heritage assessment of james hesters’ union …...alterations such as rendering or painting of the...

HERITAGE ASSESSMENT OF

JAMES CHESTERS’ UNION STREET SUBDIVISION

2-22 UNION STREET, 5-21 UNION STREET, 159-177 HAMERSLEY ROAD & 98-110 HEYTESBURY ROAD

SUBIACO

Prepared by

Annette Green, Greenward Consulting

For the

City of Subiaco

December 2014

Disclaimer

This Heritage Assessment has been prepared from information gathered in the course of the document’s production by Annette Green (physical description and selected historical research, referencing online historical newspapers, Post Office Directories and Electoral Rolls) and Sofia Boranga, Coordinator Subiaco Heritage, City of Subiaco (provision of historical land titles and historical research, referencing Rates Books and Post Office Directories). It should be noted that the readily accessible on-line sources relating to occupancy of the properties ceases in c.1949 and that the primary focus has been on the first half of the twentieth century.

The author has exercised due care to avoid errors in the information contained in the report, but does not warrant that it is error or omission free. No person or organization should use or rely solely on this document for detailed advice, or as the basis for formulating decisions or actions, without considering, and if necessary obtaining, relevant advice from other sources. In particular it should be noted that the physical descriptions have been based on streetscape inspections only and that comprehensive historical research has not been undertaken for individual places or associated people.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study or research, as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act, no part of the information in this document may be stored in a retrieval system, reproduced, or transmitted in any form without express permission of the City of Subiaco.

City of Subiaco – Community Heritage Survey

James Chesters’ Union Street Residential Subdivision December 2014

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1

Background .................................................................................................................................... 1

Study Area ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Related Places ................................................................................................................................ 1

Study Area ..................................................................................................................................... 2

Statement of Significance ............................................................................................................... 3

Integrity, authenticity and condition ............................................................................................... 4

Levels of Contribution .................................................................................................................... 5

Management Recommendation: 2-22 Union Street, 5-21 Union Street and 157-177 Hamersley Road 6

Management Recommendation: 98-110 Heytesbury Rd .................................................................. 6

Summary of Management Recommendations ................................................................................. 7

Description of the Study Area ......................................................................................................... 8

Key Features/ Elements .................................................................................................................. 8

Historical notes ............................................................................................................................. 9

Historical Plan of the Study Area, 1955 ......................................................................................... 12

Sequence of development ........................................................................................................... 13

Associations - Developers ............................................................................................................. 13

Associations - Builders .................................................................................................................. 14

Associations - Residents ............................................................................................................... 14

Historic Themes ........................................................................................................................... 15

References ................................................................................................................................... 15

2. HAMERSLEY ROAD .................................................................................................................... 17

Description: 159-177 Hamersley Road ........................................................................................... 17

Streetscape views ........................................................................................................................ 18

Pedestrian views of street trees, verges, footpaths, fences and building details .............................. 19

159 Hamersley Road, Subiaco ....................................................................................................... 21






3. HEYTESBURY ROAD .................................................................................................................. 45

Description: 96-110 Heytesbury Road ........................................................................................... 45



96 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco ........................................................................................................ 49

City of Subiaco – Community Heritage Survey

James Chesters’ Union Street Residential Subdivision December 2014

104 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco ...................................................................................................... 51

108 Heytesbury, Subiaco .............................................................................................................. 53

110 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco ...................................................................................................... 57

4. UNION STREET .......................................................................................................................... 62

Description: Union Street, between Hamersley and Heytesbury Roads .......................................... 62



Western Side of the Street: 5-21 Union Street ............................................................................... 66

5 Union Street, Subiaco ................................................................................................................ 68



11 Union Street, Subiaco .............................................................................................................. 80





Eastern Side of the Street: 2-22 Union Street ............................................................................... 103





12 Union Street, Subiaco ............................................................................................................ 120





City of Subiaco – Community Heritage Survey 1

James Chesters’ Union Street Subdivision December 2014

HERITAGE ASSESSMENT OF JAMES CHESTERS’ UNION STREET SUBDIVISION

1. INTRODUCTION

Background In October 2014, the City of Subiaco commissioned Annette Green, Greenward Consulting, to undertake a heritage assessment of 5-21 Union Street, 108-110 Heytesbury Road and 173-177 Hamersley Road, Subiaco, as part of a community heritage survey. This was to complete a survey of the area originally subdivided into residential lots by James Chesters in c.1894, the eastern half of which was assessed as part of the Heritage Assessment of 2-26 Campbell Street, 2-22 Union Street, 135-165 Hamersley Road & 70-104 Heytesbury Rad, Subiaco (prepared by Greenward Consulting for the City of Subiaco, July 2014)

The purpose of this assessment was to determine whether or not these places form a streetscape (or part of a collection of streetscapes) that is eligible for listing as a Conservation Area under the Town Planning Scheme.

As part of this process, a place record was prepared for each individual property, including a brief outline of its initial development and early history, plus a concise description of the place, as viewed from the street. Background historical information (including a summary of early Rate Books entries and copies of early land titles) was provided by Sofia Boranga, Coordinator Subiaco Heritage, City of Subiaco. This was supplemented by on-line research undertaken by Annette Green, which primarily referenced historical newspapers, Post Office Directories, Electoral Rolls, and family trees. This readily available historical information generally relates to the period up to the mid-twentieth century and this defined the typical cut-off date for the research.

The documentary and physical information was then analysed as part of a professional assessment of the level of contribution that each place makes to the heritage values of the surrounding streetscape (broadly considering aesthetic, historic, social and research values, within the context of the City of Subiaco).

The place records were then reviewed together with those previously prepared for 2-22 Union Street, 159-165 Hamersley Road and 96-104 Heytesbury Road in order to assess the streetscape and heritage values of the James Chesters’ Union Street subdivision.

This assessment forms part of an ongoing process to assist development and planning within the City of Subiaco.

Study Area This Community Heritage Survey has considered the area defined by 2 to 22 and 5 to 21 Union Street; 159 to 173 Hamersley Road and 96 to 100 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco.

Related Places The above places adjoin the areas previously considered in the Assessment of the Rawson Street Heritage Area (prepared by Hocking Heritage Studio for the City of Subiaco, June 2013) and Heritage Assessment of 2-26 Campbell Street, 2-22 Union Street, 135-165 Hamersley Road & 70-104 Heytesbury Rad, Subiaco (prepared by Greenward Consulting for the City of Subiaco, July 2014).

Rawson Street was declared a Conservation Area in December 2013.



Study Area

Figure 1



Statement of Significance

Aesthetic Value

The majority of the buildings along this section of Union Street were constructed in the period c.1912 to 1921. The development undertaken during this relatively short period used a limited palette of materials and styles, which resulted in a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing streetscape.

Of the seventeen houses facing Union Street, ten have been assessed as making a considerable contribution to its heritage character, while five have been assessed as making some contribution (the latter having undergone alterations such as rendering or painting of the original face brick walls and/or additions which have impacted to some degree on the streetscape character of the place). Only two houses have been assessed as making little contribution (due to the extent and/or nature of the alterations), but both retain underlying evidence of the original design and could potentially be altered in a more sympathetic manner in the future).

The section of James Chesters’ subdivision facing Hamersley Road provides a complementary entrance statement at the northern end of Union Street. More importantly, these houses combine with houses to the east and west (along the southern side of Hamersley Road from No 139 to 191) to create an aesthetically pleasing heritage streetscape in their own right.

The section of James Chesters’ subdivision facing Heytesbury Road only retains two of the original four houses constructed here (Nos 108 and 110), and one of these has been significantly altered in recent years. As an entry statement to Union Street these buildings do not make a significant contribution to its heritage values.

The house at 110 Heytesbury Road does, however, make a positive contribution to the aesthetic qualities and heritage character of the streetscape between Union Street and Hensman Road (which has not been formally assessed).

The study area retains many good, representative, suburban examples of Federation Queen Anne houses and Federation Bungalows. These include both gentlemen’s villas and modest suburban houses, and collectively illustrate a gradual evolution in the architectural detailing of these places between 1902 and 1924.

Historic Value

Perth Suburban Lot 255 was initially purchased by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd of Sydney in 1890 and was subdivided into residential lots by James Chesters in c.1893 - while he was still living in Melbourne.

In this context it helps to illustrate the status of Western Australia as a place of opportunity during the gold rush era of the late nineteenth century – attracting significant interest and investment from the eastern states.

The historical evidence suggests that at least six of the houses along Union Street were built by James Chesters as speculative development in the period c.1914 to 1916. These were built to 3 basic floor plans with minor variations to the detailing and finishes (all in modest suburban interpretations of the Federation Queen Anne and Federation Bungalow styles). Of these, numbers 2 and 7 had a simple symmetrical façade with small gablet over the front door;



numbers 5 and 9 had a stepped façade with a stepped verandah across the full width of the house; while numbers 17 and 19 had a stepped façade with a half-width verandah abutting the projecting wing.

Chesters appears to have sold most of these houses for a deposit and negotiated repayments shortly after construction, but transfer of the title was deferred until a number of years later (presumably after full payment was received from either the original or subsequent purchasers).

21 Union Street, which was officially transferred to a new owner around the time of construction, may have been a third example of the house type used at 2 and 7 Union Street.

While James Chesters is known to have undertaken speculative development on various parts of his residential subdivisions in the period c.1906 to 1916, this is the only example identified to date where a significant proportion of a streetscape is believed to have been developed by Chesters.

The historical evidence confirms that five other houses (157 to 165 Hamersley Road and 12 Union Street) represent the efforts of another local property developer, Joseph Shonbrun, who developed these sites in the period c.1905 to 1914.

The collection of houses in the study area helps to demonstrate the manner in which the family residences of professional men and business owners existed side by side with the smaller houses of semi-professional and tradespeople.

The collection of houses in the study area helps to illustrate the scale and standard of housing considered appropriate for these families in the early twentieth century.

In particular, the modest timber cottage at 8 Union Street, provides an evocative contrast with the more substantial nearby houses, such as 11 and 15 Union Street.

Representativeness

The study area includes a good representative collection of the early twentieth century housing developed in close proximity to the civic centre, business centre, school and tramway - ranging from a small weatherboard house through to a large bungalow.

Physical Form in the Public Realm

The study area was developed with 27 houses in the period c.1902 to 1924, with the majority of these being constructed in the period 1912-1921. This defined period and nature of development has resulted in a consistent palette of materials and design idioms, enlivened by diversity of individual details.

Integrity, authenticity and condition

Integrity

The overall integrity of the place as a collection of early twentieth century residential houses (primarily dating from the period 1912 to 1921) is high, with the exception of 98-110 Heytesbury Road, where two of the original four buildings have been demolished and one extensively altered.

Authenticity

All of the houses have undergone some degree of adaptation and/or extension to meet modern living standards. Typical changes include rear extensions, carport additions, new fencing, painting/rendering face brickwork and re-roofing.



However, the original houses (as viewed from the street) have, overall, retained a medium to high level of authenticity.

Condition

Based on a streetscape survey, the buildings in the study area appear to be generally well maintained and in good condition. Within the public realm, the verges are also generally well maintained, although recent planting regimes mean that the street trees lack an overall sense of unity.

Levels of Contribution

Figure 2

Including relevant information from the Heritage Assessment of 2A to 26 Campbell Street; 2 to 22 Union Street; 135 to 165 Hamersley Road and 70 to 104



Heytesbury Road, Subiaco (Greenward Consulting for the City of Subiaco, July 2014)

Management Recommendation: 2-22 Union Street, 5-21 Union Street and 157-177 Hamersley Road

Based on the assessment of significance, above, it is recommended that part of the study area, comprising 2-22 and 5-21 Union Street and 157-177 Hamersley Road, warrants identification as a conservation area under the City of Subiaco Town Planning Scheme.

Based on its aesthetic values (and the period of development) this forms an extension to the existing Rawson Street Conservation Area and of the nearby sections of Hamersley Road and Campbell Street that were recommended for listing in the Heritage Assessment of 2A to 26 Campbell Street; 2 to 22 Union Street; 135 to 165 Hamersley Road and 70 to 104 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco (Greenward Consulting for the City of Subiaco, July 2014).

The recommended conservation area (as shown on Figure 3) has been extended to include the northern side of Hamersley Road, in order to support the ongoing management of an appropriate streetscape setting.

Separate listing of individual houses in the Heritage List under the Town Planning Scheme would not be required to achieve heritage outcomes relevant to this area. However, individual listing for 15 Union Street could be considered with regard to its particular aesthetic values together with its historical value as an excellent example of the work of local builder, William Bushell.

As a future project, consideration could also be given to assessing the complimentary areas immediately west of Union Street (along Redfern Street and Hamersley Road, through to the laneway along the back of the properties facing Hensman Road).

Management Recommendation: 98-110 Heytesbury Rd

While this area has historical associations with the development of Union Street, its heritage values have been greatly diminished by the demolition of two of the four original houses and the extensive alteration of a third. It is therefore recommended that it does not warrant inclusion within the proposed Union Street conservation area.

The house at 110 Heytesbury Road does, however, make a positive contribution to the aesthetic qualities and heritage character of the Heytesbury Road streetscape between Union Street and Hensman Road. Consideration could be given to assessing this area as a future project.



Summary of Management Recommendations



Figure 3

Description of the Study Area

The study area includes good representative examples of the mixture of early twentieth century housing that was developed in a ‘desirable’ part of Subiaco, as defined by its close proximity to the civic and business centres, to the Municipal Gardens (now known as Rankin Gardens), and to the tramline to the city.

While the street cannot be described as intact or uniform early twentieth streetscape, the street trees, building scale, building materials, setbacks and the Federation era architectural styles, provide an overall sense of consistency, while the individual designs and detailing add a richness and complexity. Some of the key characteristics of the original housing stock include single storey frontages, face-brick walls (now with a mixture of face brick, painted brick and rendered brick), stepped facades, front verandahs and hipped-gabled roofs. A more detailed list of the characteristic features and elements is included below.

All of the sites where developed in the period 1902 to 1924, with the majority of the twenty-seven houses being built in c.1912 to 1920. Only two of these houses have been demolished (98 and 104 Heytesbury Road).

Of the remaining twenty-five houses, twelve have been assessed as making a considerable contribution to the study area for their aesthetic and/or historic values. The principal façade(s) and/or building envelopes of three houses have been extensively altered and have therefore been assessed as making little/no contribution (although each of these still retains some evidence of the original form and style of the place). The street facades of the other ten houses have all been altered to some degree, but still retain clear evidence of their original design and have been assessed as being of some significance.

More detailed descriptions and photographs of each street and each house have been included in Sections 2 (Hamersley Road), 3 (Heytesbury Road) and 4 (Union Street).

Key Features/ Elements

Mature street trees;

Street front verges, traditionally lawn, but with some modern use of mulch and informal garden beds;

Small and generally well-maintained front gardens;

Varied block widths, ranging between approximately 10 to 15m along Union Street; 10 to 20m along Hamersley Road; and 18 to 33m along Heytesbury Road;

Generally consistent front setbacks - typically varying between about 3.5 to 5.5m;

Single storey houses (with some modern second storey additions);

Federation Queen Anne and Federation Bungalow designs (ranging from complex to restrained, depending of the size and date of the dwelling);

Complex roof forms, with a combination of hips and gables enlivened with varied detailing, including gablets and tall chimneys;

Terracotta tile or corrugated metal roof cladding;

Rough cast rendered front gables with ‘half-timbered’ detailing;

Predominantly asymmetrical facades;

A breakdown of the apparent bulk of the main façade through the varied use



of design elements such as projecting wings, shallow projecting window bays and stepped, return or straight verandahs;

A traditional use of red face brick for the main facades, generally with restrained decorative detailing including tuck-pointing to the main façade(s) and contrasting rendered finishes to gable ends, string courses, window sills and selected panels;

*Note: Refurbishment projects in the mid-late twentieth century have resulted in some of the original face brick facades being painted, or fully rendered.

Raked or bull-nosed verandahs to the main façade;

Varied timber detailing to verandahs;

Narrow, vertical proportions to the timber framed windows, which are typically casements (in groups of three) or double hung sashes (single or paired);

Raked or bull-nose window hoods set on timber brackets (particularly over the windows to projecting wings);

3 or 5-panelled entry doors with moulded timber architraves, located under the front verandah or facing the side boundary under a return verandah;

Timber framed sidelights and highlights to the main entrance doors, typically with stained glass leadlight panels.

Historical notes 1 During the early years of settlement most of the Subiaco area formed part of the Perth Commonage. In 1879 land was set aside for the Fremantle to Guildford Railway and this line was officially opened in March 1881. Two years later the Western Australian government announced it would survey a section of the Perth Commonage into suburban lots and that these would be made available for private sale. The land in question incorporated the majority of Subiaco and part of Shenton Park (originally West Subiaco) and was laid out as 5 acre lots on a grid pattern - designated as Perth Suburban Lots (PSL).

The Subiaco Municipal Council was created in 1895; Metropolitan Water Works Board services were extended to Subiaco in 1898/1899; and the Perth Electric Tramways Company's line was built through to the corner of Rokeby and Broome Roads in 1899 and up Rokeby Road to Kings Park by January 1900. Loans made available through the granting of municipal status also allowed the funding of road construction and the laying of footpaths, which by 1903 comprised about 20 kilometres. From here, improvements like street trees and parks occurred under the influence of Alexander Rankin, who was the first Town Clerk and Engineer for the Subiaco Council.

The area considered in this report relates to one of the 5-acre lots that extended between Hamersley and Heytesbury Roads - Perth Suburban Lot 255.

PSL 255 was purchased by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd of Sydney in August 1890. Two years later it was transferred to

1 This section of the report has been based on land title research for the study area, together with information from

Bizzaca, K., City of Subiaco Thematic History and Framework (prepared for the City of Subiaco February 2014); Greenward Consulting, Heritage Assessment of the Chesters’ Subdivision Conservation Area (prepared for the City of Subiaco, August 2013); and Hocking Heritage Studio, Assessment of the Rawson Street Heritage Area (prepared for the City of Subiaco, June 2013).



