2 February 2024:
Grand Victorian house on Dalgety Street, with added charm of peeling paint. As to date, all I can say is that since there’s an 1873 plan showing something with this shape here its probably before then; it could be 1850s, or 1870s, and the simple style implies earlier rather than later. Having a side entrance is quite unusual, and the verandah, possibly open at first floor, has been removed. Things I can glean from Trove news reports : in 1899, the estate of Mr Lawrence Benjamin included this property, but he didn’t live there; a sale notice 3 years later noted the ‘splendidly built house’ had drawing, dining and breakfast rooms and 6 bedrooms; in 1918 Arthur Durando was accused by his wife Kitty of ‘repeated acts of adultery’ with Josephine Bruel there; and in 1921 Marcus Chambers died there; so some time after it was sold it became a guest house like so many of the other large Victorian houses and terraces in St Kilda. It was sold in 1976 as six flats, as it is now, mostly studios, still one owner. They just gave the olive trees out front a buzz cut, so now you can see it!
Storey of Melbourne 