August 2026

The scaffolding has come off the 1913 Charles Hotham Hotel on the corner of Spencer & Flinders, and it looks great! It’s been painted since at least the 1940s (pic 5), and it was really peeling off. It looks like new, they’ve even recreated the painted sign, and re-tuckpointed the whole thing. It’s not finished yet, in fact some bits were so decayed they’re being recreated, and the shopfronts havnt been touched yet. The work has been overseen by @purcell.architecture.

I think we have to take a moment to properly thank the owner, Shesh Ghale (2nd last pic). He’s a leader in the Nepali community, made a fortune from running the private Melbourne Institute of Technology, and as a side project he’s a developer who actually likes heritage buildings. He rescued the long abandoned Argus Building on Elizabeth Street, and didn’t stick a tower on top. Same here, well, he was going to stick a tower on it, but well set back and preserving most of the hotel, including interior details. That’s on hold but meanwhile the restored building is going to be student accommodation.

The hotel was one of the last works by William Pitt, and the original plans are at the state library. They also show that the eastern bay was a separate project, a new building for the Lord Clyde Hotel, built 1915-16.

Dec 2021

A redevelopment of the long neglected #SirCharlesHothamHotel on the corner of Flinders & Spence has been announced – and it might not be too bad ! Built in 1913, it’s one of the last designs by #WilliamPittArchitect, and apart from the corner bar and billiard room, the interiors are pretty intact, with art nouveau tiling and plaster in the lobbies and first floor rooms, original corridors, etc. I was worried when it sold a few years ago, despite being heritage listed, but it sold to #SheshGale, who restored the old Argus building without adding 10 floors, and he says that here they’re keeping the main rooms intact, and there is in fact space out the back for the tower shown here – the plans arnt out yet, but fingers crossed !

24 February 2024

The gate on Flinders Street to the laneway behind the Charles Hotham Hotel was open, so I got these great shots ! There’s a little independent outbuilding back there, which was originally the Billiard Room for the Great Southern Hotel next door on Flinders Street, and lots of nice brick back walls and light wells etc. Some of this would be retained in the plans for a hotel tower applied for in 2021, including most of the little building, and much of the notable original lobbies too. It was a backpackers for ages, now closed.

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