House

Parent Place or Precinct

25912 Kings Road Heritage Area, Subiaco

Statement of Significance

Kings Road is of cultural heritage significance within the City of Subiaco for the following reasons:
• The existing development along Kings Road continues to represent the rapid development of the higher parts of Subiaco (near Kings Park) with good quality Federation Queen Anne houses during the early the twentieth century (with a particular focus on the c.1901-1914 period).
• The defined period and nature of development along Kings Road resulted in a complementary palette of materials and design idioms, enlivened by a diversity of individual details. Unlike many other local streets, the majority of the properties have retained a medium to high level of authenticity. Collectively they provide a good representative collection of middle-class Subiaco houses dating from the early twentieth century (extending from c.1901-1923).
• The character of the Kings Road streetscape epitomizes the general character of what is now known as the City of Subiaco’s Triangle Precinct.
• The history of the houses along Kings Road helps to demonstrate the original settlement of this part of Subiaco as a solid middle class area, in which the family residences of more senior white-collar workers existed side by side with the smaller, but still well-built, houses of more junior white-collar workers, retail employees and tradespeople.
• The history of the subdivision and early sale of residential lots along Kings Road 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.

Physical Description

Architectural style
• Inter-war suburban house
This house does not represent any of the key Architectural styles of the Inter-War era, but displays some influence of the California Bungalow style in the form of the roof gables.
Plan form at the street frontage
• Generally symmetrical plan, offset by the design of the gabled roofline and later alterations/additions.
This features a central projecting wing that was originally flanked by verandahs on either side. The northern verandah has since been enclosed and the southern verandah has been obscured by a carport.
Roof form and materials
• Triple gabled roof, clad with terracotta tiles and finished with rams-horn terracotta finials.
This has a large centrally positioned gable over the wider rear portion of the house, which steps forward with a smaller offset gable over the main entrance area. A third, centrally located gable then extends forward at a lower height to the front of the projecting wing.
The carport has been designed as a fourth, smaller, gable in front of the main entrance to the house.
The original verandah rooflines extended in an unbroken, raked alignment from the adjacent gabled roofs.
• Deeply notched geometric pattern to the projecting ends of the gable rafters.
• Battened eaves.
• Tall rendered chimneys with simple flat caps.
Wall materials and finishes to the main facade
• Roughcast rendered brick walls.
Note: close inspection suggests that the walls were originally face brick below the level of the projecting string course at the base of the front gable (similar to the finish of #24)
Detailing of main façade
• Plain roughcast rendered finish to the gable ends.
Both of the larger gables are set with 3 painted (originally unpainted) terracotta vent bricks.
• Main entrance located at the rear of the southern verandah (facing west).
This has an Inter-War style high-waisted door with a glazed upper panel over three vertically proportioned timber panels. It is flanked by high-waisted sidelights with arched heads and leadlight panels.
• Triple casement windows to the projecting wing.
These have leadlight glazing in a simple rectangular pattern; a projecting plain rendered sill; and a projecting rock-faced stone plinth (now painted). They are shaded by a raked tiled awning, which is set on plain timber brackets and features a deeply notched geometric pattern to the end of the projecting side rafters.
• Robust tapered masonry verandah posts with slab caps, finished with roughcast render.
The verandah along the northern side of the projecting wing retains a roughcast rendered balustrade wall with a painted (originally unpainted) brick cap. It has been enclosed with fibrous sheeting and casement windows above the balustrade.
• Late twentieth century carport extending forwards of the southern verandah.
This has timber posts; small curved brackets; and a battened flush-panel gable ends. The tiled roof and gable boards have been designed to match the original detailing of the house.
Streetscape setting
• Main façade set back approximately 4m from the front boundary.
• Front boundary defined by a high, plain rendered, masonry fence, which partially screens the front of the house from public views.

History

This part of Subiaco had been laid out as a residential subdivision by September 1891, but there was only one resident listed along the street in the Western Australian Post Office Directory of 1901 (referring to Park Street) and 2 in 1905 (referring to King’s Road). This was followed by a rapid period of development and by 1910 there were 14 houses within the Study Area, being 73 Bagot Road (now known as 3 Kings Road), #s 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21 Kings Road, 12 Hamersley Road (now 28 Kings Road) & 14 Hamersley Road (now 25 Kings Road). Steady infill continued after that time and the street was fully developed by the mid 1920s.
An analysis of information in the Rate Books indicates that 22 & 24 Kings Road were still undeveloped in 1918/19, when the owner of Lots 94 and 95 was entered as a Mr Allanson, contractor, of 44 Barker Road, Subiaco. Various newspaper advertisements (dating from the early to mid twentieth century) indicate that Allanson specialised in carpentry, joinery and cabinet making. It has not been determined if he also worked as a house builder.
Robert Grant appears to have subsequently purchased both lots as he was living at #22 by 1924 and placed the following advertisement relating to #24 in January 1923:
I Hereby withdraw the Sale of my Property 24 King's-rd., Subiaco, from all Agents, same having been sold by McNess and Holland, Royal Arcade. Perth. ROBT. H. GRANT.
Robert and his wife, Gertrude, only remained at 22 Kings Road for a couple of years, at which time Robert’s occupation was given as “civil servant”. By the second half of the 1920s this family had moved to North Bencubbin and taken up farming.
The first long-term occupant of 22 Kings Road was Janetta Henderson Connel (nee Veitch)(c.1858-1955), who is believed to have been born in Scotland and migrated to Australia in 1880. Entries in the Post Office Directories indicate that Janetta shared the house at various times with her nephew, George Hardie Veitch (born c.1887) and niece, Margaret Jane Hamilton Veitch (born c.1889). Her brother, Christopher, was also residing here at the time of his death in 1940, aged 84 years (at which time he was described as a widower and the father of 8 children, including George and “Maggie”).
Mrs Connel lived at 22 Kings Road until around the time of her death in 1955, after which Margaret and George Veitch remained here until the early-mid 1960s.
Reference to an inter-war era Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Department plan, plus a review of historical aerial photographs dating from 1964 and 2016, indicates that the building envelope of the front part of the house has remained largely unchanged, with the exception of the enclosure of the verandah along the northern side of the house (date not determined) and the construction of a carport at the front of the block in the period 1985-1995.
An analysis of the readily available information suggests that the primary occupants of the property from its time of construction until c.1963 included:
1924-1925 Robert Herbert Grant, civil servant, and Gertrude May Grant, home duties
1925-1955 Mrs Janetta Henderson Connel, home duties
During this period Mrs Connel shared the house at different times with members of the Veitch family including:
 Miss Margaret Jane Hamilton Veitch (c.1925-1930 & c.1943-1955)
 George Hardie Veitch, grocer (c.1930 & c.1949-1955)
 Christopher Vietch, retired farmer (c.1935-1940)
1955-c.1963 Margaret Jane Hamilton Veitch, home duties (died c.1963) and George Hardie Veitch, retired (died 1968)

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium authenticity
The enclosure of the verandah along the northern side of the house; alterations to the finishes of the walls; the construction of a carport; and the erection of a high masonry fence along the front boundary have impacted on the authenticity of the house and its streetscape setting.

Condition

Good

Uses

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.