St Aubins Estate Balaclava Hill 27th October 1888 – Caulfield North

Description

It is the 27th of October 1888 and Melbourne is getting close to the land boom going bust. Here the developers have 74 lots for auction set back from the south east corner of Balaclava and Orrong Roads. The land on the corner and running south along Orrong Road is owned by Messrs Grimwade. Fosberry and Danby Esquires. The streets covered include the eastern end of St Aubins Avenue, Danby Street (now Otira Road),  part of Wootton Grange ( now Grove) and Butler Street (now Fosbery Avenue). Well, was the sale a “flop”? According to the “Caulfield & Elsternwick Leader” on Friday the 9th of November 1888 it was a relative success, 44 of the 74 allotments sold for £14,611-7-6. That is, on average, about £6-12-6 per frontage foot.