Housing

Dramatic changes in fortune of Port Melbourne residents have, over the 19th and 20th century, left their mark on the diverse range of housing stock in the area. From its working-class roots to gold-fuelled prosperity in the nineteenth century, and waves of gentrification and redevelopment in recent decades, the fabric of the suburb is fascinating and diverse. Port Melbourne encapsulates the diversity of housing styles and models found in greater Melbourne, with a range of experimental housing developments from the first low cost mass housing experiment in Victoria in the Garden City Estate (1927-1948); to the first public housing estate, Dunstan Estate (1936); to the extensive Beacon Cove development, which started in 1996 and finished in 2006. Walking around the streets today you can still see examples of all these types. A particularly fascinating example is Swallow Street, in the Beacon Cove development. Following a series of community protests and opposition, Swallow Street was spared in the development of Beacon Cove, preserving a sliver of existing fabric. On the western side of the street is a largely intact early 20th Century streetscape, whilst the east side shows various stages of the later Beacon Cove development.

by pastportproject