In 1902 Glenferrie Road still had paddocks and houses. Its commercial expansion into the shopping mecca we know today began in the Edwardian period of architecture from 1901 to 1918.
There are some excellent examples of Edwardian buildings along Glenferrie Road, and many other points of interest
Stop 1: RSL Hall and shops
605-609 Glenferrie Road
Built in 1920 on a vacant lot with a stream running through it, the architects of the RSL Hall and shops were Richardson and Woods, who started practicing in 1914. Strictly speaking, the hall was built outside the Edwardian era but has many Edwardian features, including rusticated stucco, pier and ball, arches, arched parapet, tapered pylons and iris-shaped glazing to the doorway.
The stream is now underground, but its course can still be traced both in the brickwork under the shop on the corner of Oxley Road, and in the curious shape of the allotment of the buildings next to the hall and shops.
The shops, whose facades have been altered, were built later over the creek.