James Chesters of 155 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, estate agent, and by the beginning of 1894 Chesters had subdivided this land as Deposited Plan 899, with 42 lots laid out around Queen Street (soon renamed Union Street). This included eight lots facing Hamersley Road (Lots 1 to 4 and 39 to 42) and eight facing Heytesbury Road (Lots 18 to 25).



PSL 255 was only part of the extensive land holdings Chesters acquired in Subiaco during the 1890s, which also included PSL 249, 250, 251 and 252 (bounded by Hamersley, Townsend, Heytesbury and Rokeby Roads). Chesters subdivided these land holdings into residential allotments, which he progressively sold from the early 1890s. He settled permanently in Perth in 1905 and from that time also undertook speculative development on some of these properties.

The first lot was sold in the subdivision of PSL 255 in 1894 (lot 34, 8 Union Street), but further sales did not occur until the early twentieth century, and the last block was not transferred out of Chesters’ ownership until 1924. Development was also deferred until the early twentieth century, with the first house being built in c.1902 (Lots 20 & 21, 108 Heytesbury Road).

Chesters sold only nine lots in this area during the first decade of the twentieth century and by 1910 eight houses had been built, all but one facing either Hamersley or Heytesbury Road.

Development at that time, and later, showed that the narrow frontages provided in the subdivision did not match the market demand and, in the majority of cases, two blocks were merged or three blocks were divided as two. Along the western side of Union Street this trend was formalized by Chesters in c.1914, when he laid out a new subdivision – replacing the original thirteen lots with nine slightly wider lots (Lots 5 to 13 on Diagram 4432).

The majority of sales and development took place during the second decade of the twentieth century and by 1920 all but two of the twenty-seven original houses had been built. It was also during this period that the Subiaco Council acquired Part Lot 31 and part Lot 32 (on the eastern side of Union Street) as an extension of Rawson Street, and Lot 9 (on the western side of Union Street) as an extension of Redfern Street.

At 2, 5, 7, 9 and 19 Union Street, the Subiaco Rates Books record new houses occupied by owners other than Chesters in the period 1914 to 1916, but the Certificate of Title does not record the sale of these lots until 1919 to 1921. Chesters is known to have been undertaking speculative development on some of his properties at this time, and it seems likely that he built these houses and initially ‘sold’ them to new owners for a small deposit and negotiated payments. In each of these cases the owner recorded on the Certificate of Title was the second or third owner recorded in the Rates Books – suggesting that the initial purchasers had either defaulted or sold their equity in the place, prior to completing the transaction. The likelihood that Chesters undertook speculative development in the street in c.1914-15 is also supported by the fact that 5 & 9 Union Street appear to have been built to the same basic design, as were 2 & 7, and 17 & 19 – suggesting that each of these ‘matching’ pairs was built by the same developer.

The last house was built in Union Street in 1924, when a local builder, William Bushell, constructed a large house for himself at 15 Union Street (on the corner of Redfern Street).

The early residents of this area included business owners, tradesmen and labourers. Local residents who were prominent in community and business life are discussed under Associations (below).



Historical Plan of the Study Area, 1955 2

Figure 4



Sequence of development 3

Figure 5: Sequence of development for the existing properties within the Study Area

Associations - Developers

Organisations and people who were instrumental in the subdivision of the study area into residential blocks and/or its early development included:

James Chesters

As discussed above, James Chesters was responsible for the subdivision of Perth Suburban Lot 255, as Deposited Plan 889 in c.1893/94. The available evidence indicates that he was later responsible for its partial development,

2 Sewerage Plan, Sheet 193, MWSS & DD, drawn 1923, Revised 1941 & 1955, SROWA. Inverted black and white copy of

the blue print extract provided by the City of Subiaco. 3 Including relevant information from the Heritage Assessment of 2A to 26 Campbell Street; 2 to 22 Union Street; 135 to

165 Hamersley Road and 70 to 104 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco (Greenward Consulting for the City of Subiaco, July 2014)



constructing six and possibly seven houses along Union Street.

James Chesters’ obituary in The Daily News, 27 June 1929, included the following information about his early years and his activities in Western Australia:

One who had faith in Western Australia, even before he had seen it, passed away yesterday in the person of Mr. James Chesters. Mr. Chesters was an Englishman, having been born in the Midlands. At an early age he came to Australia, landing at Melbourne, where he followed his trade as a printer. In the early nineties he purchased a large tract of land in Subiaco from Messrs Peet and Bastow, who were in business in Melbourne, at a price between £25 and £30 an acre. Some of this he sold before coming West. In 1894 he paid his first visit to Western Australia, proceeding to the goldfields, where he was only moderately successful. He remained there a year or two, and returned to Melbourne, residing at St. Kilda. In 1905 he again returned to this State, and commenced speculative building on his Subiaco property, which was situated between Heytesbury and Hamersley roads. That portion is now fully built upon, with streets running through it. …. In 1906, when the new central ward was created in Subiaco, he contested the election and was returned, as a councillor …. in November, 1910, he beat Mr. White by 69 votes, and filled the office of Mayor for the next two years.

Joseph Shonbrun (also known as Joseph Shaw).

Shonbrun (who listed his occupation as tea merchant) progressively developed the houses at 159, 161, 163 and 165 Hamersley Road, and 12 Union Street, commencing in c.1905/06. He lived at 161 Hamersley Road (1906-1908), 165 Hamersley Road (1909-1915) and 12 Union Street (1916-1920), variously renting out or selling the other properties.

Little else is known about Shonbrun/Shaw, his business as a tea merchant, or the full extent of his property developments (although newspaper advertisements confirm that he did develop other properties in Subiaco).

Associations - Builders

Records identifying the builders of early twentieth century suburban houses are sparse, but local builders who are believed to have undertaken speculative or private developments within the study area include:

William Bushell, carpenter/builder (family homes at 16 Union Street, c.1913 and 15 Union Street, 1924)

Thomas Starks, carpenter/builder (speculative development at 6 Union Street, c.1916)

Associations - Residents

With the exception of the de Feu family (110 Heytesbury Road), the majority of the residents of this area did not feature prominently in the business, political or social newspaper articles of the early to mid-twentieth century. However, a number are still known to have had a place in the local business community.

For example:

Richard Banfield, case and box manufacturer with business premises in John Street, Perth.

Family residence at 17 Union Street, c.1916-1921.

William Bushell, builder.



Family residence and business address at 16 Union Street, c.1913-1918 and 15 Union Street, c.1924-1933.

Thomas Cook, Cook and Long, Builders.

Family residence and business address at 22 Union Street, c.1922-1937.

Victor De Fue, manager of J.P. De Feu and Co Ltd, spouting and metal fabrication manufacturers of Roe Street, later Railway Parade, Perth.

Family residence at 110 Heytesbury Road, c.1920-1949.

John George Schnitzler (later known as John George Thornton), owner and manager of Commonwealth West End Tailors, 843 Hay Street, Perth.

Family residence at 108 Heytesbury Road, c.1903-1923.

Joseph Shonbrun, tea merchant and local property developer.

Family residences at 161 Hamersley Road, c.1906-1908; 165 Hamersley Road, c.1909-1915); and 12 Union Street, c.1916-1920.

Joseph Shephard, tailor, with business premises at 87a Rokeby Road and later at 130a Rokeby Road.


William Treen, William Treen & Co of William Street, Perth (originally Threkeld & Treen). This firm acted as an agent for a wide range of products, including Nugget Polish, Skipping Girl Vinegar, Tindex Dyes, Armco iron tanks and Bardsley’s Eau de Cologne.


The majority of the other early residents were from the more junior professional classes (such as teachers, clerks, bank officials and salesmen). These people typically left relatively little mark in the printed records

Historic Themes Federation & Late Gold Boom Period (1890s – 1910s): Land allocation & subdivision; depression & boom; consolidation; local famous & infamous people.

A time of Uncertainty (World War One, Inter-War & World war Two)(1910s-1940s): Consolidation; depression & boom; local famous & infamous people.

References Certificate of Title Volume 33, Folio 65

Certificate of Title Volume 638, Folio 1

1883 survey with amendments dating from c. 1896. Plan of 139 Perth Suburban Lots, Surveyed and drawn by Gilbert H. Rotton, F. B. No. 1, 1883, Cons 3868, Item 337, SROWA

Sewerage Plan, Sheet 193, MWSS & DD, drawn 1923, Revised 1941 & 1955, SROWA.

Bizzaca, K., City of Subiaco Thematic History and Framework (prepared for the City of Subiaco, February 2014)

Greenward Consulting, Heritage Assessment of the Chesters’ Subdivision Conservation Area (prepared for the City of Subiaco, August 2013)

Greenward Consulting, Heritage Assessment of 2-26 Campbell Street, 2-22 Union Street, 135-165 Hamersley Road & 70-104 Heytesbury Rad, Subiaco (prepared for the City of Subiaco, July 2014)



Various contemporary newspaper articles relating to the professional and public activities of local residents. (trove.nla.gov.au)


159-177 Hamersley Road


2. HAMERSLEY ROAD

Description: 159-177 Hamersley Road

The study area for this report only considers the southern side of Hamersley Road - although the northern side has retained a character consistent with its long-term development with parkland and a school, and forms an attractive and complementary part of the streetscape.

Six houses were built along this section of Hamersley Road in the early twentieth century, with the four houses to the east of Union Street (157 to 165) being built in the period c.1905-1909 and the two houses to the west of Union Street (173 & 177) in c.1918 and c.1923.

157 to 165 were located on relatively narrow blocks and included a mixture of cottages (159 & 163) and suburban houses built in a modest interpretation of the Federation Queen Anne style (161 & 165). The other two houses were built on double blocks and were slightly more substantial, with detailing derived from the Federation Queen Anne and Federation Bungalow styles.

Despite the varied size and dates of these houses, all were designed with compatible detailing, building envelopes and setbacks, resulting in a relatively unified streetscape. In this context, the gabled-hipped roof forms are a particularly important streetscape element.

Street trees are mixed in both species and age. To the east of Union Street the canopies of the mature trees along either side of the road create a clearly defined avenue, while to the west of Union Street a different aesthetic is created by the row of mature eucalypts along the centre island.

The verges are finished with a mixture of lawn/grass and mulch, with some informal garden areas. Off-street car parking is provided from the rear lane of Union Street, which has largely protected the streetscape from the intrusion of carports or garages (although one modern era garage has been built at the frontage of 177 Hamersley Road).

The footpaths are finished with poured concrete, and there are chamfered concrete kerbs along the road frontage of the verges.

All of the front fences have been replaced since the mid-twentieth century, and there is a mixture of traditional, low timber picket fences, high masonry walls with open metal or timber picket infill panels and high solid masonry walls. The high fences that obscure most of the associated building facades from streetscape views disrupt the traditional relationship between house, garden and street - and are visually intrusive. The horizontal rail fence to 161 Hamersley Road is also out of keeping with the traditional character of the area.

Of the six houses facing onto Hamersley Road, two (173 & 177) have retained external detailing that is largely consistent with the original design and these have been assessed as making a considerable contribution to the heritage values of the streetscape. The remainder have been altered to some degree (primarily relating to the painting or rendering of the traditional tuck pointed facades), but still retain an underlying form and detailing that is consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape. These places have therefore been assessed as making some contribution.




Streetscape views

View west along Hamersley Road from near Union Street

View east along Hamersley Road from Union Street

View east along Hamersley Road, towards the intersection with Union Street

View towards the intersection with Union Street




Pedestrian views of street trees, verges, footpaths, fences and building details




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Address 159 Hamersley Road, Subiaco

Lot 39

Photograph

Construction date

c.1905 Architectural Style

Simple cottage (no particular architectural style)

Contributory Significance

Some contribution to the heritage values of the area

Note: The design of this place as a simple cottage helps to illustrate the mixed development of this area - with speculative housing for the working classes being erected in close proximity to larger villas.

The painting of the face-brick facade has impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the original design can still be readily understood.

The high front fence is intrusive within the streetscape.




Historical Notes and Associations

Perth Suburban Lot 255 was purchased by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd of Sydney in August 1890. Two years later it was transferred to James Chesters of 155 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, estate agent. By 1894 Chesters had subdivided this land as Deposited Plan 899, with 42 lots laid out around Queen Street (soon renamed Union Street). Lots 39, 40, 41 and 42, with frontages to Hamersley Road, were sold to Robert Gregory of Victoria in November 1890, and the City of Subiaco Rate Books confirm that he was still the owner in 1903. By 1905 these, still undeveloped, lots had been transferred to Joseph Shonbrun (also known as Joseph Shaw).

Shonbrun (who listed his occupation as tea merchant) progressively developed these lots, commencing in c.1905/06. By 1906, Lot 39 had been developed as an investment property and occupied by William Douglas (civil servant).

The place was advertised for sale in December 1907:

SUBIACO. – Four large ROOMS, kitchen, bath, pantry, situated opposite reserve, superior position, reduced rent to desirable tenant. 159 Hamersley-rd.

It appears to have been purchased by Shonbrun’s tenant, as by 1908-09, the Rates Books listed Douglas as the owner, Shonbrun as the agent, and Arthur Sackwell (tailor) as the tenant.

159 Hamersley Road continued to be used as an investment property, with at least eight other occupants in the period 1911-1926. During this time, ownership appears to have reverted to Joseph Shonbrun/Shaw as in 1925 it was offered for sale as part of the estate of his widow, Lena:

Trustee in the Estate of the late Lena Shaw, to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION as above— Those well-situated and desirable Brick Residences, known as No. 159, 161, and 165 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco.

And

Lot 30 of Perth . Sub. Lot 255, Plan 889, Vol. 443, Folio 38, having, a Brick Residence thereon; No. 159, containing four rooms, hall full length, kitchen, washhouse, bathroom, verandah, etc.

By 1926, 159 Hamersley Road had become the family home of George Lewis, who was a marine steward. George lived here with his wife, Ethel May Lewis (who was, at times, listed in the Post Office Directories as the primary resident of the house).

The following advertisement from 1927 suggests that they may have also taken in lodgers:

FURNISHED ROOM, suit two business girls, use kitchen, gas, e.l., private home, near tram, 159 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco.

At the time of Ethel’s death in August 1935, George was described as the ‘Chief Steward, M.S. Kangaroo’. George may have continued to take in boarders after this time, as the electoral rolls and PO Directory records indicate that he shared the house with Alfred and Kathleen Levy in the period 1943-1945.

Occupants of the property from its time of construction until c.1958 included:

1906-1908 William A Douglas, civil servant

1908-1910 Arthur J Sackwell, tailor

1911-1912 Archibald W Stewart

1913 Josiah Davis, hairdresser

1914 Ernest T Bishop




1915-1916 Albert Herbert Stovold, rubber merchant

1917 ?

1918 Redmond Joseph O’Donnell, linotypist

1919-1921 Mrs Charlotte S Hendry

1922 Frank Noel McKnight, bank official

1923-1926 John William Drew, railway officer

1926- post 1958 George William Lewis, marine steward

Physical Description (based on external inspection only)

159 Hamersley Road was designed as a simple cottage.

Key elements include:

Symmetrical façade.

Hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting.

This has a north-south ridgeline with a louvered gablet facing the street.

Tuck-pointed face-brick façade with a plain rendered string course at window sill height (now all painted).

Full-width, bullnose verandah, with turned timber posts and simple carved timber brackets.

Centrally located entrance door, with highlights and narrow sidelights (all with stained glass detailing)

Double hung windows to either side of the main entrance.

Each of these has a central double hung window flanked by narrow double hung windows (a common detail of the period). They are set over plain rectangular sills.

The cottage was built up to the eastern boundary and has a parapet wall along this side. It is set approx. 5m back from the front boundary, which is defined by a high rendered masonry wall (which largely conceals the house from public view).

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in fair-good condition.

References Certificate of Title Volume 33 Folio 85

City of Subiaco Rate Books (information provided by the City of Subiaco, April 2014)

Western Australian Post Office Directories (www.slaw.wa.gov.au)

Electoral Rolls (Ancestry.com.au)

The West Australian 4 December 1907 p 10 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 19 & 21 November 1925 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 12 July 1927 p 18 (trove.nla.gov.au)

Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to 159 Hamersley Road and/or the occupants of the house (trove.nal.gov.au)





Lot 40

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Queen Anne (in a modest suburban interpretation of the style)



Note: The rendering of the main façade has impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the underlying form and detailing remains consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape.



Shonbrun (who listed his occupation as tea merchant) progressively developed these lots, commencing in c.1905/06. By 1906, a house had been built on Lot 40 and Shonbrun was listed as the occupant.

The property was advertised for sale in July 1907:

SUBIACO. Choice Position. 5-roomed Brick Villa, large dining-room, electric light, every convenience, tram, small deposit. 161 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco.

However, it continued to be occupied by Shonbrun until 1908 (after which he moved to a new house he had built at 165 Hamersley Road) and was then used as a rental property until 1912/13, when the Rates Book listed the owner as C. Davis.

Charles Davis (of Davis & Sons, printers) only remained here for 1-2 years, after which the house was occupied by William Marmaduke Wilson (a ‘property owner’) who lived here with his wife, Caroline, and their family, until they relocated to 4 Union Street in




1924.

During this time, ownership appears to have reverted to Joseph Shonbroun/ Shaw as, in 1925, it was offered for sale as part of the estate of his widow, Lena:

Trustee in the Estate of the late Lena Shaw, to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION as above—Those well-situated and desirable Brick Residences, known as No. 159, 161, and 165 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco.

And

Lot 40 at Perth Sub. Lot 255, Vol. 487, Folio 17, having a Brick Residence thereon, No. 161, containing 4 main rooms and domestic offices and conveniences.

The next long-term occupants were the Sturman/Stringfellow family. Marion Sturman (widow) lived here from 1927 until her death in 1934. Her daughter, Iris, and son-in-law, Edgar Wesley Stringfellow (storeman), also lived here from 1929/30 and their daughter, Edith Leath Stringfellow, was born here in February 1930. Following Marion’s death the Stringfellow family continued to at 161 Hamersley Road until c.1940.

