Gera, Park St, Subiaco

Parent Place or Precinct

27310 Park Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

For information on the significance of the Park Street Heritage Area refer to the Local Planning Policy for the Heritage Area.

Physical Description

Architectural style
Typical of many well built 2-3 bedroom suburban houses of the early twentieth century, 100 Park Street incorporated elements of the Federation Queen Anne style. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as small business owners, office workers, senior retail employees and skilled tradesmen.
Plan form at the street frontage
• Symmetrical facade. This features a central entrance door, flanked by windows to each of the front rooms.
Roof form and materials
• Half-gabled, hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting (reconstructed)
Historical aerial photographs confirm that, prior to c.2003, the house had a simple hipped roof with gablets at either end of an east-west ridgeline.
• Bull-nose verandah roof.
Wall materials and finishes to the main facade
• Painted brick (originally tuck-pointed).
• Two rendered string-courses, one at door head height and the other at window sill height.
Other detailing to main facade
• Centrally located entrance door, with a 4-panel door, traditional moulded architraves and highlight.
• Single opening to each front room, featuring a double-hung window framed by narrow fixed panes, and set over a plain rectangular sill.
• Verandah detailed with turned timber verandah posts and a frieze of turned timber balustrettes.
• Small rendered niche over a rectangular sill on either side of the central entrance.
• Full-height, arched niche to the face of the parapet wall at either end of the verandah. These were both finished with tuck-pointed brick.
Streetscape setting
• House set back approximately 2.2m from the Park Street frontage.
• Lot width approximately 10.1m.
• Minimal side setbacks.
• Front yard enclosed by a palisade fence framed by tall limestone block piers, and faced by a low clipped hedge.

History

Subiaco's population increased significantly in the 1890s due to an economic depression in the eastern states and the discovery of gold in Western Australia. During the 1890s property developers bought large landholdings for subdivision in the Perth metropolitan area. The original subdivisions in Subiaco were generally simple grid pattern developments with small lots suitable for occupancy by working families. However, the more elevated parts of the suburb, particularly towards Kings Park, also attracted business and professional men and some lots were later amalgamated to accommodate their larger homes and gardens. Mixed development occurred and within the Park Street Heritage Area this ranged from narrow, single storey terrace housing through to a large 2-storey house set in spacious grounds. The readily available evidence indicates that the number of houses within this area increased from around 24 in 1901 to 72 in 1906; 86 in 1910; 91 in 1915, 94 in 1920 and 13 by 1925. Development then stabilised, with 106 houses and 1 block of flats identified in 1949.
Perth Suburban Lot 220 was subdivided as Deposited Plan 1552 in 1896 and advertised as the “Parkerville Estate”. This comprised 38 lots with frontages along the eastern side of Townshend Road (between Barker and Bagot Roads), part of the southern side of Barker Road, part of Salisbury Avenue (renamed as part of Park Street in 1901) and part of the northern side of Bagot Road.
The Subiaco Rate Books recorded Michael Simmonds (tailor) as the owner of Lot 17 in 1905 (without a house) and he was living at #100 by the time of his death in December of that year. After that time the house continued to be occupied by his wife, Sarah (c.1847-1915) and son, Simeon (also a tailor). Other occupants included Simeon’s de-facto wife, Catherine (‘Katey’) Moorara Findlay, and their growing family. During this period Simeon maintained business premises at 82 Rokeby Road (c.1906-1917).
In letters to the children’s pages in 1908 Pauline Simmonds referred to the house as “Gera”.
The house was offered for sale in 1909:
DOUBLE-FRONTED BRICK VILLA- No. 100 PARK-ST., SUBIACO (Close to Hay- st. Tram) …
Lot 17, of Perth Sub-lot 220, having a frontage of 33ft. to Park-at. By a depth of 120ft. to a right-of-way, on which is erected a neat double fronted Brick Villa, containing 4 rooms, vestibule, maid's room, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, wash-house, copper and troughs, electric lights throughout. This property is very conveniently situated within two minutes' walk of Hay-street tram.
However, the Simmonds family continued to own the house and live here until c.1912. 100 Park Street was occupied by a new owner/occupier, Phillip Mills (signalman) in c.1912-1915, but there was a regular turn-over of occupants until c.1930 (with most staying for around 1-3 years).
The house was then owned and occupied by May Chinnery (nee Allen), who married George Chinnery in Bayswater in 1912, but had separated from him by the late 1920s. May remained here until the early 1950s, when she moved to Kershaw Street, Subiaco. May shared 100 Park Street for part of this time with at least three of her children: Ray (born c.1912, died on active service in WWII), Olivia (c.1915) and Kenneth (c.1924).
An analysis of a historical Metropolitan Sewerage Plan (dated 1927, updated 1955) and historical aerial photographs shows that major second storey and rear additions were constructed in c.2003, but that the original footprint of the front portion of the house remains clearly recognisable.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium to Low: The authenticity of the house within its streetscape setting has been reduced by the painting of the brickwork and the reconstruction of the roof to a different form.
The form of the place has been altered by the construction of a visually prominent second story addition, but the original form and scale can still be readily understood.

Condition

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

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.