St Kilda’s changing social status over time is visible in the different block sizes and the variety of homes. It started life as a grand and fashionable suburb for the wealthy.

The houses, particularly those on St Kilda Hill, were large and often surrounded by extensive estates - gardens, orchards and lawns. On the flat were smaller homes on matchbox blocks for working class families, often employed by the rich folk up the hill.

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Further Information

Audio Transcript for Stop 2

This spot on the corner of Jackson and Acland Streets is stop number 2 on our tour.

This is very close to where I first lived when I moved to St Kilda in 1986 – sharing a rundown rental house with two artists, a musician, three children aged under four and rather too many mice for anyone's comfort. But I soon discovered why real estate agents spruiking houses in St Kilda often resort to that well worn line - location, location, location – because in this case it's true. St Kilda is a great place to live – its density makes it vibrant, exciting, close to the beach and the bay and it has plenty of parks – and it's within easy reach of the city. Waves of residents have washed through St Kilda, attracted in the boom times by its exclusivity and status, and in periods when the suburb was more down at heel, by cheap rents and low priced land.

St Kilda’s changing social status over time is visible in the different block sizes and the variety of homes. It started life as a grand and fashionable suburb for the wealthy. The houses, particularly those on St Kilda Hill, were large and often surrounded by extensive estates - gardens, orchards and lawns. On the flat were smaller homes on matchbox blocks for working class families, often employed by the rich folk up the hill.

When depression hit in the 1890s the grounds of many large estates were sold off; creating some of the subdivisions we’ll see along our route. Many grand homes were broken up into flats or boarding houses.

In fact this spot – on the corner of Acland and Jackson streets, is a perfect place to view the evolution of St Kilda. There’s a range of mid and late Victorian terraces on the right hand side of the road. The building opposite us at number 8 Acland Street is an example of a Victorian house turned into flats. Built in about 1890 it replaced an earlier single story house on the site.

Looking up the street, you can see other blocks of flats built at various times, where once you would have seen the sweeping grounds of grand Victorian mansions.

Let's resume our walk up Acland St again, under the shady avenue of plane trees that were planted around 1940. We're going to turn right at the next intersection, and stop in front of the flats that run from 14-20 Victoria Street.