18 August 2024

There’s this giant mansion in Elwood that’s oddly side on to the street with hardly any front garden – which is because it’s once large site was all subdivided around it. Called Thalassa and built in 1889, it’s at the end of Byrne Street and Tiuna Grove, and once would have had sweeping views of Elwood beach. The subdivision happened in 1923, and it was made into flats in 1925. By the 1990s it was abandoned and decaying, as shown in the St Kilda Historical Society pics, which also note it was restored c2000, when they must have completely rebuilt the verandah. It looks great now, though with a lot of extra units squeezed into the rear, but the stair looks amazing. Rather oddly it doesn’t seem to have a separate heritage listing, it’s just part of the precinct of mostly 1920s modest houses and flats. Pics 5,8,9 real estate.

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