A grand, freestanding, double-storey private residence. Melbourne, 1872-73.

Albumen print photograph, oversize carte de visite format, 65 x 122 mm (mount), 65 x 100 mm (image), verso with back mark of the British & Colonial Photo. Company, 144 Latrobe St. West, Melbourne; the print is a little pale, but is otherwise in very good condition, as is the mount.

This photograph of an imposing two-storey brick private residence would have been commissioned by its wealthy owner. It is in a highly unusual format, somewhere between a carte de visite and cabinet card, and has an arched top edge. Davies & Stanbury (Mechanical Eye) list the relatively obscure British & Colonial Photo. Company (manager, J. J. H. West) as active for two years only, in 1872-73.

The residence stands on a corner, and the unmade thoroughfare that runs across the main facade slopes gently from left to right. The height of the two small cypresses at the main entrance, and the already established garden (of which we have a glimpse at far right) suggest the house was built around 1870. The photographer strategically placed the two young boys, who are likely to have been the young masters of the house, in front of the low wrought iron fence to add a sense of scale Two humble single-storey residences (one a weatherboard cottage) face the other thoroughfare on the left side.

A clue to the location is provided by the treed hillside in the far right background, which appears to be some 400-800 metres distant. The residence is, without doubt, reasonably close to the Yarra.