An Address Etched in Time
heritage
An Oeuvre of Sensitivity
and Substance
An Oeuvre of Sensitivity
and Substance
Kilburn Mansion has lived many lives — a private home, a place of care, a quiet witness to a century of East Melbourne’s evolution. Each chapter has left traces: the patina of stone, the worn edge of a stair, the archway that still frames light as it once did. Its renewal is not a reconstruction, but a conversation between past and present — a careful act of preservation, restraint and return.
Fitzroy Gardens, 1905
Kilburn Mansion stands upon a rare convergence of architectural eras, where Edwardian, Victorian, Interwar and post-war façades form a living archive of East Melbourne’s past. Here, heritage is not simply restored, but thoughtfully re-established, allowing history to guide a contemporary way of living.
Treasury Gardens 1881
East Melbourne Victoria
Unsympathetic additions have been peeled away to reveal the building’s original grace. Bluestone foundations and brick masonry have been restored by hand; arches, cornices, and ceiling roses have been reinstated with fidelity to their original craft.
Completed in 1878 for timber merchant David Blair, a father of ten, the grand two-storey residence at 29 Simpson Street was originally named Kilburn
In 1900, English-trained nurse Elizabeth Glover transformed the residence into Mena House Private Hospital, commissioning architects Purchas & Shields to reimagine the building.
Around this time, the western wing along George Street was incorporated —originally part of the former stables at 82-96 Wellington Parade—following the order’s acquisition of the neighbouring property as a convalescent home in 1934.
Now under new ownership, it stands poised for renewal— a moment where careful restoration and thoughtful design will shape its next chapter, guided by the depth and continuity of its history.
Corner of Simpson and George Street Corner of Simpson and George Street
in East Melbourne in East Melbourne