The land that is now Phoenix Street was originally sold to Peter Davis in 1849 for seven pounds ten shillings per acre for 52 acres. He divided up the land and resold it between 1850 and 1852 and it first appears on an 1856 map which also shows the local hotel the Prince of Wales on the corner of Cliff Street.
“Squint”, writing in 1906 of his early recollections says:
“At the corner of Cliff and Phoenix Street lived Jimmy Porteous. Who is there that does not remember old Jimmy. He was employed in the formation of Punt Road when it was first opened up and used to do all the fencing in the district – splitting his own post and rails.”
“At the corner of Phoenix Street the Willis family lived, after removing from the premises now occupied by the Elizabeth Fry Retreat in Argo Street. A well-known builder and contractor lived close by in a two roomed cottage, who had a great propensity for buying up old materials and building new houses with them. He had the privilege of being the first builder to start shoddy building in Prahran. Now he has many imitators.”
‘In Phoenix Street lived Robert Good who behaved quite up to his name but the family next door was quite the reverse. I don’t think there is an old resident living who does not remember the lively times they occasioned in the days gone by.”
In the 1916 results published in the Real Property Annual it shows an August 5th result of 7 Phoenix Street described as a five room double fronted cottage on land 58 feet by 75 feet for three hundred pounds.
Recent Property Sales on Phoenix Street
| 8 Phoenix Street South Yarra | $1,750,000 | 2 September 2018 |
| 1/35 Phoenix Street South Yarra | $395,000 | 17 August 2017 |