A Miss Doriss (sic) Scott was the next known occupant, remaining here until at least 1949.

In April 1954, 161 Hamersley Road was offered for sale by the executors of the will of the late E A Weston:

Although three house properties, with vacant possession, and one subject to an existing tenancy were offered for sale at auctions yesterday, the only one sold was the tenanted home.

The house sold was 161 Hamersley-road. Subiaco, a brick residence with an iron roof and containing a sitting room, three bedrooms, a kitchen, vestibule and front and back verandahs. The property was offered by Robertson Bros. and bids rose in £50 calls from the first bid of £1,200 to the final figure, £1,500.


c.1906-1908 Joseph Shonbrun (a.k.a. Joseph Shaw), tea merchant, and his wife Lena Shonbrun/Shaw

1909-1911 Arthur Howden Fairy, storeman

1912-1913 Charles John Steven Davis, printer, Davis & Sons

1914-1923 William Marmeduke Wilson (property owner) and his wife, Caroline Wilson

1924-1925 Reginald William Britten Lloyd, carpenter

1926 Horace Richard Rule, accountant

1927-1934 Mrs Marion Sturman, widow

c.1930-1940 Edgar Wesley (Sid) Stringfellow, storeman, and his wife, Iris Stringfellow (nee Sturman)

1941-c.1949 Miss Doriss Elizabeth Scott, home duties


161 Hamersley Road was designed as a modest single storey Federation Queen Anne house.


Simple asymmetrical plan, with a projecting wing on the eastern side of the main façade.




Gable-hipped roof with corrugated metal sheeting, louvered gablet vents at either end of the main east-west ridgeline, and a prominent street front gable (over the projecting wing)

The latter has bracketed projecting eaves, a rough cast rendered face, timber battens in a vertical and curved pattern, and a turned timber finial.

Two face brick chimneys (now painted) with simple corbelled caps.

Rendered-brick walls (probably originally tuck-pointed face-brick to the main façade).

Contrasting stringcourse to the main façade, set at window sill height.

Shallow rectangular window bay to the projecting wing.

This features a pair of individual double hung windows, shaded by a raked awning with plain timber brackets.

Entry verandah, abutting the projecting wing and extending across the remainder of the façade.

This has a dropped, bullnose roof, turned timber posts, and lace-work valance and brackets.

The main entrance to the house is located under the verandah, adjacent to the projecting wing. This has a five-panelled door, highlights and two narrow sidelights (all with stained glass detailing).

The verandah area also features another pair of individual double hung windows with rectangular sills.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a horizontal rail fence.

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in good condition.

Note: The design of this house is very similar to another house developed by Joseph Shonbrun, at 165 Hamersley Road.





Family trees – Edgar Wesley Stringfellow (Ancestry.com.au)

The West Australian 17 July 1907 p 10 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 19 and 21 November 1925 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 21 April 1950 p 34 (trove.nla.gov.au)






Lot 41

Photograph

Construction date


This place does not represent any particular architectural style.



Note: The rendering of the main façade has impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the underlying form and detailing remains consistent with the original design.

The high fence largely obscures views of the main façade and is intrusive within the heritage streetscape.






Shonbrun (who listed his occupation as tea merchant) progressively developed these lots, commencing in c.1905/06. By 1908/09, Lot 41 was occupied by Richard Sudlow (merchant). Richard lived here with his wife, Ethel (who he had married in 1907), and Richard’s brother, Francis Sudlow (also a clerk).

In 1911 and 1912 the property was advertised for sale:

FOR Sale, B.S. House, 4 rooms, kitchen and all conveniences, splendid position, £575, £350 mortgage. 163 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco. (May 1911)

And

DOUBLE-FRONTED Brick and Stone House, 4 rooms, kitchen, all conveniences, £550, deposit £100, balance arranged. 163 Hamersley-road, Subiaco. (May 1912)

In 1912/13 the Subiaco Rate Books listed Alfred Dennis as the new owner/occupier. However, he only lived here for 1-2 years and the place appears to have been, once again, used as a rental property.

It was next offered for sale in 1920:

SUBIACO: Nice Brick VILLA, 5 rooms, pantry, bathroom, all conveniences, lawns, etc. cheap 163 Hamersley-rd.

From 1921 until the 1950s the house was occupied by members of the Pringle family. In 1925 the residents of the house included Henry Pringle (a clerk for the Engineering Department of the GPO, who lived here until his death in November 1927), his wife Emma, their son, George (an engineer), and possibly their daughters, Iris and Doris. All of the Pringle children married in the period c.1935-1936 and, at about the same time, Emma Pringle remarried to William Boyd (a salesman). Emma and William Boyd then lived together at 163 Hamersley Road until her death in 1957, aged 82 years.


c.1909-1910 Richard Harris Sudlow, clerk, and his wife Ethel Mary Sudlow

1911 Edward Jack Watson, telegraphist

1912 Richard Harris Sudlow, tea expert, and his wife Ethel Mary Sudlow

1913-1914 Alfred Dennis

1915 ?

1916-1920 Henry Stewart Hope, bank clerk In 1913 Henry had been living at 6 Campbell street. By 1921 he had moved to 2 Union Street.

1921-1927 Henry Pringle, clerk, Engineering Department, GPO, and his wife Emma Boyd

1928-1936 Mrs Emma Pringle, widow

1936-c.1957 William Boyd, salesman, and his wife Emma Boyd (formerly Pringle)





163 Hamersley Road was designed as a relatively modest investment property and it does not represent any particular architectural style.


Symmetrical double fronted form, with shallow, rectangular bays at either end of the main facade.

Gable-hipped roof, with an east-west ridgeline finished with small gablets.

At the front of the house the hipped form is intersected by a prominent gable over each of the projecting bays. Each of these gables has simple eaves brackets, a roughcast finish and a simple pattern of vertical and diagonal battens.

Tall painted brick chimney with a projecting rendered cap, located towards the rear, on the western side.

Rendered brick facade (probably originally tuck-point face-brick).

Raked verandah, extending across the full width of the main façade.

Centrally located entrance door, with highlights and sidelights (all with stained glass detailing).

Triple casement windows to each projecting bay.

The house is set back approx. 4.5m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low limestone block wall, tall limestone piers and timber picket infill panels, backed by tall shrubs.






Australian Marriage Index 1788-1950 (ancestry.com.au)

The West Australian 18 May 1911 p 4 (trove.nla.gov.au)


The West Australian 5 June 1920 p 8 (trove.nla.gov.au)






Lot 42

Photograph

Construction date





Note: The rendering of the main façade and the north-facing array of solar panels have impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the underlying form and detailing remains consistent with the original design



Shonbrun (who listed his occupation as tea merchant) progressively developed these lots, commencing in c.1905/06. Lot 42 had been developed by 1908/09, when Shonbrun moved here from 161 Hamersley Road (Lot 40). He then lived at this address with his wife, Lena, and their daughters Doris (born c.1895) and Rita, until c.1915/16, when they moved to another property they owned at 12 Union street.

In 1916, Joseph formally changed his name to Shaw by deed poll. Following his death in October 1920, 165 Hamersley Road was offered for sale (but not sold) in February 1921:

BRICK HOUSE, 6 rooms, verandahs, electric light, gas, bath heater, every convenience. 1 min. tram, school, ideal, position, long term; owner leaving State; option buying furniture. 165 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco.




The house then appears to have been rented out for a few more years, before it was again offered for sale in 1925, following the death of Lena Shaw:

Trustee in the Estate of the late Lena Shaw, to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION as above—Those well-situated and desirable Brick Residences, known as No. 159, 161, and 165 Hamersley-rd., Subiaco.

And

Lot 42, corner Union Street and Hamersley-road, being, portion of Perth Sub. Lot 255, with Brick Residence thereon. No. 165, containing 5 rooms, kitchen, and the usual domestic conveniences .

After that time the first relatively long-term resident was Frederick Dear (a carpenter) who settled at this address with his wife, Hilda and their daughter, Doris, in c.1928. In c.1931-1934, the electoral rolls also listed Albert Brooks (retired) and his wife, Emily, at this address. As no relationship has been found between the two families, this suggests that the Dears took in boarders.

In c.1936 Doris Dear married her neighbour, George (known as Norman) Pringle, and the house was sold by Frederick in that year.

The next occupant was Nell Raybould (a pastry cook), who lived at 165 Hamersley Road until the end of the 1940s – after which she moved to Victoria. Nell’s brother, Harry Raybould (carpenter), also lived at this address for a short while, prior to his death in 1938.

Occupants of the property from its time of construction until 1949 included:

1909-1915 Joseph Shonbrun (a.k.a. Joseph Shaw), tea merchant, and his wife Lena.

1916-1917 Arthur Porter, salesman

1918-1920 John Edward Beauchamp Nobbs, civil engineer

1921-1922 Miss Emma Elizabeth Courtney, home duties, and Kerle Lisette Courtney, teacher

1923 Arthur Taylor

1924 ?

1925 Edward Stephen Brown, trimmer

1926 Alfred Ernest George Connell, mill hand

1927 ?

1928-1936 Frederick William Dear, carpenter

1937-1949 Miss Nell Raybould, pastrycook


165 Hamersley Road was designed as a modest single storey Federation Queen Anne house.


Simple asymmetrical plan, with a projecting wing on the eastern side of the main façade.

Gable-hipped roof with corrugated metal sheeting, louvered gablet vents at either end of the main east-west ridgeline, and a prominent street front gable (over the projecting wing).

The latter has bracketed projecting eaves, a rough cast rendered face, timber battens in a vertical and stepped horizontal pattern, and a turned timber finial.

Three face brick chimneys (now painted) with simple corbelled caps.




Rendered-brick walls (probably originally tuck-pointed face-brick to the main façade).

Shallow rectangular window bay to the projecting wing.

This features a pair of individual double hung windows, shaded by a convex awning with carved timber brackets.


This has a dropped, bullnose roof, turned timber posts, and lace-work valance and brackets.

The main entrance to the house is located under the verandah, adjacent to the projecting wing. The door is famed by highlights and two narrow sidelights (all with stained glass detailing). Adjacent to this entrance, on the western side of the projecting wing, there is a large wall niche with a semi-circular head.

The verandah area also features another pair of double hung windows with rectangular sills.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low, rendered-masonry wall capped by a scalloped timber picket fence.


Note: The design of this house is very similar to another house developed by Joseph Shonbrun, at 161 Hamersley Road.





Australian Marriage Index 1788-1950 (Ancestry.com.au)

The West Australian 15 April 1916 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 21 February 1921 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 19 & 21 November 1925 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 9 March 1936 (trove.nla.gov.au)






Lot 100 (formerly Lots 1 & 2)

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Queen Anne (late example, with some detailing influenced by the Federation Bungalow styles)


Considerable contribution to the heritage values of the area

Note: The extensions along Union Street have impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the secondary facade. However, the form and detailing of the primary facade remains consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape.





Perth Suburban Lot 255 was purchased by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd of Sydney in August 1890. Two years later it was transferred to James Chesters of 155 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, estate agent. By 1894 Chesters had subdivided this land as Deposited Plan 899, with 42 lots laid out around Queen Street (soon renamed Union Street).

The Subiaco Rates Books indicate that Lots 1 & 2, with frontages to Hamersley Road, were transferred to Alexander Bruce Dick Bell in 1915/1916, but the land title wasn't formally transferred to him until August 1919. Bell appears to have held the property as an investment and a house was not listed in the Post Office Directories until 1924, when it was occupied by Mrs Maud Mary Roberts. The owner and co-occupant of the house at that time, was Maud’s daughter, Miss Mabel Maud Roberts, who was variously described as a draper or spinster.

Maud’s brother, Gilbert Roberts, had already settled next door, buying the house on Lots 3 and 4 (177 Hamersley Road) in c.1919 and moving there in c.1920. The Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Plan for the street (as amended in 1955) shows that the area between the two houses was laid out as a tennis court (straddling the boundary between Lots 2 & 3).

Mrs Roberts died in 1954, aged 91 years (approximately five years after Gilbert), but Mabel Roberts and Gilbert’s widow, Hilda Roberts, continued to live side-by-side until Mabel’s death in 1969.

Arial photographs show that the area between the two houses remained as an open grassed area in 1985, but that the central boundary had been defined and both houses extended towards this side boundary by 1995. These works included additions along the western side of 173 Hamersley Road and major additions at the rear (which partly face onto the Union Street frontage).


c.1924-1954 Miss Mabel Maud Roberts, spinster, and her mother, Mrs Maud Mary Roberts, widow

Through until c.1969

Miss Mabel Maud Roberts, spinster


173 Hamersley Road was designed as a late example of a modest Federation Queen Anne villa, with some detailing (such as the verandah piers and the main entrance) influenced by the Federation Bungalow style.


Asymmetrical plan, with a stepped façade that addresses the intersection of Hamersley Road and Union Street.

Two, prominent projecting wings, one facing Hamersley Road on the western side of the main façade and one facing Union Street at the southern end of the return verandah.

Each of these features a rectangular bay window, with three multi-paned casement windows to the face of the bay and a single casement window on each side. These are framed by rendered corner piers and a projecting rendered sill, and sit over a splayed, rock-faced stone plinth.

Each of the bay windows is shaded by a raked tiled awning, supported on robust, square profile, timber brackets.

Stepped façade between the projecting wings, creating a deep verandah area.




The main entrance is located adjacent to the western wing. This is framed by highlights and half-height sidelights – all with rectangular leadlight panels.

On the eastern side of the entry vestibule, where the façade steps back a second time, there is a semi-circular highlight with a stained glass panel.

At the rear of the verandah, where it abuts the eastern wing, there is a pair of multi-paned French doors.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses – one at window sill height and one above the door-head height.

Contrasting, rock-faced stone plinths to the window bays and verandah piers.

Gabled-hipped roof clad with red terracotta tiles and featuring curved terracotta finials to the primary gables.

This extends in a continuous alignment over the deep corner verandah.

Tall face brick chimneys with a corbelled caps and terracotta chimney pots.

Flying gables to the projecting wings.

Each of these gables has wide eaves extending over a bay window. The face of each gable is clad with flush panel, and finished with vertical timber battens.

Corner verandah extending between the two projecting wings.

The paired, square timber posts and the low, raked stone pylons with rendered caps are a distinctive feature of the house.

The late twentieth century additions (which include a triple garage along the Union Street boundary) have been detailed to match the original house.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low, masonry wall with tall masonry piers (returning part way along Union Street). A mature garden of mixed shrubs and trees largely screens the house from casual streetscape views.


References Certificate of Title Volume 33 Folio 85 (copy provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)

City of Subiaco Rate Books, 1915/16 and 1929/30 (information provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)

Western Australian Post Office Directories (information provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014, with additional research by Greenward Consulting) (www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/wa_resources/post_office_directories)

Sewerage Plan, Sheet 193, MWSS & DD, SROWA, drawn 1923, Revised 1941 & 1955 (copy provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)

Electoral Rolls (selected years at ancestry.com.au)

Historical aerial photographs at Landgate Map Viewer (www.landgate.wa.gov.au/bmvf/app/mapviewer/)

Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to the Roberts family and/or 173 Hamersley Road (trove.nla.gov.au)





Lots 3 & 4

Other Names: Sonoma (house name used at the time of the marriage of Gilbert Roberts and Hilda Atwell in 1920)

This name is still used on the name plate adjacent to the front door

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Queen Anne



Note: The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of the original part of the house are largely consistent with its original design. It should be noted, however, that the place would have probably originally had a terracotta tiled roof and that the high front fence and street front garage have impacted on the traditional open setting.



The Subiaco Rates Books indicate that Lots 3 & 4, with frontages to Hamersley Road, were transferred to Mary Isabella Halkett-Hay in 1915/1916, although the land title wasn't formally transferred to her until October 1917. Mary and John Halkett-Hay had built a house on the block and were living here by 1919, but had moved away by 1920 (and had settled in Queensland by the mid-1920s).

The property was then purchased by Gilbert Wilfred Roberts, possibly in anticipation of his marriage to Hilda Dorcas Atwell in May 1920:

ROBERTS-ATWELL.-On May 8, 1920, at St. Paul's Church, Beaconsfield, by the Rev. F. T. Bowen, Gilbert (Bert), son of Mrs. M. M. Roberts of Railway-road, Subiaco, to




Hilda, daughter of Mrs, S. P. Atwell, Mary-street, Fremantle. At home, Wednesday, June 23, afternoon and evening, Sonoma, 177 Hamersley-road, Subiaco.

It then became the long-term family home of Gilbert, Hilda and their son Keith (born 1922). In about 1923 Gilbert’s sister, Mabel, purchased the adjacent site (Lots 1 and 2, 173 Hamersley Road) and built a house, which she occupied with their mother, Mrs Maud Mary Roberts. The Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Plan for the street (as amended in 1955) shows that the area between the two houses was laid out as a tennis court (straddling the boundary between Lots 2 & 3).

Gilbert Roberts died in 1949 and his mother in 1954, but Hilda and her sister-in-law, Mabel, continued to live side-by-side until Mabel’s death in 1969. Hilda then remained at 177 Hamersley Road until the late 1970s.

Arial photographs show that the area between the two houses remained as an open grassed area in 1985, but that the central boundary had been defined and both houses extended towards this side boundary by 1995. These works included major alterations and additions towards the rear of 177 Hamersley Road and the construction of a new garage at the north-eastern corner of the site.


1919 John Halkett-Hay, accountant, and his wife, Mary Isabella Halkett-Hay

1920 Newton Blythe Tindale, customs officer

1920-1949 Gilbert Wilfred Roberts, warehouseman, and his wife, Hilda Dorcas Roberts

Through until c.1977

Hilda Dorcas Roberts, widow


177 Hamersley Road was designed as a late example of a modest Federation Queen Anne villa.


Asymmetrical plan, with a stepped façade.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses – one at window sill height and one at door-head height.

