Summary of property
Ascog was built in 1859 as the residence for William Kaye (c1820-1893) and designed in the Italianate Style, replacing an earlier 1853 portable iron house by Williamson & Sons.
William Kaye was the senior partner in Kaye & Burchart, stock and station agency. He was MLC for Eastern Province 1886-7, a member of the Provisional Committee of the Melbourne Mount Alexander and Murrey River Railway Company and president of the Melbourne & Hobsons Bay Railway Company. He also acquired extensive pastoral properties in Victoria and NSW.
Primary architect unknown
Secondary Architects identified in MMDB as Couch & Wilson and Lloyd Tayler.
Primary sources from MMDB
TS Note: On 1856-1857 electoral roll, William Kaye, of Bourke St, Melbourne, is shown as shown as owning lots 100a & 100b only. | Argus, 12 Feb 1859, p 8. Auction notice. Allotments for sale, portion 96, at the corner Dickens St & Tennyson St, close to Mr Peyton's new mansion,bet Mr Kaye's residence and the Brighton Rd and looking on to the reserve.
SLV John Vale & Co plan collection, 'Plan of Subdivision of Section 96, St Kilda..' Auction, 26 Feb 1859, shows Kaye with frontages to Tennyson, Southey & Milton Sts.
Argus 28 Nov 1859 p 2- William Kaye selling furniture at his mansion in Southey St, St Kilda (from Rob La Nauze 2014) |
S&M 1866 Appears to be (1st identifiable listing) Curtayne, John (manager, Union Bank), Southey St (east side, Mitford St junction) |
S&M 1868 (1 st entry) Gibson, Gavin, Southey St (east side, Mitford St junction) | Argus, 17 Dec1875, p 3 - C&W tenders for large additions to res of GG, Southey St, StK;
Argus , 29 Nov 1879, p 3. Auction of 'Bowmore', Southey St. Property surrounded by some of the best houses in St Kilda, among others the residences of Gavin Gibson .
Could be Argus, 20 Oct 1883, p 6 - LT tenders for music room at South [sic?] St, StK | Note also LT (Lloyd Tayler) does warehouse and offices in Lonsdale St for Gavin Gibson & Co
1876 GG owner. Couch & Wilson architects identified as tendering for large additions to the property.
1883 LT tenders for Music Room at Southey Street.
Argus,14 Jan 1887, p 3 - LT tenders for dwarf bluestone wall, iron gates, palisading & corr iron fencing to res of GG, StK; ibid but separate adv - LT tenders to purchase 375 ft wrot painted picket fence, entrance gates, Southey St, StK. 1887 Lloyd Tayler tenders for dwarf bluestone wall, iron gates, palisading & corr iron fencing to res of GG.
20 Apr 89. | Raggatt, 'St Kilda', p 43. William Kaye, auctioneer, bought from the Crown in 1857 lots 100a, 100b, 101a, 102a, 103b, 104c, 104d, 105, 108, 110c, 118a, 175b, totalling over 30 acres, and on lot 100b, just south of what became the Botanical Gardens in Tennyson St, he built the house later known as 'Ascog', which was owned by Gavin Gibson from 1868.
Two storey cemented Italianate style. COPP Collection (SK 0446 C1872.
Undated photo (?) shows house after large additions of extra bay & colonnaded ver & balcony. | SLV John Vale & Co plan collection, 'Plan of Subdivision of Section 96, St Kilda..' Auction, 26 Feb 1859, shows Kaye with frontages to Tennyson, Southey & Milton Sts.
See ownership above.
Between 1907 and when it was demolished in 1939 Ascog operated as a boarding house. At this time many of St Kilda's mansions performed a similar function- Ascog fell into the more luxurious class (along with places such as St Leonards Avenue),
MMDB (Melbourne Mansions Database (Primary sources) Number 1189
Peter Johnson for a catalogue on the Donald McDonald Collection St Kilda's Historical Mansions exhibited by the City of Port Phillip 2018 (Summary information)
Seamus O'Hanlon Together Apart Boarding House, hostel and flat life in pre-war Melbourne 2002 pg 41..