Tower View (Now Tower House)

Lot 10 and 11 Bentick Street, Frankston

History
Built 1926-7
Robert Sanderson of Yaralla, Waverly Road, East Caulfield, owned Lots 10 & 11 of Crown Allotment 1, Sections 1 and 2, in the early 1920s.1 Sanderson sold the property to John R. Brennan in 1926.2 Whilst the Net Annual Value (NAV) of £32 on the property did not increase in that year the 1926-27 rate book shows a house there for the first time.3 In 1927-28 the NAV decreased to £11 but increased enormously to £125 in 1928-29.4

John Brennan owned Brennan Safety Headlights Pty Ltd and was a partner in Brennan and Marshall Pty Ltd, of 25 King Street, Melbourne in 1930.5 By 1935 he had moved to Earls Court, the Esplanade, St Kilda.6 It has been claimed he was a skating rink owner and his address in 1935 was a few doors away from St. Moritz Skating Rink.7

Brennan owned Tower House until the early 1940s.8 Ralph and G. Aston owned and occupied the property by 1945.9 Leonard Jewson, an agent, and Alma Jewson, both of Darling Avenue, Burwood, had bought Tower View (so named in the electoral roll) by 1952 and still owned the property in 1961.10

Description
Two storeys and of stuccoed brick, the house was among the first to perch on the slopes overlooking this part of Port Phillp Bay, earlier hoses being content to sit at the base of the incline.11 Stylistically, the house appears at first to be earlier than its date, given the lookout tower, with cupola over on the north side. This type of tower is more commonly seen in late Edwardian era shopping strips,12 overlooking street crossings and housing occasional brass bands or as gazebos on Queen Anne style houses. Similarly, rotundas in public parks also take on this form, (see Edinburgh Gardens rotunda, Fitzroy North, 1924). However, the architectural simplicity of the tower and house, combined with the broad attic-gable commonly seen in Bungalow style houses, anchor the house firmly in the 1920s stylistically. In addition, there is the deep open verandah which extends on two levels in a faceted, bayed form under a vast hipped and slated roof. The bungalow gable is seen best on the south side of the house and repeats as the rear end of the main roof. Typical Bungalow-era carved rafter ends also fan-out around the verandah bay at first-floor level, while cedar-like shingling is used in large panels and over a window bay (rear). Given the elevated and prominent sitting of the house, the design takes full advantage of its exposure by use of picturesque but integrated forms, massing and void, and level changes. The look-out tower is common among the larger sea-side late 19 th- early 20 th century houses to capture sea views and breezes.

External Integrity
The roofing may be new (but empathetic to the construction era) and the verandah has been glazed in.

Context
Some period landscape exists around the house but a major contributing factor to its prominence and three-dimensional expression is the relatively large building-free area around and behind the house, allowing unfettered views to it from many vantage points. The flats, in Cliff Street (q.v.), sit above this site, providing related materials and roof forms.

Significance – Study Grading B
Architecturally, this house is an unusual and successful blend of the prevailing domestic Bungalow style combined with the picturesque look-out forms associated with sea-side or recreational sites. It is also prominently sited, allowing these forms, to be viewed from within a near 270 viewing cone: of regional importance.

Historically, it was connected with Brennan who appears to have had associations with other sea-side localities and the motor trade which brought a new wave of settlement to Frankston: of local interest.