Gabled-hipped roof with red corrugated steel sheeting (probably originally tiled) and battened eaves.

This extends in a continuous broken-back alignment over the deep corner verandah.

Tall face brick chimneys with simple rendered caps and terracotta chimney pots.

Rough cast gables with vertical battens to the projecting wings.

Two projecting wings, one facing Hamersley Road on the western side of the main façade and one facing east (at the southern end of the return verandah).

Each of these features a shallow rectangular bay window.

The street front bay features a bank of three multi-paned casement windows shaded by a raked ‘shingled’ awning, which is supported on simple carved timber brackets. Below the window, and extending around the sides of the bay, there is a projecting rendered sill above a splayed, rock-faced stone plinth.


The main entrance is located adjacent to the western wing. This is framed by highlights and half-height sidelights – all with stained glass panels.




At the rear of the verandah, where it abuts the eastern wing, there is a pair of multi-paned French doors.


This features paired, chamfered timber posts, with each pair linked by a cross-timber panel at the top.

The late twentieth century additions (which include a single garage at the Hamersley Road boundary) have been detailed to match the original house.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low, limestone wall with tall limestone piers and tall timber picket infill panels.



City of Subiaco Rate Books, 1915/16, 1917/18 and 1918/19 (information provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)




Family tree for Gilbert Roberts (ancestry.com.au)


The West Australian 16 June 1920 p 1 (trove.nla.gov.au)

Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to the Roberts family and/or 177 Hamersley Road (trove.nla.gov.au)


98-110 Heytesbury Road


3. HEYTESBURY ROAD

Description: 96-110 Heytesbury Road

The study area for this report only considers the northern side of Heytesbury Road, in the area flanking Union Street.

Four houses were built at 98-110 Heytesbury Road in the early twentieth century. Of these, the houses at 98 and 104 have been demolished, while the house at 108 has been extensively altered (including second storey additions). The site of 98 Heytesbury Road (Lots 24 & 25, DP 899) was amalgamated with the adjoining lot to the east (Lot 36, DP 2524) and a much larger house constructed in 2008 (96 Heytesbury Road). The north-eastern corner of Heytesbury Road and Union Street (#104) remains vacant (and neatly grassed) as at November 2014.

Street trees are mixed, with Norfolk Island pines fronting 104 Heytesbury Road, and mature peppermints and bottlebrush in other sections. The street trees are set on wide shaded verges, finished with lawn/grass. The footpaths are finished with poured concrete, and there are chamfered concrete kerbs along the road frontage of the verges.

All of the front fences have been replaced since the mid-twentieth century, with timber picket fences to 108 & 110, a post and rail fence with woven wire panels to the vacant block at 108, and a framed flat timber picket fence with masonry piers to 104. The houses at 96 and 110 both have double garages facing Heytesbury Road, while 108 has a double garage facing Union Street. Each of these is prominent in views of the associated elevations.

Three of the four sites within this part of the study area have been assessed as making little/no contribution to the heritage character of James Chesters’ Union Street subdivision. The external streetscape character and finishes of the original part of the remaining house (110) are largely consistent with its original design (albeit with some modified detailing to he doors and windows). However, the scale and presentation of the place to the street has been significantly modified by the prominent double garage on the eastern side of the house. This place has therefore been assessed as making some contribution.




Streetscape views

View east along Heytesbury Road, from the intersection with Union Street

View west along the northern side of Heytesbury Road, from the intersection with Union Street

View to the north-east from the intersection of Heytesbury Road and Union Street

View to the north-west from the intersection of Heytesbury Road and Union Street




Address 96 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco

Lot 43 (including former Lots 24 & 25)

Photograph

Non Contributory

No contribution to the heritage values of the area



Lots 24 and 25 were not developed until c.1924, when a local builder, Thomas James Robert Green, constructed a new home for himself on this block.

Historic aerial photographs confirm that the house on Lots 24 & 25, together with the adjacent house on Lot 36 (Deposited Plan 2524), were demolished in c.2006 and that the present house was built across the two sites in 2008.

References Western Australian Post Office Directories (www.slaw.wa.gov.au)


The West Australian 2 December 1906, p 3S (trove.nla.gov.au)

Google Earth – historic aerial photography





Lots 22 and 23

Photograph

Non Contributory

No contribution to the heritage values of the area



Chesters sold Lots 22 to 25 to Sarah Ann Leigh in April 1900. The Post Office Directories indicate that Lots 22 and 23 had been developed and occupied by William Martin (a building contractor) by 1904 and an early twentieth century plan indicates that it was one of the first two houses built in the study area.

Historic aerial photographs confirm that this house was demolished in c.2004. The site has been maintained as a vacant block since that time.

References Western Australian Post Office Directories (www.slaw.wa.gov.au)

City of Perth & Suburbs, 18-8-1897, Sheet 10, PWD 5647 (updated c.1904)





Address 108 Heytesbury, Subiaco

Lots 20 & 21

Other Names: Tooradin (house name used when John and Isabella Schnitzler’s youngest son was born in 1905, and when their oldest son died in 1908)

Photograph

Construction date


This place no longer represents a particular architectural style


Little contribution to the heritage values of the area

Note: The major alterations and additions undertaken since the 1980s have largely obscured the original design and detailing of this house.




Only the doors and windows to the front façade and the verandah detailing still reflect/interpret the detailing of a traditional early twentieth century house.



Lots 20 & 21, with frontages to Heytesbury Road, were transferred from James Chesters to John George Schnitzler on 16 July 1901. John Schnitzler had married Isabella Broadbent in Victoria in 1888 and they moved to Western Australia in c.1900, with their three children, Norman (born 1899), Frank (1891) and Mary (1894). A fourth child, John William, was born in 1905.

The 1902 Post Office Directory gave J. G. Schnitzler’s address as Irvine Street, Subiaco, but by 1903 the family had moved into their new house at 108 Heytesbury Road (which was one of the first two houses constructed in Chesters’ subdivision, together with 104 Heytesbury Road, since demolished).

Schnitzler established the Commonwealth Trading Company in c.1904 and in 1910 it was announced:

Some six years back the Commonwealth Trading Company set up business in Perth, and yearly their turn over has increased. Last year's business improved to that extent that eventually larger premises had to be secured. With the new address, the management decided to alter the name of the firm, which will in future be known as the Commonwealth West End Tailors. The new premises are situated at 843 Hay-street (three doors west of His Majesty's Theatre).

At the beginning of 1917 the Schnitzler family changed their surname by deed poll to Thornton - probably in response to community feelings about Germanic names. The notice of this change of name stressed that Schnitzler was: a natural born British subject, having been born at Inglewood, in the State of Victoria.

Isabella Thornton died in March 1919 and John Thornton had remarried and moved to Nedlands by 1924. He continued to manage Commonwealth West End Tailors until his death in 1940.

The next owners were John Tyson Jones and his wife Bridget. In the late 19th century, Bridget Coleman (a widow with 6 children) was the owner of the Federal Hotel, Collie. By the early 20th century John Jones (a widower with at least one child) had taken over as the licensee, and it was about this time that the couple married. In c.1924 they retired to Subiaco, sharing 108 Heytesbury Road at various times with members of the blended family, including one of Bridget’s daughters, Nora Josephine Coleman, and John’s son, John Neville Jones.

In the mid 1930s Bridget moved to West Subiaco to live with her son, Edward Coleman, while John moved to Wembley to live with his son, John, jnr. The next occupant was a Martha Euphemia Jones (wife of Charles Edwin Jones, prospector), but it is not known if the two Jones families were related.

The next longer term occupants were John Joseph Hamilton (a retired machinist) and his wife, Cecelia, who were listed at this address from 1942 until the mid-1950s.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that a former tiled roof was replaced in corrugated metal sheeting in the period 1985-1995. The roof structure was fully removed and reconfigured as part of major alterations/extensions undertaken in 2008.





1903-1923 John George Schnitzler (aka John George Thornton), commercial traveller, later Manager of Commonwealth West End Tailors, and his wife, Isabella Schnitzler (until her death in 1919)

1924-1935 John Tyson Jones, retired, and his wife, Bridget Jones

1936-1939 Mrs Martha Euphemia Jones, wife of Charles Edwin Jones, prospector

1940-1941 Mrs Alice Gough

1942-c.1954 John Joseph Hamilton, retired machinist, and his wife, Cecelia Marion Hamilton


Historical aerial photographs suggest that 108 Heytesbury Road was designed with a simple symmetrical façade, a ‘U’ shaped hipped roof and a verandah extending across the Heytesbury Road frontage.

The symmetrical form of the main façade has been retained, but the roofline has been raised and reconfigured to accommodate a second floor, with prominent gable dormers facing west, south and east.

The external walls are fully rendered and the modern verandah returns along the western side of the house. This verandah has traditional detailing with a curved battened valance and chamfered posts.

The main façade has an early twentieth century style central entrance door, flanked by sidelights and highlights (all with stained glass detailing). To either side of the entrance there is a pair of traditional, full-height double hung windows with moulded timber kick panels.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low timber picket fence with capped posts and scalloped panels.

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in very good condition.


City of Subiaco Rate Books, 1903, 1916/17 and 1929/30 (information provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)




Family trees for John George Schnitzler (ancestry.com.au)


The Daily News 22 April 1910 p 3 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 3 February 1917 p 1 (trove.nla.gov.au)


Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to 108 Heytesbury Road and/or its occupants (trove.nla.gov.au)





Lots 18 & 19

Other Names: Coronada (name used in newspaper advertisements when the house was offered for sale in 1934). A slight variation of this name, ‘Coronado’, is now painted on a timber garden arch on the western side of the house

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Queen Anne (late example, with some detailing influenced by the Federation Bungalow style)






Note: The external streetscape character and finishes of the original part of the house are largely consistent with its original design (albeit with some modified detailing to he doors and windows). However, the scale and presentation of the place to the street has been significantly modified by the prominent double garage on the eastern side of the house.






The City of Subiaco Rates Book of 1915/16 records the owner of Lots 18 & 19 as the Subiaco Town Clerk, Chris Luth. However the Certificate of Title shows that ownership was not officially transferred from James Chesters until July 1919, when a new Certificate of Title was issued in the name of Victor Albert Du Feu. It therefore seems possible that Chesters had taken a deposit on the property in c.1916, but that the initial purchaser had moved on before finalising the transaction.

Victor De Fu had moved to Western Australia from Victoria in the early 20th century, to work with his father, James Peter Du Feu, and brother, Edward James Du Feu, at J. P. Du Feu and Co. Ltd. When Edward died in 1923 it was reported that:

After leaving school he joined his father in business in Latrobe-street, Melbourne, as spouting manufacturers. In 1903, his father came to this State and opened a similar business in Roe-street. The deceased joined him in Perth about a year later. On the death of their father in 1917 the deceased and his brother Victor entered into partnership, and had since carried on the business under the name of J. P. Du. Feu and Co., spouting manufacturers, Roe street, Perth.

Victor continued to manage and develop the firm and in 1933 J. P. Du Feu and Co. Ltd was described as follows:

This local progressive firm is well known throughout Western Australia, having been established in this State for over 30 years. With the recent additional installation of modem machinery they are now producing numerous household, farming, mining and building requisites, etc, among which are tanks, cyanide vats, sheep, cattle and pig troughing, downpipes, ridgecap and gutter elbows, angles, hopper heads, bell mouths, cowls, sewerage vents, bore casing, irrigation pipes wheat bins, brine tanks, fowl coops, ice moulds, fireplaces, baths, skylights, "VicKan" buckets, billycans, bins, dippers, cream, fruit, jam, honey, oil, paint and pulp tins, etc

Victor married Mabel Mercy Hutchinson in 1914 and they had three children, Maurice Albert James Du Feu (1917), Valmai Marcia Du Feu (1919), and Faye Therese Du Feu (1923). When they purchased Lots 18 & 19 the family were living at 91 Heytesbury Road, but had moved into their new house at 110 Heytesbury Road by 1920.

In 1934 the house was offered for sale, as below, but it appears to have been withdrawn from the market as the De Feu family remained here until the children were adults, finally moving to West Perth in about 1949 (shortly before Victor’s death in 1950, aged 70 years).

HODD, CUTHBERTSON and NORTH, LTD., have been favoured with instructions to OFFER by PUBLIC AUCTION as above Portion of Perth Suburban Lot 255, and being Lots 18 and 19 on Plan 889, being the whole, of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 713, Folio 121. THE LAND has a frontage of 100 links to Heytesbury-

road, by a depth of 174.2 links to a r.o.w. THE IMPROVEMENTS include that faithfully built Brick Residence, with tiled roof , known as Coronada, No. 110 Heytesbury-road, Subiaco, containing wide verandahs, entrance hall, 3 bedrooms, dining room, lounge, maid's- room, well arranged kitchen, with gas stove, interior bathroom, enamelled bath, basin, gas water heater, laundry, and all conveniences.




The property is in perfect order. Rooms are tastefully decorated. It is a perfect home.

Members of the De Fue family were often mentioned in the social pages of The West Australian from the time of their marriage through until at least the early 1950s, referencing local, interstate and overseas holidays, social events and family celebrations.

After their departure, 110 Heytesbury Road was owned for at least a short time by Robert George Taylor (a steward), but a newspaper notice suggests that he sold it in 1954.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that major rear additions, plus a new garage at the front, were constructed in the period 1985-1995.


1920-1949 Victor Albert Du Feu, ironworker/manager, and his wife Mabel Mercy Du Feu

c.1954 Robert George Taylor, steward


110 Heytesbury Road was designed as a late example of a Federation Queen Anne villa, with some detailing (such as the verandah) influenced by the Federation Bungalow style.


Asymmetrical plan, with a stepped façade.

Gabled-hipped roof with terracotta tiles and curved terracotta finials.

Note: No chimneys are visible from the street.

Gabled bay on the western side of the main façade.

This features a projecting rectangular bay window with a bank of three casement windows set over a projecting rendered sill. The highlights each have four, small, timber-framed panes which are consistent with the period and style of the house. The narrow casement windows have curved leadlight detailing accented with textured glass, which is more consistent with later inter-war detailing.

The flying gable end has a roughcast face with vertical battens.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses under the verandah – one at window sill height and one at door-head height. Where the brick walls extend above the height of the verandah, there is a third rendered string course immediately under the eaves.

Entry vestibule

This is located immediately adjacent to the rectangular window bay, but is distinguished from it by a small recess to the main façade, the western end of the front verandah and a distinctive roof treatment (comprising a small louvered gablet).

The double entrance doors have large glazed panels with curved leadlight, textured glass and a stepped timber frame at the top of the glazing. Similar to the main windows, the style of this door is consistent with later inter-war detailing.

Stepped façade

To the east of the entry vestibule the façade steps back to create a deep verandah area. On the eastern wall of the vestibule there is a porthole window with a wide rendered surround and leadlight glazing.




On the rear wall of the verandah there is a wide pair of casement widows with leadlight glazing to match the entrance door and bay window.

Stepped front verandah

The verandah projects forward of the main façade and extends between the western gable bay and the modern garage. It was designed in the style of a wide front porch, and steps back near the eastern end.

The raked verandah roof continues in a broken-back alignment from the main roofline and is supported by half-height paired timber posts with simple geometric brackets. The posts are set on rock-faced stone piers with rendered caps and the whole of this element is influenced by the Bungalow style.

The late twentieth century double garage is located at the eastern end of the house, aligning with the main façade (and enclosing the eastern side of the verandah).

The house is set back approximately 5m from the front boundary, which is defined by a scalloped timber picket fence.







Family trees for Victor Albert Du Feu (ancestry.com.au)


The Daily News 17 May 1923 p 7 (trove.nla.gov.au)

Sunday Times 21 May 1933 p 7 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 3 December 1934 p 19 (trove.nla.gov.au)

Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to the Du Feu family and/or 110 Heytesbury Road (trove.nla.gov.au)


5 to 21 and 2-22 Union Street


4. UNION STREET

Description: Union Street, between Hamersley and Heytesbury Roads

The site inspection for this assessment only considered the western half of James Chesters’ Union Street subdivision, but the report also includes relevant information from the previous assessment of the eastern half (updated extracts from Heritage Assessment of 2-26 Campbell Street, 2-22 Union Street, 135-165 Hamersley Road & 70-104 Heytesbury Rad, Subiaco, prepared by Greenward Consulting for the City of Subiaco, July 2014).

The first of the seventeen houses facing onto this section of Union Street (No. 8) was constructed in 1908. This was not only the first house to be built along this part of Union Street, but was also the only modest working class cottage and the only building constructed of weatherboard (rather than brick). As such it provides an interesting contrast to the other houses and helps to illustrate the way in which the study area attracted a diverse range of residential development - particularly when compared to the last house to be built in this precinct, which was the relatively substantial, late Federation Bungalow at 15 Union Street (constructed 1924). The other fifteen houses were all built in the period 1912-1921, and were all influenced by the Federation Queen Anne and/or Federation Bungalow styles. Of these, six (and possibly seven) of the more modest houses are believed to have been built as speculative development by James Chesters in c.1914-1916 – using three basic designs.

All but one of the front fences have been replaced since the mid-twentieth century, and there is a mixture of traditional, low timber picket fences, high masonry walls with open metal or timber picket infill panels, and high solid masonry walls. The remaining original fence, which is located at 15 Union Street, has a low face-brick wall with low brick piers linked by open panels of traditional spear topped metal bars. This is a relatively rare surviving example of an original early twentieth century fence in Subiaco and greatly enhances the traditional setting of the house. The high modern fences that obscure most of the associated building facades from streetscape views disrupt the traditional relationship between house, garden and street - and are visually intrusive.

Some off-street parking is accessed from the rear lanes, but single garages or carports are located alongside 5, 7, 9, 17, 19 and 21 Union Street. Of these, the carport at 21 Union Street is the only one that projects forward of the house. Garages have been built up to the side boundaries of the corner houses at 165 Hamersley Road, 173 Hamersley Road and 108 Heytesbury Road, and these are now visually prominent elements at the entries to this area.

