Templestowe Vic

Eastern Melbourne · Victoria

What's Templestowe made of?

Mostly 1970s brown brick on 800-1,500m² blocks, sitting on reactive clay, with medium pressure to knock down and rebuild. Manningham City Council.

Who built Templestowe
1970s brown brick 40%1980s-90s brick veneer 30%Infill townhouses and rebuilds 25%Villas and cottages 5%

The eras, street by street

1970s brown brick

40%
1970s

Brown or clinker brick veneer, aluminium windows, ducted gas heating, family room, double carport. Project homes in the new estates of the day.

1980s-90s brick veneer

30%
1980s-1990s

Brick veneer with tiled roof, ensuite, rumpus, double garage by the 90s, ducted heating. Rendered Federation-revival gables late in the period.

Infill townhouses and rebuilds

25%
2000s-2020s

Dual occupancies and townhouse rows replacing 1950s-60s veneers under ResCode, plus single-block knockdown rebuilds.

Villas and cottages

5%
1850s-1910s

Victorian and Edwardian weatherboards and brick terraces, iron lace, slate or iron roofs, timber floors on stumps, rooms off a hall.

Typical block
800-1,500m²
Typical frontage
18-25m
Rebuild pressure
Medium

Under the floor

Soil

Reactive clay

Moderately to highly reactive clay (Class M to H). Seasonal movement causes hairline cracking in brickwork and render. Modern slabs are engineered for it; older strip footings were not. Consistent moisture around the house is the whole game.

In the walls

  • Asbestos still present in wet areas and eaves to the mid-80s
  • Single-glazed dark aluminium windows
  • Original ducted systems at end of life
  • Some concrete driveways and slabs cracking on reactive clay
  • Asbestos possible to about 1987
  • Halogen downlights against insulation
  • Leaking showers as waterproofing membranes reach 25-35 years
  • Grey polybutylene pipe in some 90s homes
What each of these costs to fix

How the streets are changing

Big 1970s blocks near the Yarra are the KDR target. Single large rebuilds more than subdivision.

The thing locals know

Sloping blocks toward the river and a Significant Landscape Overlay on many streets. Tree removal is the first approval you will need.

Time machine

What's changed in Templestowe since Nan bought

House prices in years of wages, decade by decade, what was standing when, and what her block does now.

Open the timeline

Questions about Templestowe

Do houses in Templestowe have asbestos?+

Likely in the older stock. About 40% of Templestowe was built between the 1920s and 1980s, the peak asbestos period. Eaves, wet-area sheeting, fences and sheds are the usual places. Test before you drill, sand or demolish.

What soil is under Templestowe?+

Reactive clay. Moderately to highly reactive clay (Class M to H). Seasonal movement causes hairline cracking in brickwork and render. Modern slabs are engineered for it; older strip footings were not. Consistent moisture around the house is the whole game.

Can I subdivide a block in Templestowe?+

Medium subdivision pressure: A knockdown or a subdivision every few streets. Character is shifting but the original stock still dominates. Typical blocks are 800-1,500m². Check the zone, ResCode and any Neighbourhood Character or Heritage overlay for the exact street.

Street-level generalisations from council heritage studies, ABS dwelling-age data, soil classification maps and BuildPilot partner site reports. Every street has exceptions. A soil test, a building inspection and the council's overlay map beat any suburb profile, including this one.

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