Buildings/mason.html
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Mason's Building/Commonwealth Bank
1908, 66-70 High Street
Mason's Building. Nos. 66-70 High Street, on the north-east corner with Pakenham Street. Architect: John McNeece. Builder: J. Anderson. This has been known as the former Commonwealth Bank Building, but the bank did not own the building until 1925. Part of the site (No. 66) appears to have been part of E.H. Fothergill's estate. From 1882 until 1921 the property was owned by Frederick Mason, alias May, a jeweller and entrepreneur. This two-storey building was built in 1908 as four shops with residences above. Its neoclassical style is ‘softened’ by the plump proportions of the engaged columns. Unfortunately, in 2005, one section of the facade was painted a different colour, disturbing its unity; the awning and shopfront for that section are not original.
From a photograph of a painting by [[../../artists/leek/index.html|Toby Leek]], with his permission.
References and Links
tba
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 11 August, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/mason.html (it was last updated on 3 April, 2024). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.