The dominant street trees are mature peppermints (Agonis flexuosa), although these are interspersed by more recent mixed plantings including replacement peppermints, eucalypts, jacarandas etc. These are set on relatively wide verges that are now finished with a mixture of lawn/grass and mulch. The footpaths are finished with a mixture of poured concrete and square concrete slabs, while the concrete kerbs are finished with chamfered edges.

Of the seventeen houses facing onto this section of Union Street, ten have retained external detailing that is largely consistent with the original design and all of these have been assessed as making a considerable contribution to the heritage values of the streetscape (Nos 5, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21 & 22). Five houses (2, 6, 9, 17 & 18) have been altered to some degree, but still retain an underlying form and detailing that is consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape. These places have therefore been assessed as making some contribution. The remaining two houses (4 & 12) have been altered to a greater degree and the evidence of original detailing is fragmentary. These have been assessed as making little contribution.

Despite some alterations and minor intrusions, the relatively short period of development and the consistent scale (single storey), materials (tuck-pointed brick facades with roughcast and/or plain render detailing) and general form (particularly the gabled-hipped roof forms) of the houses has resulted in a relatively unified streetscape.




Streetscape views

View north along Union Street from Heytesbury Road.

View south along Union Street from Hamersley Road.

View south along Union Street from the intersection with Rawson Street.

View north along Union Street from near #19.

Single carports or garages have been built alongside 5, 7, 9, 17, 19 and 21 Union Street.

The carport at 21 Union Street is the only one that projects forward of the house.

The only prominent street front garages are located along the side boundaries of the corner houses at 165 Hamersley Road, 173 Hamersley Road and 108 Heytesbury Road.


2-22 Union Street (western side of the street)


Western Side of the Street: 5-21 Union Street




Address 5 Union Street, Subiaco

Lot 5

Photograph

Construction date





The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of this place are largely consistent with its original design.

Note: This place has some historical significance as an example of the speculative development undertaken by James Chesters within parts of his residential subdivisions.


Perth Suburban Lot 255 was purchased by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd of Sydney in August 1890. Two years later it was transferred to James Chesters of 155 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, estate agent, and by 1894 Chesters had subdivided this land as Deposited Plan 899, with 42 lots laid out around Queen Street (soon renamed Union Street). The allotments to the west of Union Street were numbered 1 to 21, with four of these facing Hamersley Road (Lots 1 to 4) and four facing Heytesbury Road (Lots 18 to 21). An early subdivision plan showed 13 lots facing Queen Street but, prior to sale, these were re-subdivided as nine slightly wider lots (Lots 5 to 13 on Diagram 4432).

According to the City of Subiaco Rates Books a house was built on Lot 5 for Harold Dean in 1915/16, and by 1916/17 Leonard Stockwell was the new owner/occupier. However ownership was not officially transferred from James Chesters until July 1919, when a new Certificate of Title was issued in the name of Matthew Samuel Dye.

The house on this lot appears to have been built to the same design as 9 Union Street and it is highy likely that Chesters had built both houses as part of the speculative development he is known to have undertaken in various parts of his Subiaco subdivisions in the period c.1907-1916. Based on other similar cases, it is also likely that he had taken a deposit, with full payment to be received in instalments, but that the initial purchaser(s) had moved on before finalising the transaction.




Harold Dean (a civil servant) had settled at 5 Union Street with his wife, Phyllis, and their two young children by 1917, but in March of that year he offered his household effects for sale after enlisting with the AIF. In the same month the house (which was then referred to as No 1 Union Street) was also offered for sale, for a small deposit and weekly repayments:

AT SUBIACO - New Villa, attractive design, tiled roof, lawns front and back, modern conveniences, electric light; deposit £75, balance 25s. per week, no agents. 1 Union-st. Subiaco.

The next ‘owner’, Leonard Stockwell, also remained here for a relatively short time, before 5 Union Street became the long term family home of Matthew Dye (a fireman), his wife, Elizabeth, and their four daughters, Mary (known as Mamie), Nina, Jean and Coralie (who all were born between 1909 and 1919).

In c.1940 the Dye family moved to Nedlands and the house was then occupied by Eliza Ann Birchall, whose husband, George, had died at their former home in Lawler Street, Subiaco, in November 1940. Eliza then remained here until, or shortly before, her death in December 1960, aged 76 years.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that a carport had been added on the southern side of the house by the 1970s and that various additions and alterations have been undertaken at the rear of the house over time.


1917 Harold Nelson Dean, civil servant, and his wife, Phyllis Dean.

1917-1920 Leonard Stockwell, traveller

1920-1940 Matthew Samuel Dye, fireman/engineer, and his wife Elizabeth Dye

1940-1960 Mrs Eliza Ann Birchall, home duties


5 Union Street designed as a modest suburban house, partly influenced by the Federation Queen Anne style. Key elements include:

Asymmetrical plan, with a projecting wing on the southern side of the main façade.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses – one at window sill height and the other at door head height. The later steps up to frame the highlights to the door and windows.

Gabled-hipped roof, clad with terracotta tiles and extending in a continuous alignment over the verandah.

Two tall face-brick chimneys with deep rendered caps (one on either side of the house).

Prominent gable to the projecting wing.

The face of this gable is finished in roughcast render, divided by five vertical timber battens.

Stepped front verandah.

This extends across the front of the projecting wing and then steps back across the remainder of the façade. The square timber posts have chamfered edges, which finish below two square-profile grooves at the springing point for the valance.

The valance forms a wide, shallow, pointed arch between each pair of posts, with square timber balusters flanking a solid timber ‘key’ at the apex.

Triple casement windows with square highlights, chamfered timber mullions and a projecting rendered sill to each of the two front rooms.




Below each window there is a stucco under-sill panel with decorative arched and zig-zag detailing.

Early Inter-war style, three-panel, high-waisted door with sidelight and highlight windows – all with stained glass panels with floral motifs.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low face-brick wall with tall face brick piers and metal spear-topped infill panels.

On the southern side of the block a driveway leads to a flat roofed, steel framed carport, which is fixed to the side wall of the house.


References Certificate of Title Volume 33 Folio 85 and Certificate of Title Volume 638, Folio 1 (copies provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)





The West Australian 6 March 1917 p 1 (trove.nla.gov.au)


Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to 5 Union Street and/or its occupants (trove.nla.gov.au)

Family trees for Eliza Ann Birchall (nee Thorpe) (ancestry.com.au)







Lot 6

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Bungalow (in a modest suburban interpretation of the style)



The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of this place are largely consistent with its original design (although the roof has been extended for a carport addition on the southern side).




According to the City of Subiaco Rates Books a house was built on Lot 6 for Mrs G Kenworthy in 1915/16, and the property had been transferred to a Mrs S Smith by 1918/19. However ownership was not officially transferred from James Chesters until 1921, when a new Certificate of Title was issued in the name of Ann Cottrell.

The house on this lot appears to have been built to the same (or a very similar) design as 2 Union Street and it is highly likely that Chesters had built both houses as part of the speculative development he is known to have undertaken in various parts of his Subiaco subdivisions in the period c.1907-1916.




Based on other similar cases, it is also likely that he had taken a deposit, with full payment to be received in instalments, but that the initial purchaser(s) had moved on before finalising the transaction.

In 1917, William Kenworthy was the first resident to be listed at this address in the Post Office Directories. William (a clerk) lived here with his wife, Grace, and their only daughter, Mollie, but moved away after Mollie’s death in April 1919 – when the house was placed on the market:

FIRST-CLASS Brick House for Sale. 5 rooms, conveniences. Full particulars Owner. 7 Union-st. Subiaco.

The first long-term occupant was Mrs Annie Cottrell, who acquired the property in November 1921 - possibly investing some of the £1,812 she inherited following the death of one of her sons, Robert Arthur Cottrell of Dowerin, in 1920. She then remained here until her death in January 1942, aged 84 years.

After Annie Cottrell’s death, 7 Union Street was occupied by Sydney Harvey, his wife, Dorothy (Dolly) and their two young children. From 1938, and through until at least the 1950s, S. M. Harvey was advertising as a jeweller and watchmaker, with business premises on the first floor of the Plaza Arcade, Perth. Sydney lived at 7 Union Street until the late 1960s and Dorothy was still listed at this address in the Electoral Roll of 1982.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that in the period 1985 to 1995 the front of the house was extended towards the southern boundary with a carport addition (as an extension of the main roofline). Major additions have also been made at the rear of the house over time.


1917-1919 William Albert Kenworthy, clerk, and his wife Grace Mary Kenworthy

1919-1920 George Smith and Mrs S. Smith

1921 Ernest Edwin Victor, manager

1922-1942 Mrs Annie Cottrell, home duties

1942-post 1968 Sydney Maurice Harvey, jeweller, and his wife Dorothy Elizabeth Harvey

Through to c.1982

Dorothy Elizabeth Harvey


7 Union Street was designed as a modest suburban house, partly influenced by the Federation Bungalow style. Key elements include:

Symmetrical façade, accentuated by the hipped roof, a small centrally placed gable (over the main entrance) and tall brick chimneys.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses – one at window sill height and the other at door head height.

Hipped roof with a short, north-south ridge line.

This is clad with terracotta tiles and, as noted above, features a small decorative gable over the front door. This gable has a rough-cast rendered face divided by three vertical battens.

Two tall, face brick chimneys with rendered, moulded detailing to the cornice and cap.

Front verandah.




This covers the full width of the main façade and has been extended to the south as part of a late twentieth century carport.

The roof of the verandah extends in a continuous broken-back alignment from the main roofline. At the northern end it retains a traditional boarded end panel.

It is supported on half-height, paired square timber posts set on stone plinths with face brick caps (dating from modern conservation works).

Triple casement windows with square ripple-glass highlights, chamfered timber mullions and a raked rendered sill to each of the two front rooms.

Below each window there is a large, curved, stucco under-sill panel.

Centrally located door with highlights and narrow high-waisted sidelights – all with stained glass panels with varied floral and cable motifs.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low limestone wall, with tall limestone block piers (all capped with vertical bricks) and metal, spear-topped, infill panels.

On the southern side of the block a driveway leads to the carport addition.








The West Australian 25 April 1919 p 4 (trove.nla.gov.au)







Lot 7

Photograph

Construction date





Note: The replacement of the traditional terracotta tiled roof with grey corrugated metal sheeting, the removal of the chimneys, and the extension of the main roofline in a continuous raked alignment over an attached garage has impacted on the traditional character of the place.




According to the City of Subiaco Rates Books a house was built on Lot 7 for Charles Morrish (a jeweller) in 1915/16, and the property had been transferred to Thomas and Ethel Coatham by 1918/19. However ownership was not officially transferred from James Chesters until 1920, when a new Certificate of Title was issued in the name of Fanny Bardwell.

The house on this lot appears to have been built to the same design as 5 Union Street and it is highly likely that Chesters had built both houses as part of the speculative




development he is known to have undertaken in various parts of his Subiaco subdivisions in the period c.1907-1916.

Based on other similar cases, it is also likely that he had taken a deposit, with full payment to be received in instalments, but that the initial purchaser(s) had moved on before finalising the transaction.

In 1917, Charles Morrish was the first resident to be listed at this address in the Post Office Directories. However, his daughter, Florence Evelyn Morrish (a nurse), was the only member of the family to use this address in the Electoral Rolls (starting in 1916) and it is not clear if Charles actually lived here.

In September 1918 the house was advertised for sale:

SUBIACO, for sale, tiled roof Villa, conveniences, good locality, close tram, school, terms. Owner, 9 Union-st.

Thomas and Ethel Coatham then lived here for about two years, before it was purchased by Fanny Bardwell in December 1920. In the Electoral Roll of 1916, Ethel’s husband, Everett Bardwell, was listed as a solicitor of Geraldton. By the time they settled at 9 Union Street, Everett was 65 years of age, so this move may have been associated with his retirement. After Everett Bardwell’s death in November 1932 it appears that Fanny subdivided the house and let half out as a flat:

HALF Unfurnished House, 2 good rooms, kitchen, 15/, adults. 9 Union-st, Saturday afternoon (1934)

and

HALF House unfurn., 2 rooms, kitchen, gas, wood stoves, heater, close gardens, charries, trams, adults. 9 Union-st., Subiaco [1936]

* Note: ‘charries’ was possibly slang for charabanc, an early term for a motor coach or bus

Fanny moved to Barker Road in about 1943 and the house then had at least two short-term occupants through until 1949. In 1950 it was again (or still) being sub-let:

FRONT Room, suit 2 bus. girls, own kitchen and all cons., handy transport, Apply 9 Union-st., Subiaco.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that a carport or garage had been added on the southern side of the house by the 1960s, but the main roofline was not extended over this structure until the early twenty-first century (when the tiled roof was reclad with corrugated steel sheeting). Major additions were also made at the rear of the house at that time.

Occupants of the property from its time of construction until 1949 included:

1916-1918 Florence Evelyn Morrish, nurse

1919-1920 Thomas Bond Coatham, tailor, and his wife, Ethel Coatham

1921-1932 Everett Henry Bardwell, solicitor and his wife, Fanny Bardwell

1933-1934 Benjamin Murray Fuller, retired

1935-1942 Mrs Fanny Bardwell, widow

1944-1947 Henry William (Harry) Newbury, retired carpenter

1949 John Edward Price, shearer, and his wife, May Izetta Price

Physical Description (based on external

9 Union Street designed as a modest suburban house, partly influenced by the Federation Queen Anne style. Key elements include:

Asymmetrical plan, with a projecting wing on the southern side of the main façade (now extended in a continuous alignment by the attached garage).




inspection only)

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with a contrasting rendered string course at window sill height and plain rendered panel above door head height (the latter possibly concealing a former second string course).

Gabled-hipped roof, clad with corrugated metal sheeting and extending in a continuous alignment over both the verandah and the attached garage.

Note: no chimneys have been retained.


The face of this gable has been reclad with flush panel sheeting and finished with slim-line timber battens in a V pattern.

Stepped front verandah.

This extends across the front of the original projecting wing and then steps back across the remainder of the façade. The square timber posts have chamfered edges, which finish below two square-profile grooves at the springing point for the valance.

The valance forms a wide, shallow, pointed arch between each pair of posts, with square timber balusters flanking a solid timber ‘key’ at the apex.

Triple casement windows with square highlights, chamfered timber mullions and a projecting rendered sill to each of the two front rooms.

Below each window there is a stucco under-sill panel with decorative curved detailing – featuring a discrete embossed pattern at the centre and at either end.

Mid-twentieth century style glazed door, with sidelight and highlight windows – all with etched patterns on ripple glass.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a scalloped timber picket fence.

On the southern side of the block a driveway leads to the single garage, which has been extended in an unbroken alignment from the original house. The front wall of this garage has been rendered around a metal door.







The West Australian 28 September 1918 p 4 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 4 August 1934 p 10 & 6 November 1936 p 31 (trove.nla.gov.au)

The West Australian 2 September 1950 p 292 (trove.nla.gov.au)






Lot 8

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Queen Anne (late example, with some influence of the Federation Bungalow and federation Arts and Crafts styles)



The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of this place are largely consistent with its original design






Lot 8 was transferred from James Chesters to Alice Maud O’Donnell on 28 October 1916. The Post Office Directories first listed Redmond O’Donnell (a linotypist) as living at this address in 1921, suggesting that the house was built for this couple in c.1920 (at about which time Redmond was working in the printing works of the Sunday Times). They had moved out by the mid-1920s and in the period 1925 to 1927 the Electoral Rolls and Post Office Directories suggests that the house was occupied by two couples, by the name of Edsall and Owen.

The next owner was Thomas Stewart Pott, who had worked as a builder in Perth when he first migrated to Western Australia from England, constructing (amongst other buildings) the Congregational Church in Subiaco, before taking up farming in Kellerberrin. In 1925 Thomas Pott sold his Kellerberrin property, Marple Farm, and in April 1926 it was announced that Mr & Mrs Pott and their three daughters were leaving for England, and expected to be away for about eight months. Thomas had already taken their oldest child, Jack, on a six month holiday to England in 1923 and this time Jack remained home to attend the Narrogin Agricultural College. The family were still in England in January 1927, but had moved into 11 Union Street by April of that year (when Thomas registered a new car at this address). It is therefore possible that they had purchased 11 Union Street in anticipation of their return to Perth and had leased it out while they were away.

Thomas and Hanna shared the house for some time with their daughters Alice (born 1913), Dorothy (1915) and Ula (1919) and in 1935 went on another extended world tour with Ula, visiting Great Britain, America and New Zealand. Throughout this time the Electoral Rolls continued to list Thomas as a farmer and it is not known what other business interests he might have had.

Hannah died in November 1952, after which Thomas remained at 11 Union Street until the mid 1950s.

Historical aerial photographs suggest that the house has undergone only minor alterations at the rear since its construction.


1921-1924 Redmond Joseph O’Donnell, linotypist, and his wife, Alice Maud O’Donnell

1925-1926 William North Edsall, clerk, and his wife, Florence Edsall

1925-1927 Charles Arthur Owen, optician, and his wife, Elvie Madeline Owen

1927-1952 Thomas Stewart Pott, farmer, and his wife, Hanna Mary Pott

Through until c.1954 Thomas Stewart Pott, widower





11 Union Street is a late example of a Federation Queen Anne villa, with some detailing influenced by the Federation Bungalow style (such as the sweeping roofline) and some by the Federation Arts and Crafts style (such as the chimneys).


Asymmetrical plan, with a stepped façade that addresses the intersection of Union and Redfern Streets.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façades.

Gabled-hipped roof clad with red terracotta tiles and featuring traditional curved terracotta finials and terracotta ridge cresting.

This roofline extends in a continuous, broken-back alignment over the deep corner verandah.

Two tall tapered and rendered chimneys with simple geometric detailing to the caps.

Two, prominent projecting wings, one facing Union Street on the northern side of the main façade and one facing Redfern Street at the western end of the return verandah.

