Hamilton House

Hamilton House and Melbourne House are a pair of two-storey semi-detached houses dating to the 18th century. The houses are constructed of unpainted stucco, treated to resemble ashlar, with slate hipped roofs. The garden elevations present a unified four-bay facade, featuring a shallow central projection topped with a pedimental gable and a niche on the ground floor containing a bust on a fluted pedestal. The eaves are generally low, with the central gable featuring Greek mutules to its cornice. The buildings have a basement and two storeys, with two bays to the central projection, stone steps leading to the ground floor windows above the basement, and one bay at each end. The windows are twelve-pane sashes to the upper floor and eighteen-pane sashes to the ground floor. A broad band separates the floors, and a raised plinth incorporates the basement openings. The side elevations are relatively plain, punctuated by a long staircase window that breaks the band centrally, along with twelve-pane windows on each floor towards the rear and an arched doorway towards the front. Slate sills are present. Brick side wall stacks are visible, with the rear wings hipped to the north and featuring a brick end stack, all enclosing a small courtyard.

Hamilton House has a prominent plinth on its south side, broken to provide access to the entrance door, with a basement plate-glass sash window to the left and a basement door and matching sash window to the right, aligned with the upper floor windows. A renewed iron railing fronts a rendered flight of six steps leading to the entrance door, which itself features a 20th-century door and a leaded patterned fanlight. The garden steps have rounded nosings and 20th-century balustrades.

Inside, a short flight of steps leads from the front door to the main ground floor level. An arch with moulded detail and pilasters frames the head of the staircase, above which is a plaster ceiling with a rose. The front room to the west has a moulded cornice decorated with shells, and a ceiling border featuring rosettes within a scroll and ribboned reeding. A 19th-century white marble fireplace with roundels at the corners is present. The interior features six-panel doors. A staircase is located off an axial hall to the east of the main entrance stairs, which has an acanthus ceiling rose. The elliptical staircase has 19th or early 20th-century twisted balusters and a ramped handrail. The dining room to the east has an elliptical-arched sideboard recess, a 19th-century black marble fireplace, a mid-19th century cornice, and an acanthus ceiling rose. A six-panel door with bordered panels is also present. A fireplace with a shouldered architrave is found on the upper floor.