11 March 2024
This rather grand house on the corner of Simpson and George Street East Melbourne was built in 1878, for timber merchant David Blair. It has a spacious two level arcaded verandah, looking rather Italian. It had hand painted ceilings and tiled floors, but from 1900 it was put to use as Mena private hospital, with many alterations and additions over the next century, until all the interiors were lost, and an intrusive block added on the corner, until it was sold in June 2022. It’s for sale again now with a permit for restoration, removing the corner bit, and creating two more houses on the site.
Storey of Melbourne 