Each of these wings features a shallow rectangular window bay, which frames two (individual) double hung windows, set over a raked rendered sill and a splayed, rock-faced stone plinth.

Each of the bay is shaded by a raked tiled awning, supported on robust, square profile, timber brackets.

Flying gables to the projecting wings.

Each of these gables has wide, battened, eaves extending over a bay window. The face of each gable is finished with roughcast render and decorated with a geometric pattern of vertical, horizontal and diagonal timber battens.


The main entrance is located on the first setback, adjacent to the northern wing. This has an early inter-War style three panel, high waisted door, which is framed by highlights and high-waisted sidelights – all with stained glass panels with flower motifs.

On the southern side of the entry vestibule the façade steps back a second time, as a plain face-brick wall. At the rear of the verandah, where it abuts the Redfern Street wing, there is a pair of French doors, also with flower motifs to stained glass panels.


This has paired timber posts with simple timber panels to the top and bottom of each pair and simple curved brackets.

The house is set back approximately 6m from the front boundary. The front yard is defined by a scalloped timber fence, which has a gate at the street corner and returns partway along the Redfern Street frontage. Privacy is provided to the side and rear years by a high panel fence.









South Western Advertiser 2 August 1940 p 4 (trove.nla.gov.au)








Lot 10

Photograph

Construction date

1924 Architectural Style

Federation Bungalow (late example of the style)



The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of this place are largely consistent with its original design (noting that the original roof has been sympathetically modified as part of the adaptation of attic spaces as second floor rooms)

Note: The place as some historical significance as an excellent example of the work of local builder, William Bushell, and as his own home from c.1925-1933.






Lot 10 was transferred from James Chesters to William Bushell in 1916. At that time Bushell was listed as a builder of 16 Union Street (which he had constructed in c.1913). William moved at least once more before constructing a new home at 15 Union Street for himself and his wife, Zildahe. Following its completion this house was featured in the Sunday Times of 2 November 1924, and it would have stood as a testament to his skill as a builder.

Bushell’s next private development was at 168-170 Townshend Road (constructed c.1931), where he was still living at the time of his death in 1951.

Newspaper notices and advertisements confirm that Bushell was active in residential building development in Subiaco until the late 1920s, after which he appears to have specialised in alterations and additions.

For example:

NOTICE —PROPERTY OWNERS. — For Alterations, Additions and Repairs 'Phone W. J. BUSHELL and CO., Builders and Contractors, 15 Union-street, Subiaco. A permanent staff of competent Carpenters, Plumbers, Bricklayers, Plasterers, Painters, etc, always available for Jobs, big or small. 'Phone and I will call. 22 years of practical experience in building trade, in Perth and suburbs. (1933)

From 1934 until about 1945, 15 Union Street was occupied by Charles Edwards (a pastry chef) and his wife, Jane, who shared the house for at least part of this time with their adult son, Kenneth. After that the occupants had changed at least twice by the mid 1950s and in 1954 a furnished room in the house was being advertised for rent:




FURN. Room, use cons., suit working couple or two girls or will consider boarding latter, handy tram and bus. 15 Union-st. Subiaco.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that the house underwent major extensions towards the rear in the period between 1985 and 1995.


1925-1931 William Joseph Bushell, builder and contractor, and his wife, Zildahe Louisa Evelyn Bushell

1932 Vacant

1933 William Joseph Bushell, builder and contractor, and his wife, Zildah Louisa Bushell

1934-1945 Charles John Venson Paul Edwards, pastry cook, and his wife, Jane Edwards

1946-1947 Edward Pittard

1949-c.1954 Arthur Henry Coster, clerk, and his wife, Catherine Verna Coster


15 Union Street was designed as a late example of a Federation Bungalow. The high quality design and detailing of the principal facades exemplifies the work of the builder and owner, William Bushell.


Asymmetrical plan, laid out around a corner verandah.

Large simple roof planes with prominent gables to the street frontages.

Terracotta roof tiles, with decorative terracotta cresting and dragon finials.

Wide battened eaves to the gables and exposed rafters to the eaves above the main walls.

Large gable to the main (Union Street) frontage, forming the primary roofscape element.

This has a rough cast rendered face and a central triple window – the latter replacing an earlier triple louvered opening.

Smaller flying gable over a rectangular window bay on the northern (Redfern Street) frontage.

This features deep, battened eaves, a roughcast rendered face finished with vertical timber battens.

Behind this gable, there is a second, higher gable rising from the hipped roof. This is a later (matching) detail, which replaced a smaller ridge gablet and provided height and windows for a second storey room.

Tall chimneys, with an elegant combination of roughcast render, plain render and face brick detailing, capped by tapered terracotta pots.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to door head height, with rough cast render over.

This features a projecting string course at the top of the brickwork and bull-nosed bricks to the corners of the main facades (including the door and window reveals) – an elegant and high quality detail.

Contrasting rock-faced stone detailing to the foundations, the plinth of the bay window facing Redfern Street and the verandah piers.

Deep verandah extending across the Union Street façade and returning partway along the Redfern Street facade.




The roof of the verandah extends in a continuous, broken-back alignment from the main roofline. It is supported on pairs of slender ‘Doric’ columns, which are in turn supported on robust stone piers.

Varied fenestration and doors (the majority of which have leadlight glazing – either plain or with insets representing the flowers and leaves of irises).

The main entrance is located at the western end of the verandah along the Redfern Street façade. This has a low-waisted door framed by highlights and sidelights.

The only other door opening onto the verandah is a pair of French doors, near the southern end of the Union Street façade.

The second opening to the Union Street façade has a bank of four tall, slender casement windows, set within a plain rectangular opening (extending up into the roughcast rendered walling). Like all of the other windows this has a rendered projecting sill.

This window detail is repeated in another bank of four casements to the west of the window bay on the Redfern Street façade.

On the northern wall of the return verandah there is only one small opening, which features a pair of high-level, square casement windows.

The window to the side of the entry vestibule (immediately west of the verandah) has a single casement window with a moulded, smooth rendered frame where the window extends through the roughcast rendered walling. The height, proportions and window head detail of this opening are different to the other windows, but the design is unified by the matching sill.

To the west of this, the rectangular bay window under the northern gable has a bank of four slender casements to the front and is boxed out with a single slender casement window on either side.

This is shaded by a very deep, hipped awning supported on robust timber brackets. It has a simple rendered sill and is set over a rock-faced stone plinth.

The house is set back approximately 6m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low brick wall with low brick piers. Both of these elements have rendered caps and are linked by low, open panels of traditional spear topped metal bars. The entry gate addresses the north-eastern corner of the site and the fence then returns partway along the northern boundary, before rising up to a high brick fence around the rear yard. A side gate and two garage doors open through the high brick fence towards the rear of the site.






Who Built Subiaco? An unpublished research project in preparation by Annette Green (October 2014)




Sunday Times 2 November 1924 p 8 (illustrated) (trove.nla.gov.au)


Various other newspaper notices and advertisements relating to William Bushell and/or 15 Union Street (trove.nla.gov.au)







Lot 11

Photograph

Construction date





Note: The rendering of the main façade, replacement of the roof in green tiles, and alterations to the verandah detailing have all impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the underlying form and detailing remains consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape.







Lot 11 was transferred from James Chesters to Ethel Banfield on 17 February 1916. The house on this lot appears to have been built to the same design as 19 Union Street and it is highly likely that Chesters had built both houses as part of the speculative development he is known to have undertaken in various parts of his Subiaco subdivisions in the period c.1907-1916.

Richard and Ethel Banfield were listed at 19 Union Street in the 1916 Electoral Roll, and were living here with their three young children, Ada, Ethel, jnr, and James (born in the period 1901-1915). However, the Banfield’s remained at this address for only a few years and there were at least three different occupants during the 1920s.

By 1930, 17 Union Street had been purchased by a teacher, Miss Marjorie White (who was about 29 years old at that time). Marjorie’s father, William, died at Bassendean in March 1931, and in the Electoral Roll of that year Marjorie, her mother, Sarah, and two of her siblings, Eric (a seaman) and Violet (home duties) were all listed at 17 Union Street. Sarah White died in the early 1940s and a Mrs Simmonds shared the house at about that time. Marjorie then remained here until the late 1960s, sharing the house with Eric for much of this time.

Historical aerial photographs indicate that the roof had been clad with concrete tiles by the 1980s (replacing what would have been red terracotta tiles). Relatively minor additions have been undertaken at the rear of the house over time.


1916-1921 Richard James Banfield, case and box manufacturer, and his wife, Ethel Banfield

1922 Edward John Andrews, clerk

1923 Frank McKnight

1924-1929 Water Edward Parry, telegraphist, and his wife, Ruth Parry

1930-c.1968 Marjorie White, teacher


17 Union Street was almost certainly designed as a modest example of the Federation Queen Anne style, although the alterations undertaken since the mid-twentieth century have obscured some key elements. Historical evidence suggests that the original design would have matched the adjacent house at 19 Union Street, with subtle variations to the detailing.

Major changes include:

Rendering of the main façade (concealing what would have originally been tuck-pointed brickwork with rendered stringcourses, possibly with a deep rough-cast rendered panel above door height)

Recladding of the roof with what appear to be concrete tiles, painted green (replacing what would have been red terracotta tiles).




Replacement of the original window awning to the projecting wing with a slatted metal awning.


Simple asymmetrical plan, with a projecting wing on the southern side of the main façade.

Gabled-hipped roof.

Tall face brick chimney with slender rendered moulding to the top and bottom of the slightly projecting cap.


The face of the gable is finished in roughcast render divided by three vertical timber battens.

Triple casement windows with square highlights and chamfered timber mullions to each of the two front rooms.

These windows have plain raked sills, but would have originally had moulded projecting sills.


The raked roof of this verandah continues as an unbroken extension of the main roof line. The square timber posts have chamfered edges, which finish below two square-profile grooves (located near the springing point for the original timber valance). The current detailing includes lacework valance panels and brackets.

The main entrance to the house is located under the verandah, adjacent to the projecting wing. The door is framed by highlights and high-waisted narrow sidelights, all with stained glass panels with floral motifs.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a timber picket fence, backed by a low hedge. On the southern side of the block a driveway leads to an attached single garage. This is set slightly behind the alignment of the main façade and has a dropped half-hipped roof.






Newspaper notices relating to the death of William White (trove.nla.gov.au)

Family trees for Sarah Platt and William White (ancestry.com.au)







Lot 12

Other Names: Netherdale (name used in a letter written to the paper by Henry Whitehead’s 12 year old son, Kenneth, in February 1916)

Photograph

Construction date





The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of this place are largely consistent with its original design (noting that the early twenty-first century rear additions can be glimpsed at and behind the original north-south ridgeline).

Note: The place has some historical significance as one of the houses that is believed to have been built as speculative development by James Chesters.



According to the City of Subiaco Rates Books a house was built on Lot 12 for Lida Sutor (a typist) in 1915/16. However ownership was not officially transferred from James Chesters until 1924, when a new Certificate of Title was issued in the name of Ernest Stevens.

The house on this lot appears to have been built to the same design as 17 Union Street and it is highly likely that Chesters had built both houses as part of the speculative




development he is known to have undertaken in various parts of his Subiaco subdivisions in the period c.1907-1916.

Based on other similar cases, it is also likely that he had taken a deposit, with full payment to be received in instalments, but that the initial purchaser had moved on before finalising the transaction.

Lida May Sutor was listed at this address in the 1916 Electoral Roll, but by January of that year the house had been occupied by the family of Henry Whitehead (a commercial agent). Entries in the Subiaco Rates Books and the Post Office Directories suggest that Whitehead then rented the property until c.1924.

The next owner, Ernest Stephens (a barman) also only lived here for about a year, after which 19 Union Street was sold to Winifred Atkinson. In about 1932 Winifred’s husband, Leonard (a bank official), took up a posting at Bunbury, and the house was then occupied by Arthur and Forence Chick. Newspaper notices confirm that Florence Rose Chick was granted a divorce on the grounds of desertion in 1940 and it is possible (but not confirmed) that she soon remarried, and was the Florence Rose Russell who occupied the house from c.1943 until at least 1980.

Historical aerial photographs show that major additions were undertaken at the rear of the house in 2003, at which time the tiled roof was replaced in corrugated steel sheeting (including the addition of a small gablet to the eastern end of the original north-south ridgeline and skylights facing north and south).


1915 Lida May Sutor, typist

1916-1924 Henry Whitehead, commercial agent, and his wife, Edith Adelaide Whitehead

1925 Ernest Stevens, barman, and his wife, Annie May Stevens

1926-1932 Leonard Harris Atkinson, bank official and his wife, Winifred Alice Atkinson

1933-1940 Arthur Edmund Chick, automotive engineer, and his wife, Florence Rose Chick

1941 Florence Rose Chick

1941-1942 Mrs Annie Lake, widow

1943- 1958 Arthur Philip Russell, milk vendor, and his wife, Florence Rose Russell

Until at least 1980 Florence Rose Russell, home duties


19 Union Street was designed as a modest example of a Federation Queen Anne house. Key elements include:

Simple asymmetrical plan, with a projecting wing on the southern side of the main façade.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses – one at window sill height and the other at door head height. Above the top string course the walls are roughcast rendered.

Gabled-hipped roof, clad with corrugated metal sheeting.

Tall face brick chimney with slender rendered moulding to the top and bottom of the slightly projecting cap.





The face of the gable is finished in roughcast render divided by three vertical timber battens.

Triple casement windows with square highlights and moulded projecting sills to each of the two front rooms.

The window to the projecting wing is shaded by a raked awning supported on simple timber brackets.


The raked roof of this verandah continues as an unbroken extension of the main roof line. The square timber posts have chamfered edges, which finish below two square-profile grooves at the springing point for the valance. The latter forms a wide, shallow, arch between each pair of posts, with square timber balusters flanking a solid timber ‘key’ at the apex (matching the verandah detailing to 21 Union Street).

The main entrance to the house is located under the verandah, adjacent to the projecting wing. This features an early Inter-war style, three-panel, high-waisted door with sidelight and highlight windows – all with stained glass panels with floral motifs.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low, scalloped timber picket fence. On the southern side of the block a driveway leads to an attached single garage. This is set slightly behind the alignment of the main façade and has a gabled roof (with the finish to the gable end detailed to match the gable of the main house).







The Daily News 12 February 1916 p 4 (trove.nla.gov.au)








Lot 13

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Bungalow (in a modest suburban interpretation of the style)



Note: The form and detailing of this house remains largely consistent with the original design (noting that the alterations to the front windows and addition of a prominent carport have to, some degree, impacted on the authenticity of the place within its streetscape setting)



Lot 13 was transferred from James Chesters to Camelia [sic] Elizabeth Wiffen on 21 February 1916, and the Subiaco Rates Book of 1915/16 states that a new house was owned by Mrs C Wiffen in that year.

Note: based on the similarities between the general design of this place and 7 Union Street, and the similarities with the verandah detailing of 19 Union Street, it is quite possible that this was one of a number of houses built by James Chesters along Union Street in the period c.1914-1916.

Advertisements for the sale of the house, such as the following, appeared from November 1917 until October 1919:




AT SUBIACO: Superior tiled-roof brick Residence, 5 rooms, vestibule, e., mantels, and grates, lawns, hedge, near park tram and school, all conveniences, good locality. Cash or terms. Owner, 21 Union-st.

In the Rates Book of 1918/19 the new owner was listed as T S Booth (sic). Thomas Shearer Cook (a traveller) then lived here for a short time before moving across the road to 22 Union Street.

In c.1921, 21 Union Street became the long-term home of the Kennedy family. John Kennedy (a storekeeper) had married Rose McLennan in 1915 and they moved into 21 Union Street with their four young children, Abigail, Donald, Alexander and Marguerite. Rose had been widowed in 1914 and also had five children by her first husband, Robert Head – Dorothy, Albert, Thora (Isabel), Alfred and Olga (born c.1904-1911). John Kennedy’s WWI records confirm that he was responsible for all of his step-children in 1917 and it therefore seems likely that at least some of these also lived at 21 Union Street.

John Kennedy died at the end of December 1934. Members of the family still living at 21 Union Street in 1943 included Rose, Abigail (a typist), Donald (clerk) and Marguerite (clerk). After the children moved away Rose Kennedy remained at 21 Union Street until the late 1950s (prior to her death in Collie in 1962, aged 80 years).

Historical aerial photographs show that major additions were undertaken at the rear of the house in the period 1985 to 1995.


1917-1919 James Henry Wiffen, civil servant, and Camilla Elizabeth Wiffen

1920 Thomas Shearer Cook, traveller

1921-1934 John Kennedy, storekeeper, and his wife, Rose Kennedy

1935-c.1958 Rose Kennedy, widow


21 Union Street was designed as a modest suburban house, partly influenced by the Federation Bungalow style. Key elements include:

Symmetrical façade, accentuated by the hipped roof, a small centrally placed gable (over the main entrance).

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade with two contrasting rendered string courses – one at window sill height and the other at door head height.

Hipped roof with a short, north-south ridge line.

The roof is clad with terracotta tiles and, as noted above, features a small decorative gable over the front door.

This gable has a rough-cast rendered face divided by three vertical battens.

One tall brick chimney, with rendered, moulded detailing to the cornice and cap (now all painted white).

Note: Historical aerial photographs confirm that there was originally a second chimney on the southern side of the house.

Front verandah extending across the full width of the main façade.

The raked roof of this verandah continues as an unbroken extension of the main roof line. The square timber posts have chamfered edges, which finish below two square-profile grooves at the springing point for the valance. The latter forms a wide, shallow, arch between each pair of posts, with square timber balusters




flanking a solid timber ‘key’ at the apex (matching the verandah detailing to 19 Union Street).

Centrally located door with highlights and narrow high-waisted sidelights – all with stained glass panels with flower motifs.

Modern windows.

The windows to the two front rooms have been replaced as part of refurbishment works.

