10 October 2023
Zander’s Store No 2, at 11 Highlander Lane, off Flinders Lane near King Street. Built 1854, when warehouses came to dominate this end of the city. JC Zander died in 1858, and unusually his wife, Cecilia, took on the business, expanding to adjacent sites over the next decade or so (see plan). It survived into the 80s, while many to the east had been demolished, until it was heritage listed and bought by socialite Peter Jansen, who added the top floor. He had been a racing car driver, and then party giver, living in the dome of Federal Hotel, then when that was demolished rented the domes of the Windsor, then when that was renovated came here. He renamed it Rutherglen House, probably after the wine store that was there before, and it’s filled with stuff, pictures, furniture, stuffed lions, and I think things like the stairs, lights, the fireplace are from demolished buildings. He’s still there, had his birthday party there in May, when he turned 83. The lane has a pair of 1929 Melbourne street lamps, and an awful lot of trees in planters, rather nice, and I assume somehow organised by Mr Jansen.
Storey of Melbourne 