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139 Queen's Parade,
Clifton Hill 3068
Australia
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Clifton Hill

Normandy Hotel (1983 - 2009)

Dainton's Family Hotel (1875 - 1880), Normanby Hotel (1881 - 1982)

139 Queen's Parade,
Clifton Hill 3068
Australia
Map It

1875

c.2009

Rubber Duck cafe ground floor, upper floors residential

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Part B, pp. 481-482

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Individually significant within HO 330

Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1217, 1901

George Dainton, a stonemason, owned a house on this site before building the hotel. He was the first publican. After a few years he leased the hotel to another publican and the hotel name was changed, but Dainton retained ownership into the early 1890s. The hotel is a striking building, a large two storey Italianate hotel with corner splay and dentilated cornice line, decoratively enriched by quoining and pedimented window heads. A detached two storeyed block faces Gold Street. Exterior alterations have been minor compared to many other pubs.

In 1983 the owner was Arthur Amagnos and the manager Ted Cox. An article (or should that be advertorial) appeared in a local paper:

“…one of the new breed of sophisticated hotels appearing in Melbourne where patrons can relax in an atmospheric bistro, sip coffee or aperitifs in the piano bar, treat themselves to a sumptuous smorgasbord carvery at Sunday lunch or simply enjoy traditional hearty pub fare in the public bar.
(The Melbourne Times 15 December 1983)”

During the 1980s and 1990s it was a music venue with an Irish ambience and Guinness on tap, reaching a crescendo every St Patrick's Day when patrons spilled on to the footpath from the crowded interior.

The hotel's closure, and the proposals for a mixed commercial and residential use, caused some heartache among locals and involved considerable representations to Yarra Council and VCAT to ensure the new works would not excessively detract from Queen's Parade character and ambience.