On the southern side of the entrance door the opening remains intact, with its original moulded projecting sill. What would have probably been a bank of three casement windows of equal width has been replaced by two narrow casements with a wider central panel.

On the northern side of the entrance door, modern French doors with sidelights open onto the verandah.

The house is set back approximately 4m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low brick wall with brick piers and scalloped metal infill panels – all set behind a neat clipped hedge.

On the northern side of the block a driveway leads to the carport addition which sits forward of the house. This has a gabled roof, with the finish to the gable end detailed to match the gable to the house.



City of Subiaco Rate Books, 1915/16, 1917/18, 1918/19 and 1929/30 (information provided by the City of Subiaco, October 2014)





Family trees for Rose McLennan and John Kennedy (ancestry.com.au)




2-22 Union Street (eastern side of the street)


Eastern Side of the Street: 2-22 Union Street





Part Lot 37 and Lot 38

Other Names: Kaiapoi (Name used when it was owned by Hamilton Brown, c.1918-19. Possibly named after the town of that name in New Zealand)

Photograph

Construction date


In its current form this place does not represent any particular architectural style.



Note: Alterations to the roof and the painting of the main façade have impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the underlying form and detailing of the main façade remains consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape.

The high, solid masonry fence is intrusive within the streetscape.







According to the City of Subiaco Rates Books a house was built on part Lot 3 & Lot 38 for William Edmund Carlisle (importer) in 1914/15 and the property was transferred to Agnes Dorothea Brown by 1917/18. However ownership was not officially transferred from James Chesters until May 1921, when a new Certificate of Title was issued in the name of Hannah Maud Shephard.

The house on this lot appears to have been built to the same design as 5 Union Street and it is highly likely that Chesters had built both houses as part of the speculative development he is known to have undertaken in various parts of his Subiaco subdivisions in the period c.1907-1916. Based on other similar cases, it is also likely that he had taken a deposit, with full payment to be received in instalments, but that the initial purchaser(s) moved on before finalising the transaction (on-selling their equity in the property rather than the title to the land).

William Carlisle lived here with his wife, Mary, for about two years, before the house was offered for sale in February and September 1917, when they were planning to relocate to Victoria:

ON TIHE PREMISES 2 UNION-ST Off Hamersley-road, SUBIACO. DESIRABLE BRICK -TILED ROOF RESIDENCE, and VALUABLE HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE and EFFECTS: A. W. DUCAT has received instructions from the owner to SELL as above Lot 38 and portion of lot 37 of Perth Suburban Lot 255, having a frontage of 44ft. by a depth of 132ft. to a row.; on which is erected a Brick HOUSE with tiled roof, containing 4 rooms, vestibule, kitchen, hall, bath, troughs and copper, electric light throughout, front verandah, lawns front and back. TERMS: £50 ash, balance at 25s per week.

And

BEAUTIFUL new Brick Villa, every modern convenience, 1 minute tram, school, owner must sell, leaving State, open week only. 2 Union-st., Subiaco.

The next occupant, Agnes Dorothea Brown, lived here with her husband, Hamilton Brown (the manager of the Palladium Picture Palace), until 1919, when the house was again offered for sale:

SUBIACO: Six large Rooms, Brick, tiled roof, all modern conveniences; easy terms. Kaiapoi, 2 Union-st.

There were then at least two further short-term occupants, before 2 Union Street became the family home of Joseph and Hannah Shephard in 1921. Joseph Shephard was a local tailor who, for many years, had business premises at 87a Rokeby Road. Hannah died in 1929 and by 1933-34 Joseph was residing at his new business premises at 130a Rokeby Road.

The next resident was Anna Lawson, who had been widowed in 1927 when her husband, Edmund, was killed in an accident, at the age of only 30 years. By 1934 Anna had moved into 2 Union Street and, from 1935, a builder, Leslie Preston Andrews, was also living here (advertising this as his business address). Andrews was reported to have disappeared from his home in Sydney in 1923, taking his 7-year old son with him.




He then kept his name off the electoral rolls until the 1940s and, when he began to operate his own business in Perth, advertised this under the name L Andrews (later L Andrews & Son).

By 1940 Anna Lawson and Leslie Andrews had moved to 8 Rene Road, Dalkeith (and they continued to live together until at least the late 1970s).

During the 1940s there were a series of relatively short-term residents and in 1951 the house was again advertised for sale:

SUBIACO. 2 UNION-ST. 4 rooms, b. and t., garage, vac. pos.

In c.2011 a major addition was added at the rear of the house and the tiled roof was reclad with corrugated metal sheeting.


1915-1917 William Edmund Carlisle, importer and merchant

1918-1919 Hamilton Brown, manager Palladium Picture Palace

1920 Herbert Henry Whiting, dentist

1921 Henry (Harry) Stewart Hope, clerk

1921-1933 Joseph Ezekiel Shephard, tailor (with business premises at 87a Rokeby Road)

1934-1939 Mrs Anna Adeline (Topsy) Lawson and Leslie Preston Andrews, builder

1940-1941 John Cotrill

1942-1944 Ludwig Daniel August Lemke, minster of religion (Seventh Day Adventists)

1945-1946 Frederick Taylor

1947-c.1950 Victor James


2 Union Street has been extensively modified, but it is highly likely that its detailing would have been very similar to the original detailing remaining to 7 and 21 Union Street.

Major alterations have included the:

Replacement of the original tiled roof with corrugated metal sheeting.

Painting of the tuck-pointed, face-brick façade.

Construction of a high masonry wall along the front boundary (largely concealing the front of the house from public view).

Construction of a two-storey addition towards the rear.

Key traditional elements include:

Symmetrical façade, centred under a small gable over the main entrance.

This gable has a roughcast rendered face and three vertical timber battens.

Tuck-pointed brickwork with a plain rendered stringcourse at door head height (now painted a single colour).

Centrally located entrance door with a chamfered timber frame, narrow sidelights and highlights.

Triple casement windows to the front rooms on either side of the main entrance.

These have square highlights and projecting moulded sills.

Raked verandah extending across the full width of the façade, in a broken-back alignment from the main roof.




This has turned timber posts, simple carved timber brackets, and square timber balusters to the end panels.

The house is set back approximately 3m from the front boundary. This is defined by the high masonry wall, which features an asymmetrically located lynch gate, and is backed by tall shrubs. On the southern side of the site there is an open, off-street car parking bay.






The West Australian 20 February 1917 p 2

The West Australian 21 September 1917 p 3

The West Australian 10 May 1919 p 4

The West Australian 28 August 1931 p 12

The West Australian 15 June 1951 p 18

Various other newspaper articles relating to 2 Union Street and/or the occupants of the house (trove.nal.gov.au)







Photograph

Construction date


In its current form this place does not represent any particular architectural style.



Note: Alterations to the roofline, partial enclosure of the front verandah, alterations to the front windows in the mid-twentieth century and the painting of the main façade have had a major impact on the authenticity and traditional character of the place.



James Chesters sold part Lot 36 and Lot 37 to John Hendy in September 1912 (probably the John Hendy, carpenter, who was living in Subiaco at that time). J. Hendy advertised numerous houses for sale in Subiaco and other nearby localities in the period 1913 to 1930 and it therefore seems likely that he constructed 4 Union Street as one of his early speculative developments.

The Subiaco Rates Books indicate that the place was acquired and occupied by a teacher, Francis Longford Huddart Sherlock, at that time. Francis lived here with his wife, Cecilia (who he had married in 1911) until he was appointed headmaster at Bunbury High School in c.1923.

The next occupants were William and Caroline Wilson (who had previously lived at 161 Hamersley street). By 1931 the Wilsons were sharing the house with their daughter Joyce, son-in-law, Clarence Rodriguez and grand-daughter, Judith. In late 1939/early 1940 the house was advertised for sale as part of William’s estate:

COMMODIOUS BRICK RESIDENCE, No. 4 UNION-ST. SUBIACO (near Hamersley-road). ….. agents have been instructed BY THE PERPETUAL. EXECUTORS TRUSTEES




AND AGENCY COMPANY (W.A.). LIMITED. as Executor of the Will of the late William Marmaduke Wilson to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION as above:-

Land: Portion Perth Sub. Lot 255 Part of each lots 36 and 37, Plan 889, total frontage 66.6 links, depth 200.3 links.

Improvements: Desirable brick residence, verandahs front and side, entrance hall, three rooms, large lounge room, vestibule, kitchen, well-appointed bathroom, back verandah, washhouse, c. and t's. sewered. e.l. and gas, detached tool shed, and storeroom. Grounds laid out in lawns and gardens. Excellently situated close Subiaco Municipal Gardens, transport and local shopping and civic centre.

However, it appears to have been either withdrawn from sale or purchased by a family member, as it continued to be occupied by members of the Wilson/ Rodriguez family for at least another decade.

Historical aerial photographs show that major second storey additions were undertaken in the late twentieth century.


1913-1923 Francis Longford Huddart Sherlock, teacher, and his wife, Cecilia Sherlock

1924-1939 William Marmeduke Wilson, property owner, and his wife, Caroline Wilson

1940-1942 Mrs Caroline Margaret Wilson, widow, sharing the house with Clarence and Joyce Rodriguez.

1943-1949 Clarence and Joyce Rodriguez


4 Union Street appears to have been designed as a suburban example of the Federation Queen Anne style, but numerous alterations have obscured the overall effect. Major alterations include:

Late-twentieth century second storey additions, which have had a major impact on the roofline, with prominent gable dormers now facing west and north.

The enclosure of part of the front verandah (possibly in the mid-twentieth century).

This created an additional (or enlarged) room on the northern side of the projecting front wing, with face-brick walls (now painted) and a front window that is partially concealed under a curved canvas awning.

Key traditional elements include:

Asymmetrical plan, articulated by a projecting wing on the southern side of the main façade.

This features a flying gable that extends over a shallow rectangular window bay. The face of the gable end is finished with textured render and set with an ‘arcaded’ pattern of timber battens.

Immediately above the window bay the detail of the projection is accentuated by a curved rendered eaves panel, with deep battened eaves on either side.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the projecting wing (now painted), with a rendered string course at window head height.

Wide window opening to the projecting bay, with a flat head and plain raked sill.

The current window has a wide, fixed central panel, with narrow casements on either side, all set with a geometric pattern of clear, textured and shaped glass. The




style of the leadlight glazing suggests that this element was redesigned in the inter-war years.

Return, bullnose verandah.

This extends across the full with of the façade and then returns partway along the southern side of the house, to abut a projecting rear wing.

Like many other houses of this type, the main entry was located towards the rear of the side verandah, facing the side boundary – separating the original verandah into two areas, one for access and the other, overlooking the front garden, for recreation.

Note: The deep porch on the northern half of the main façade is now enclosed.

The house is set back approx. 5.5m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low masonry wall with masonry piers and timber picket infill panels.






The West Australian 16 January 1940, p 13

Various newspaper articles relating to 4 Union Street and/or the occupants of the house (trove.nal.gov.au)

Various newspaper articles relating the sale of houses by J. Hendy – using the business address of 21 Lawler Street, Subiaco, before he moved to Nedlands in c.1919 (trove.nal.gov.au)






Lot 35 and part Lot 36

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Bungalow



The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of the main façade are largely consistent with its original design. However the extension of the main roofline with a cantilevered gable on the northern side has significantly altered the form and proportions of the place, as viewed from the north-west.






Chesters sold this site to Thomas Starks in January 1916. The electoral rolls indicate that Starks was a local building contractor, so it seems likely that he built this house as a speculative development. Newspaper advertisements certainly confirm that Starks was undertaking work of this nature, offering at least three houses for sale in Subiaco in the period 1916-19.

The Subiaco Rates Books show that 6 Union Street was acquired by Hy Ames, printer, in 1915/16. In the following year the rate books listed the owner as H. P. Pickard, but this appears to be a mistake relating to Henry’s full name – Henry Pickard Ames.

When Henry and his wife, Jane, first moved here in c.1916 it is likely that the house also accommodated their children Russell (19 years), Leila (17), Reginald (Norman) (15) and Ella (12). During the first half of the 1930s the Ames family lived in Tyrell Street, Nedlands and let their Subiaco house to tenants. They returned here for the second half of the 1930s, at which time Henry, Jane and Leila (a book-keeper) were listed in the electoral rolls for this address. During this period Henry was proprietor of the City and Suburban Printing Works, Hay Street, East Perth.

By the early 1940s the Ames family had settled once again in Nedlands and 6 Union Street was occupied by Leonard Bevis, and his wife, Bertha. During this period Leonard was serving as a Corporal in the Australian Army (1941-1947), which was his second period of active service as he had also enlisted in 1917, aged 21 years

Historical aerial photographs show that the major alterations to the northern side and rear of the house were undertaken in c.2007.


1917-1929 Henry Pickard (Harry) Ames, printer

1930 Clarence James Castledine, contractor

1931-1932 Guy Telfer Couper, clerk

1933-1935 Edward John Hudson, engine driver

1936-1941 Henry Pickard Ames, printer

1942-1949 Leonard Clarence Bevis, soldier


6 Union Street displays some distinctive elements of the Federation Bungalow style, although the characteristic simple form of the tiled roof has been modified by alterations and additions undertaken in c.2008-10.


Asymmetrical plan, articulated by a prominent, but simple gable on the northern side the main roof. The plain face of this gable is divided by seven vertical battens.

Simple pyramid-hipped form to the remainder of the roof, extending in an unbroken alignment over the front verandah.

Note: The early twenty-first century additions have added a cantilevered gable on the northern side of the house and a gable-hipped roof over the new second storey towards the rear.

Projecting wing on the northern side of the house, under the street-front gable.




This has a shallow rectangular window bay with a triple casement window fitted with leadlight in a geometric floral pattern. There are plain square highlights above these windows and they sit over a projecting rendered sill with a curved under-sill panel.

Tuck-pointed brickwork to the main façade, with a heavily textured, rendered stringcourse at window sill height.

Verandah extending in a continuous alignment across the full width of the façade, including the projecting wing.

Consistent with the Federation Bungalow style, the verandah has restrained detailing with chamfered square posts and simple but elegant raked brackets.

Deep shaded area to the south of the projecting wing, which features the main entry plus a set of casement windows (matching the windows to the projecting wing).

The main entry is set within recessed bay framed by an arched “porch” with a semi-circular head. The low-waisted front door has geometric glazing to match the front windows, and is famed by highlights and high-waisted sidelights, fitted with ripple glass.

The house is set approx. 5.5m back from the front boundary, which is defined by decorative iron infill panels (in an early twentieth century style), framed by a low, rock-faced stone wall with matching piers.






Family trees - Henry Pickard Ames (Ancestry.com.au)


Who Built Subiaco? An unpublished research project in preparation by Annette Green (October 2014)






Lot 34

Photograph

Construction date


Cottage





Perth Suburban Lot 255 was purchased by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd of Sydney in August 1890. Two years later it was transferred to James Chesters of 155 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, estate agent. By 1894 Chesters had subdivided this land as Deposited Plan 899, with 42 lots laid out around Queen Street (soon renamed Union Street). Chesters sold Lot 34 to Edward Steele in July 1894, but it was many more years before the site was developed.

In 1909, J. Tate was the first and only resident listed in the Post Office Directories for the eastern side of Union Street, between Hamersley and Heytesbury Roads (and remained so until 1912). In 1912/13 the Subiaco Rates Book confirmed that James Tate was the owner and indicated an improved value of only £350 for the site (compared to £600 to £650 pounds for other places in the street) – reflecting its nature as a relatively modest weatherboard house.

James Henry Tate (who worked as a fitter) lived here with his wife Mary (who he had married in 1902) and their growing family from c.1909 until 1963, after which they moved to Scarborough.

Over time, additional adults listed in the electoral rolls for this address included their children Eva Elizabeth Tate (telephonist)(born 1903), Gloria Maude Tate (teacher)(born 1907), Vida Ethel Tate (civil servant)(born 1911) and James Wallace Tate (student, later teacher).





Unlike all of the other houses in the study area, 8 Union Street was designed as a modest workers cottage set on a narrow lot and was built of timber, rather than brick.


Single-fronted façade set under a wide gable.

This gable has a flush panelled face with a simple decoration of vertical and curved timber battens, with a turned timber finial to the apex.

Rusticated weatherboards to the main façade.

Plain, square-edged weatherboards to the side walls.

Corrugated metal sheeting to the roof.

Face-brick chimney with a projecting rendered cap and base, set near the main ridgeline.

Return verandah.

This extends across the front of the house and then returns along the northern side. It features a bullnose roof, turned timber posts, carved timber brackets and turned timber balusters.

Entrance door located on the southern side of the main façade (accessing the side hallway).

This is framed by a highlight and very narrow sidelight – both with stained glass detailing.

Triple double hung window to the left of the main entrance.

This has a wide central sash flanked by very narrow sashes (a simple decorative window form that was commonly used in the early twentieth century).

French doors opening onto the verandah from the rear of the side return.

The house is set approx. 3.5m back from the front boundary, which is defined by a scalloped timber picket fence, backed by a low, clipped hedge.

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in fair condition.




Family Trees – James Henry Tate (Ancestry.com.au)

WA Marriage records (Ancestry.com.au)






Photograph

Construction date





Note: This place has some local historical significance as the family home of Joseph Shaw, who was responsible for the speculative development of several houses in Subiaco, including 159, 161, 163 and 165 Hamersley Road and 8 Union Street. However, alterations to the roof form and cladding, windows and wall finishes, have all impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of this place.



Chesters sold Lots 30 to 32 to William James Douglas in September 1901, shortly before Douglas and his partner, Frank Dyson, purchased the adjacent Perth Suburban Lot 253 and subdivided that area around Rawson Street. Initially Rawson Street did not officially connect to Union Street, but the Subiaco Council purchased part Lot 31 and part Lot 32 to extend Rawson Street in 1913/14.

