Francis House 107 Collins street, C.1927
Francis House was opened in 1927 at 107 Collins Street. Designed by Blackett and Forster, the narrow-fronted seven-level building was awarded the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects’ inaugural Street Architecture Medal in 1929. Its ground floor originally accommodated the Collins Street pharmacy of Henry Francis and Co.
Henry Francis was descended from a family of British pharmacists who had practiced since the time of King Charles II. Francis immigrated to Australia in 1852 and, like thousands of others, tried his luck on the Victorian goldfields. However, rather than striking it rich with gold, Henry found his fortune hawking his pills and potions from an apothecary dray at the diggings and a store in Kyneton. In 1860, Henry purchased a chemist store at 298 Bourke Street (now DJs). The latter was located beside a pub from which the coaches of Cobb & Co regularly departed - and returned - from the goldfields so Henry continued a brisk trade among the State’s gold mining community.
In 1886, Henry a bought a second chemist shop at 111 Collins Street. By this time, the medical profession had begun a migration from the western end of Collins Street to its increasingly fashionable eastern sector. Henry Francis and Co became one of the better known pharmaceutical businesses in the growing city.
With Henry’s death in 1905, his eldest son George assumed control of the business. In 1927, George relocated the Collins Street store into the newly opened Francis House. With its elegant Georgian facade and convenient access to a reputable pharmacy, the upper floors of the building were quickly tenanted by medical and dental practices. Francis House became known locally for its bronze and glass bay l shop front along with a brightly striped orange and beige awning that retracted into a discreet aperture above the ground floor windows.