28 August 2019:

There’s two houses called Elenara and Thalassa at the beach end of #FitzroyStreet – they were built together in 1908 for the one client, and designed by George Cummings, and were both used as Guesthouses from the beginning. Lovely varied compositions, unusual for Edwardian houses that the first floor is as big as the ground, rather than being all big pointy roofs with attics, no doubt in order to have lots of rooms. They also seem to have two entrances each, possibly built so that they could be 4 separate houses. They have matching low brick arches (love those squished columns!), generally same detailing on both, but they’re not the same. Elenara became a rooming house, run by #StKildaCommunityHousing from the 1980s, and in 2014 the then liberal State Government looked to sell, but they lost the election that year, and it was renovated into self contained units instead. At some point Thelassa next door became offices, but looks unaltered.

Some photos August 2024

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