The Subiaco Rates Books indicate that part Lot 32 and Lot 33 were acquired by Joseph Shonbrun (tea merchant) in 1914/15 and that the house was built at this time. Shonbrun (who listed his occupation as tea merchant) had previously developed houses at 159, 161, 163 and 165 Hamersley Road (in the period c.1905-09) and was living at #165 (on the corner of Union Street) in 1915. During this period there were numerous advertisements for the sale of land and houses referencing his name or address, and it appears that he was active in property speculation.




In 1915, Joseph moved to his new house at 12 Union street with his wife, Lena, (and possibly their daughters Doris and Rita). In the following year he legally changed his name to Joseph Shaw – a name that he had already used for many years.

Joseph died in October 1920, after which his widow, Lena, remained in Western Australia for only a short time.

The next owner of 12 Union Street appears to have been Neil McPherson, a WAGR employee who was killed in an accident in July 1921 (aged 56 years). At the time of his death Neil was described as the husband of Amelia (who he had married in 1898), and father of Neil, Ina, Donald, Malcolm and Colin McPherson of 12 Union Street, Subiaco.

His widow, Amelia, considered selling 12 Union Street, but in August 1922 placed an advertisement stating that it had been withdrawn from sale.

In 1923 her daughter, Ina, married Stanley Edgar Emrose (traveller) and they shared the house with Amelia until 1933, after which Amelia moved out.

12 Union Street appears to have been sold between 1937 and 1943 as, by the latter date, the Emrose family had moved to Nedlands, and the electoral rolls had listed David and Alice Lovell at this address. It was then occupied as the Lovell family home for many years, with Alice still listed here in the 1980 electoral roll.

At some stage in the 1980s to early 1990s the house was extended and re-roofed (replacing the original tiles with corrugated metal sheeting). Historical aerial photographs suggest that the second storey additions (which altered the roofline) were undertaken in c.2007.


1915-1920 Joseph Shaw (formerly Joseph Schonbrun), tea merchant

1921-1933 Mrs Amelia Jane McPherson, widow

1934-c.1942 Stanley Emrose, commercial traveller

c.1943-1975 David Llewellyn Lovell, engineer

1975-post 1979 Alice May Lovell, widow


Sufficient details remain to suggest that this house was designed in a modest suburban interpretation of the Federation Queen Anne style. However, extensive alterations have confused an understanding of the original detailing and finishes.

Consistent with the underlying style, the roof has complex hipped and gabled forms with a prominent street front gable. This roof form has been enlarged and interpreted in the late twentieth century additions, which feature three glazed, west-facing gables to the loft/first-floor areas. The surviving traditional chimney, which is located on the northern side of the house, has face brick sides and a slightly bulbous roughcast rendered cap.

The main gable (facing Union Street) has a plain panelled face with four slender vertical battens - and would have been more ornate in the original design, probably with a roughcast rendered face and more robust battens (similar to the detailing to the smaller gable facing Rawson Street).

Houses of this type typically had tuck-pointed red brickwork with contrasting rendered detailing, including string courses and moulded window sills. This house has a plain rendered string-course at window sill height, but the face-brickwork has a mottled finish that is not characteristic of the period.

The projecting wing under the main gable has an original, shallow, rectangular window bay, fitted with modern timber-framed windows. The bull-nosed verandah extends across the front of this wing and then continues in an unbroken alignment to create a




deep, shaded verandah across the remainder of the stepped façade. Decorative detailing to the verandah includes iron lace frieze and fringe panels and semi-circular brackets (rather than the ornamental timber detailing that was typical of this style and era).

The first set back to the façade has a single stained glass window with a plain recessed sill and a semi-circular head. The main entrance is located along the second setback, facing towards Rawson Street (a location typical of houses of this type). This has a traditional form with highlights and narrow sidelights.

The eastern end of the verandah abuts a side wing, which features a smaller rectangular window bay and gable, facing Rawson Street. The house then extends with a two storey addition towards the rear of the site.

The house is set approx. 4m back from the front boundary, which is defined by a low brick fence with metal infill panels.

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in fair condition.





New South wales Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922 (Ancestry.com.au)








Lot 30 and Part Lot 31

Photograph

Construction date








Chesters sold Lots 30 to 32 to William James Douglas in September 1901, shortly before Douglas and his partner, Frank Dyson, purchased the adjacent Perth Suburban Lot 253 and subdivided that area around Rawson Street. Initially Rawson Street did not officially connect to Union Street, but the Subiaco Council purchased part Lot 31 and part Lot 32 to extend Rawson Street in 1913/14.

The Subiaco Rates Books indicate Lot 30 and part Lot 31 were acquired in 1913/14 by William Bushell (carpenter) and that the house was built at about this time. In 1916 the electoral roll listed William’s profession as builder, so it is quite likely that he was responsible for the construction of 16 Union Street as his own home. At that time he was sharing the house with his brother, Charles (a moulder) and mother, Mary.

16 Union Street was advertised for sale in January 1919:

TENDERS are invited until 5 p.m. on FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, for the CASH PURCHASE of Brick Villa Residence, 16 Union-st., Subiaco, containing 6 rooms, pantry, and bathroom, back and front verandahs, washhouse, c and t., shed, motor garage, etc., e.l. lawns, hedges, corner block. No tender will necessarily be accepted. 16 UNION-ST. SUBIACO, off Hamersley-rd., near Bowling Green.




The new owner appears to have been John Watson Henderson (consulting engineer), who settled here with his wife, Marguerite, and, for part of this time, their daughter Olive. Following John’s death in 1939, the house continued to be occupied by his widow, Marguerite, until she moved to 21 Bagot Road in c.1941.

16 Union Street was then taken over by her daughter, Olive and son-in-law, Ronald Boyes (storeman), who remained here until the early 1970s.


1914-1918 William Joseph Bushell (carpenter/builder)

1919 Mrs Sims

1920-1938 John Watson Henderson, consulting engineer

1939-1941 Mrs Marguerite Henderson, widow

1942-post 1971 Ronald Thomas Boyes, storeman


16 Union Street was designed as a modest, single storey Federation Queen Anne house. Key elements include:

Asymmetrical plan, in this case simply articulated by a projecting wing on the southern side of the main façade.

Tuck-pointed face-brick to the main (Union Street) façade, with two plain rendered string courses – one at window sill height and the other at door head height.

The secondary (Rawson Street) façade has plain face brick walls, with no ornamentation.

Gabled-hipped roof, clad with corrugated metal sheeting and featuring louvered gablet vents at either end of the main east-west ridgeline, and a prominent street front gable.

The latter has a roughcast rendered face and timber battens set out in a “sun-ray” pattern.

Two tuck-pointed, face brick chimneys with plain rendered string courses and projecting rendered caps.


This has a dropped, bullnose roof, and turned timber posts, linked by deep semi-circular, lattice, valance panels. Under the gutter line the verandah detailing is completed by a slender ‘zig-zag’ fretwork.

The main entrance is located under the verandah, adjacent to the projecting wing. It features traditional moulded timber framing around an early twentieth century style, 5-panel door, with a highlight and single sidelight. The glazed panels all feature stained glass detailing.

Vertically proportioned windows.

The verandah area also features a pair of individual double hung windows, set over projecting rendered sills with curved under-sill panels.

The projecting wing has a second pair of double hung windows, with matching detailing. These are shaded by a bull-nosed awning, with curved timber brackets and a frame of lattice panels.

The house is set back approximately 5m from the front boundary, which is defined by a low, limestone wall and piers. There are no infill panels, and the well-maintained informal garden is visually open to the street.









The West Australian 7 January 1919 p 3







Photograph

Construction date





Note: The painting of the main façade has impacted on the authenticity and traditional character of the place. However, the underlying form and detailing remains consistent with the original design and the key elements of the traditional streetscape.



Chesters sold part Lot 28 and Lot 29 to Minnie Bourne in March 1911. Minnie and her husband Walter had previously built a house at 143 Hamersley Road in 1910, and lived there in 1910-11, while advertising it for sale. They then appear to have repeated this exercise at 18 Union Street, offering this for sale in 1912, and living there in 1912-13.

WALK-In walk-out principle, Bijou Villa, 6 rooms, conveniences, £675, furniture. Schwechten piano optional. 18 Union-st., Subiaco. (August 1912)

The Bourne family then rented the house at 84 Heytesbury Road (1914) before moving to York Street (1915) and then Forest Avenue (1916).

The Subiaco Rates Books for 1912/13 indicate that 18 Union Street was acquired by Sydney Stevens (civil servant), who settled here with his wife Janet.

It then went through three further changes of ownership in relatively quick succession:

Charles Owen (optician) – owner/occupier c.1917-1923;

Henry Holley (school teacher) - owner/occupier c.1924-June 1927; and

Muriel Glaskin - owner/occupier from 1928-c.1944




At various times in the period 1928 to 1944, Muriel Glaskin shared the house with one or more of her children - Evelyn (born 1906), Harold (a clerk)(born 1910) and Ronald (a

linotype operator)(born 1913). During this time it appears that her husband, Frederick, was living in Victoria.

The next long term occupants were Frederick and Lucy Gunning and their daughter, Ruth, who had settled here after Frederick’s retirement as an Anglican clergyman in the early 1950s. An advertisement dated 1953 also identified Frederick as the author of a history of the Gascoyne Pioneers, titled: Lure of the North.


1912-1913 Walter Howard Bourne, compositor

1913-1916 Sydney Robert Percy Stevens, civil servant (Commonwealth Weather Bureau)

1917-1923 Charles Arthur Owen, optician

1924-1927 Henry Albert Holley, schoolmaster

1928-1944 Mrs Muriel Isabell Glaskin

1945-1946 Len Turney

1947-c.1949 John Grenville Picton-Warlow (law student, graduated c.1950)

c.1954-c.1964 Frederick William Gunning, retired Anglican clergyman

c.1953-post 1980

Lucy May Gunning (home duties) and Ruth Agnes Gunning (machinist)


18 Union Street was designed as a modest, single storey Federation Queen Anne house.

Key features include:

Asymmetrical plan featuring a projecting wing, with a shallow rectangular window bay, on the southern side of the main facade.

Gabled-hipped roof, clad with corrugated metal sheeting.

This features louvered gablet vents at either end of the main east-west ridgeline, tall painted brick chimneys with projecting rendered caps, and a prominent street front gable.

The gable end extends over the projecting wing. It features a roughcast rendered face, turned timber finial and decorative timber battens. Between the gable and verandah roof, the form of the window bay is accentuated by the roughcast rendered finish to the walls and the deep battened eaves on either side

Tuck-pointed face-brick to the main façade (now painted), with two plain rendered string courses – one at window sill height and the other at door head height.

Front verandah extending across the full width of the house.

This has a dropped bullnose roof, turned timber posts and carved timber brackets.

The main entrance is located under the verandah, adjacent to the projecting wing. This has a 5-panel door, moulded timber architraves, highlight and single sidelight.

Varied fenestration

The window bay to the projecting wing has a triple casement window set over a projecting rendered sill with a decorative under-sill panel.

To the north of the main entrance there is a pair of double hung windows with sills and under-sill panels similar to the window to the projecting wing.




The house is set back approximately 5m from the front boundary, which is defined by a scalloped timber picket fence, backed by a low clipped hedge.






Family trees – Muriel Isobel Glaskin (nee Toll) (Ancestry.com.au)

Family trees – Frederick William Gunning (Ancestry.com.au)


The West Australian 27 June 1927 p 3

The West Australian 5 December 1953 p 13

Various newspaper items relating to 18 Union Street and/or the occupants of the house (trove.nal.gov.au)





Part Lots 27 and 28

Also known as “Cooee” (c.1912-1917)

Photograph

Construction date


This house displays elements of both the Federation Bungalow and federation Queen Anne style.



20 Union Street is of some historical significance as the home of Bartholomew Stubbs, a local businessman who represented Subiaco in the Legislative Council in the period 1911-1917.

The external streetscape character, finishes and detailing of this place are largely consistent with its original design (although the tiled roof has been reclad in corrugated metal sheeting).



James Chesters transferred part Lot 27 and Lot 28 to a new title in March 1911 and (based on his activities in other subdivisions) it is possible that he constructed 20 Union Street as a speculative development at that time.

The Subiaco Rates Books listed Bartholomew Stubbs (tailor) as the owner/occupier of a new house on this site in 1912/13. Bartholomew and his wife, Alice, moved here from their previous home at 9 Rawson Street, together with their two children Norman and Marie, naming the house “Cooee”. Stubbs was involved in the union movement and was elected to the Legislative Council for the seat of Subiaco, serving in this role from 1911-1917. During World War One he took the unusual step of enlisting at the age of 44 and was killed in Belgium in 1917. Stubbs Terrace is named in his honour.




Between 1917 and 1923 there were at least four short-term residents, before 20 Union Street became the family home of William and Ethel Treen. Newspaper advertisements show that William Treen & Co, Wellington Buildings, Perth (formerly Threkeld & Treen) were agents for a wide range of products, including Nugget Polish, Skipping Girl Vinegar, Tindex Dyes, Armco iron tanks and Bardsley’s Eau de Cologne.

The place returned to short-term occupancies during 1936 to 1941, after which it once again became a long-term family home, this time for John Nichols (a retired railways employee) and his wife, Pauline – who remained here until the early 1960s.

At some stage in the period 1995-2001 the house was extended towards the rear and the tiled roof was reclad with corrugated metal sheeting.


1913-1916 Bartholomew James Stubbs, tailor, MLA

1917 Victor William White, teacher

1918-1921 Frederick Lawrence Crawford, contractor (Davis, Hankinson & Co)

1922 Mrs R Wallace

1923 L O Myers

1924-1935 William Lawrence Treen, manufacturers agent

1936-1937 Mrs Ida Mary Bignell

1938-1939 Peter Luke

1940-1941 John Luke

1942-post 1962 John Nicholls, retired (former railways employee)


20 Union Street was designed as a modest villa that displays restrained elements of both the Federation Bungalow and Federation Queen Anne styles. Key elements include:

A simple asymmetrical plan.

Gable-hipped roof, clad with corrugated metal sheeting.

The main hipped roof features a short, north-south ridgeline with louvered gablets. Aligning with the front façade there is a pair of small, decorative, west facing gables with roughcast rendered faces.

Central chimney with terracotta pots, rendered base, face-brick sides, and a projecting plain rendered cap over a convex, rough-cast rendered panel.

Tuck-pointed face-brick façade with two plain rendered stringcourses.

Return verandah.

The verandah extends across the full width of the main façade, before returning part-way along the northern side of the house. This has turned timber posts, but no other decorative detailing.

Entrance door and windows

Under the north-facing section of the verandah there are two shallow rectangular window bays (located directly under the pair of small roof gables). Each of these has a full-height double hung window, with a timber base plate.

The main entrance is located near the eastern end of the return verandah, facing north. Adjacent to this, and facing west, there is another full-height double-hung window.

The house is set approx. 4.5m back from the front boundary, which is defined by a decorative timber fence with a simple timber lynch gate.









Family trees (Ancestry.com.au)

Assessment of the Rawson Street Heritage Area (prepared by Hocking Heritage Studio for the City of Subiaco, June 2013)


Locate WA – historic aerial photography (www.locate.wa.gov.au)






Lot 26 and part Lot 27

Photograph

Construction date


Federation Bungalow (but with gable detailing more consistent with the Federation Queen Anne style)




Note: Early twenty-first century two-storey additions, in a matching style, are located towards the rear.



James Chesters transferred Lot 26 and part Lot 27 to a new title in March 1911, and the Subiaco Rates Books indicate that it had been acquired in c. 1912 by a Mrs G Pearce (who is believed to have been Eliza Maude Pearce, the wife of Senator George Foster Pearce). Eliza Pearce had also purchased 3-5 Rawson Street in 1907 and 145 Hamersley Road in 1910, and it appears that the Pearce family were undertaking speculative developments during that period (with rental properties being constructed on those two sites in c.1912). However a house was not built at 22 Union Street until c.1921, when it was occupied by Charles Thomas (salesman).

In c.1922, 22 Union Street was occupied by Thomas Cook and by 1927 Cook was using 22 Union Street as the business address for Cook and Long, Builders (later T S Cook & Son and then Cook and Gardner). Cook lived at 22 Union Street with his wife, Annie, and their growing family, including Jack, Margaret, Nell and Jim. Annie died in 1931 and in c.1937 Thomas moved to Nedlands, where he lived with his second wife, Jessie.




22 Union Street then became the family home of Alfred Chick (engineer) and his wife, Alice, who moved here from Coghlan Road, Subiaco about two years after the marriage of their only son. After Alfred died in September 1950, Alice continued to live at this address until at least the early 1960s.

In c.2007 the house was extended towards the rear with a two storey addition.


1921-1922 Charles Thomas, salesman

1922-1937 Thomas Shearer Cook, traveller (later building contractor)

1938-1950 Alfred Chick, engineer

1951-post 1962 Mrs Alice Ethel Chick, widow


22 Union Street has large sweeping roof planes, consistent with the Federation Bungalow style. The prominent gable is also consistent with this style, but the stepped face and carved timber brackets to this element, together with the terra-cotta finials, are more consistent with the Federation Queen Anne style.

Other key elements include:

Simple, asymmetrical plan.

Plain, stretcher-bond, face-brick walls.

Return verandah.

The verandah extends across the full width of the main (western) façade and then returns part way along the northern side of the house. It has exposed rafters, square timber posts and restrained timber brackets.

The main entrance is located at the eastern end of the side verandah, facing north.

Varied fenestration.

This includes two port-hole windows that face onto the side verandah and two casement windows that face onto the front verandah.

The port-hole windows are framed by a double row of headers and have square-grid leadlight glazing. The two triple casement windows also have square leadlight glazing and are set over deep timber sills, with simple timber brackets. This sill detail interprets an element of the Inter-War Californian Bungalow and confirms that the house was built in a transitional style.

The house is set approx. 3.5m back from the front boundary, which is defined by a low clipped hedge, backed by a low brick wall, with tall brick piers and open, metal bar, infill panels.






Family trees (Ancestry.com.au)



heritage assessment of james hesters’ union …...alterations such as rendering or painting of the...

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