House

6 Handley Court, Frankston

History
Built: 1961
A.L. Scoble Junior, was owner of Lot 9 in 1953, when its Net Annual Value (NAV) was £5.1 By early 1959, Robert George Ellis, a builder, had acquired the property which now had a NAV of £16.2 In April, 1959, Ellis applied for a building permit to erect on the site a brick and timber dwelling to the design of Mt.Eliza architect, John E. Rouse.3 Ellis built the 2000 square feet house himself at an estimated cost of £4,000.4 He completed the house in 1961, when the property's NAV rose to £223.5 Robert and Lois Ellis owned and occupied the property until the late 1970s, when Robert became the sole occupier.6

Description
Looking remarkably like a Chancellor & Patrick design, this house has the gently gabled roof form, extended Japanese style on massive purlins which are supported over two-levels by exposed timber columns.

Visually independent of this structure, on the south-west corner, is a balcony which extends westward from under the roof line towards the sea and rests on deep cross-beams supported by the above columns. An open pergola continues the rafter-line over the balcony.

The balustrade is of horizontal boarding, again as used by Chancellor and Patrick and Featherstone, in Gulls Way, and continues as walling until it abuts the typical masonry wall cladding. The concrete masonry veneer used expresses the house's later construction date, compared with the Gulls Way examples, particularly along the Court frontage where large areas of masonry are seen on the elevation below the highlight strip windows. Inside there were two upper-level bedrooms and living kitchen and dining areas wrapped around the stair hall.

External Integrity
Generally original.

Context
Mixed mainly post-War housing, but occupies a corner site and is two-storey: hence it is prominent.

Significance – Study Grading B
The house is a remarkably successful design within a recognizable peninsula design theme developed by Chancellor & Patrick. It has Japanese form and detail inspirations, but also, in the balcony treatment, achieves a dynamic interplay of structure and form. It is in externally near-original condition and is of local historical interest as the home of a Frankston builder, R G Ellis. It is visually prominent within its immediate locality and located on a corner: of regional significance.