Historical information

The two-storey house at 104 Peel Street, known locally as The Mousehouse, was built in 1890 of stucco-rendered handmade bricks. The ground floor façade suggests that the front door originally opened directly onto the street. Prior to 1915, the house was numbered 184, but the street number changed to 104 in that year. Early residents included Henry Martin, Mrs Henrietta Blythe and A. R. Chaffer, the two latter being shopkeepers. The eminent dentist Samuel E. Wills, who had rooms in Collins Street, moved to the house in 1897 and lived there for six years. He was reputed to have conducted a dental practice in the cellar. Wills proposed the establishment of a Dental College in Melbourne and helped to frame Victoria’s dental rules and by-laws.

Physical description

Enlarged photograph mounted on board, donated to the Kew Historical Society by the City of Kew on 10 April 1991.