30 September 2024
George Mateers Victoria Bakery, Johnston Street, Collingwood, 1888. Quite a statement for a baker, but that’s what they did in those days. The designer was Norman Hitchcock, whose style was quite unusual and often very elaborate, with unique elements which means you can spot them, like the stumpy pilasters, with brackets on top before you get to the cornice, faces for keystones, and in this case little triangular pediments rising out of a straight cornice; the window treatment is repeated on another shop-house of his in Smith Street from 1885, pic 3. Photos from 2013.
The bakery is now a backpackers, and been painted I think, which is a pity cos it was untouched. Oh, and I see what was probably a 1920s shopfront on the left that was intact is now gone.
Storey of Melbourne 