17 July 2025
A bit of Lost Melbourne – this is Lister House, cnr of Collins and Exhibition, and once very much a part of the Paris End character. It was built in 1915, and housed purpose built Drs surgeries (hence the name) on the first three floors, with three floors of flats above, part of the first wave of apartments in Melbourne.
It was designed by Oakden & Ballantyne in a stylised Edwardian Baroque, rather clunky actually, but nice red brick and a dome is always good! The roof had servants quarters, but also a dining room and an ‘American roof garden’. (The balconies are very similar to Ritz Mansions in Fitzroy Street St Kilda built 10 years later, pic 7).
There don’t seem to be any really clear photos, and these are all I could find – first is c1970 just before it was demolished for Collins Place (it was taken by the father of Nick Varigos, whose family ran the Russell Collins). Then one from the Real Property Annual in 1917, then Building magazine the same year, with a good close up of the entrance and the roof top too. Then 1956, @library_vic.
The posing lady is Olive Rosenthal, photographed in her parent’s home aged 18, in 1930, in The Home.
Lister House replaced a nice terrace, long occupied by Drs, this part of Collins Street was known as the Harley Street of Melb.
Storey of Melbourne 