Milton Terrace is a heritage-listed series of

terrace house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United Sta ...

s located at 1-19 Lower Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of

Millers Point Millers Point is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to The Rocks and is part of the local government area of the C ...

in the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

local government area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It was built from 1880 to 1882. The property was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

Millers Point is one of the earliest areas of European settlement in Australia, and a focus for maritime activities. This building is one of a group of ten very grand three storey Victorian terraces built during the 1880s. First tenanted by the

NSW Department of Housing Housing NSW, formerly the Housing Commission of New South Wales and before that the New South Wales Housing Board, was an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice that was responsible for the provision and management of public housing ...

in 1984.

Description

Grand three storey, five bedroom,

Victorian Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

terrace with basement, one of ten in a row. Decorative facade with large incised motifs and iron lace. Verandah infill on second storey, deep projecting

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

, and spear fence enclosing small front garden. Each allotment contains a four-storey residence (including basement) with front (to the east) and rear (to the west) gardens.Clive Lucas Stapleton & Partners, 2014. Each terrace is accessed via an entry walkway leading from the Lower Fort Street (footpath) across the front area and front gardens. Each had two pedestrian gates, located along the front boundary and within the front gardens - these are original and should be maintained or (when missing or damaged) reconstructed/replaced. Each terrace houe is fenced separately with iron balustrade fencing to the front gardens and timber paling fencing to the rear gardens. A photograph shows the garden setting (front) to the individual houses. By this date, many functioned as boarding houses and yet signs of middle class gentility remain. Also to the rear of a number of the allotments are located outbuildings and

sheds A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...

of varying construction dates, typically used as additional storage space and laundry facilities. Some substantial trees exist within the rear gardens of the terraces, most notably in the rear of no's 1, 17 & 19 Lower Fort Street. The front gardens consist of a mix of tree and shrub plantings with little consistency in form or species selection between the individual terraces. Storeys: Three. Construction: Painted rendered masonry,

corrugated galvanised iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a ...

roof. Timber and cast iron

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony ...

. Spear fence cast iron. Style: Victorian Italianate. The external condition of the property is good.

Modifications and dates

External: Verandah infill. Joinery renewed, damaged detailing.

Heritage listing

As at 12 January 2004, this group of terraces is historically significant as: * a significant example of continuing private investment in fine residential property in Lower Fort Street during the later 19th century and the largest such investment of the period; * its site and buildings were associated from the early 1820s with the firm of William Walker & Co., merchants, the family and business connection continuing with later investment by Walker's son-in-law Donald Lanarch, a noted banker and businessman; * its site of buildings and residences was associated with some of the earliest wharfage (early 1820s) at Millers Point and with merchants important in the development of commercial life in Sydney and beyond. It is also associated with Captain John Nicholson, harbour master; * some of the houses were used from the 1890s as boarding houses and have been in use for over a century by the local community; * it has the potential to contribute to an understanding of several phases of the development of Millers Point. It is of aesthetic significance as: * a very fine example of late Victorian boom style terraces on a site with landmark qualities; * as a rare surviving example of a very grand scale terrace in the "Greek" style. The group is of aesthetic value as a streetscape element, being an outstanding and largely intact group facing Dawes Park with spectacular harbour views to the east. With a slight change in orientation from the terraces further up the street, Milton Terrace creates a strong and handsome termination to the extraordinary collection of 19th century housing forms that make up the western side of Lower Fort Street.DPWS, 2002 Milton Terrace at 1-19 Lower Fort St represents possibly the finest extant row of 1880s terraces in Sydney. It is part of the

Millers Point Conservation Area Millers Point Conservation Area is a heritage-listed historic precinct at Millers Point, Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by the New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation. It was added to the New Sout ...

, an intact residential and maritime precinct. It contains residential buildings and civic spaces dating from the 1830s and is an important example of 19th century adaptation of the landscape.Tanner, 1986 Milton Terrace was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

External links

* * {{Millers Point historical attractions, state=collapsed New South Wales State Heritage Register sites located in Millers Point Italianate architecture in Sydney Terraced houses in Sydney 1882 establishments in Australia Houses completed in 1882 Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Millers Point Conservation Area