separate – but yes it requires major works, probably underpinning the side wall at least.

Comments in 2024

• Uncategorized