Original post 20 February 2018:
A photo from 2018- here’s what I said then : The truly adorable #MutualStore, in Flinders Street, 1891, by #ReedSmartandTappin. A bit #queenanne #redbrick and #baywindows, #scrolledpediments, and a lot of #mannerist #brokenpediment on top. This was Joseph Reed’s firm, but he had just died before it was built, so this possibly by Smart. Opening in Nov, it replaced the previous 1872 building destroyed by fire on Jan 1st; this one was especially #fireproof, and survived the #GreatFire of 1897 that destroyed everything around it, nearly up to young & jacksons. The mutual store was something you paid to belong to (at first anyway) and had stuff, mainly household things, at less than retail (I think). It was the CAE from the mid 60s to mid 2000s, when it was converted to apartments (and not facaded !) by @clarkehopkinsclarke.
Storey of Melbourne 