Sinclairs' Cottage

Sinclair's cottage is located on the main Elm avenue in Fitzroy Gardens. A rare example of an Italian Romanesque style as adopted for a gardener's cottage. A polychrome brick cottage designed by Melbourne architect Francis Maloney White. In 1866, Melbourne City Council accepted the tender of Thomas Crowson to build the cottage at a cost of 520 pounds. A single story house with a gabled entrance porch with overhanging eaves. The walls are of alternating cream and red brickwork, with cream as the dominant colour. Two notable stripped chimneys which dominate the roof are built in alternating red and cream brickwork courses. The stables at the back repeat the fine details of the main house although in a much simpler fashion. Sinclair's cottage survives virtually intact in now mature Fitzroy Gardens. The essential ornamentation and original polychrome character have been preserved.