June 2026

1866 vs 2015. This terrace on the corner of Brunswick & Gertrude has been here since 1856, making it one of the oldest still around. You might have thought terraces were as old as Melb but though the first ones were around 1840 in the cbd, soon also appearing in the closest parts of Fitzroy, they didn’t really take off until the mid 1850s.

This one was designed by Charles Liang, and initially called Royal Terrace, the same name as the much grander bluestone terraces nearby on Nicholson Street.

These ones are unusual for having end bays of three storeys, and a somewhat Regency character. The corner terrace has is rather different, infilled at ground level, a verandah above, itself glazed in, and a larger rear wing. It was possibly built like that, or altered and enlarged, possibly in 1866, the date of the first early photo (which notes it as the surgery of Dr William Cooke, and it stayed a drs into maybe the 70s). The other early photo shows what looks like a workman finishing it off, but it must be later since there’s a gas lamp (which were installed the early 1860s, so there should be one in the other photo…). Then in 1881 all the other verandahs were rebuilt in two levels with fancy cast-iron, and extra decoration added to the parapets.

The nice detailing of the corner verandah was lost maybe in the 1910s, and two terraces got 1930s or 50s glass walls at ground level, probably from back when most of them were flats/boarding houses. Some still are, and some are private houses, but that glazing is still there.

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