Mount View Estate Northcote

Wakanui, Hakatere and Oamaru Streets

Mount View Estate consisted of land blocks fronting onto Victoria Road, Wakanui, Hakatere and Oamaru Streets in Northcote.

The names of the streets originate from the Maori language. The River Hakatere (also known as the Ashburton River) flows into the ocean at Wakanui on the east coast of the South Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Oamaru is the name of a town further down the coast. It is not clear why these names were chosen in particular.

The land sales were advertised during 1925 and the auction took place on the 16th April with 90 ‘villa sites’ on offer for £5 deposit and a balance of 20 equal quarterly payments and 6% interest.

The auction sale was handled by a local company Stott, Son & Watson who described the estate as being ‘splendidly situated on Eastern slope of hill right in the centre of Northcote, the most progressive city of the Northern metropolis and surrounded by a very nice class of home facing McDonnell Park … travelling facilities are catered for by Northcote and Dennis Electric Railway Stations, High Street Cable Tram and Motor Buses which pass close to this splendid estate.’

An article published the following week reported that 78 out of the 90 allotments were sold, so a good outcome for the auctioneers and the buyers. In the finance section of the Age in 1926, a financial statement from the nearby Northcote Brick Company mentions that ‘in the present balance sheet there is an addition to the above sundry debtors entry an item - sundry debtors, Mount View Estate, £7380.’ This may indicate that bricks from the Northcote Brick Company were used when constructing the houses on the estate.

Auctions. Herald (Melbourne, Vic: 1861 - 1954), Saturday 11 April 1925, page 19 This Day.
Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 18 April 1925, page 10 Sales of Property.
The Age (Melbourne Vic: 1854 – 1954) 22 April 1925, p 16 Trade and Finance.
The Age (Melbourne Vic: 1854 – 1954) Wednesday 21 April 1926, p 17 
Digital copies of land sale posters donated by Jeanette Jones