Terrace Houses, 225-227 Beaufort Street

Statement of Significance

Terrace houses, 225-227 Beaufort St are a rare and intact examplar of the Federation Filigree style. The group is located in Beaufort Street, opposite the landmark group at 235-241 Beaufort Street and Joseph Chester’s Cottage, forming a prominent cultural grouping. Constructed as middle class housing its changing fortunes reflect those of the area over the past century.

Physical Description

An attached pair of two storey terrace dwellings which share a party wall, expressed for the full height of the building. Each has matching two storey verandahs with symmetrical arrangement of bays separated by paired turned timber posts. On the ground floor the verandah bressemer is constructed with plain spindles, whilst on the upper floor the verandah balustrade is constructed with plain timber balusters, the side bays are topped with open arches below bressemers and the central bay with an open arch, without bressemer, rising to the underside of the beam. The gabled pediments have horizontal string courses counter to the vertical emphasis of the verandahs. The face brickwork has been painted. The building is set back from the Beaufort Street frontage where there is a low rendered fence. The building does not address Monger Street. None apparent

History

Lake Thompson, situated immediately west of Beaufort Street and north of Newcastle Street, was used for farming and market gardening into the 1880s. In 1892, Harry Anstey subdivided part of the reclaimed lake area, creating Money, Lindsay, and Monger Streets and Robinson Avenue. While workers housing was generally constructed in the inner streets of the subdivision, housing for the middle classes was built on the major thoroughfares of Beaufort and Newcastle streets. The area's appeal would have been further enhanced by the construction of the Barrack Street Bridge over the railway line and its opening to traffic circa 1894. The pair of two-terraces formed part of a large grant made in 1873 to James Cowle, Surveyor. The land was purchased in 1891 by the Perpetual Trustees Executors and Agency Company of Tasmania Ltd and subsequently subdivided. The pair of terraces appear on the 1897 PWD sewerage plans. The building has the same verandah railing as displayed in the larger three-storey terraces on the northwest corner (235-241 Beaufort Street) which, together with other broad design elements, suggests that the same architect may have been responsible for both buildings. The bold design of these two terrace developments has resulted in their being described as unique in Australia. This national acclaim was recognised in the 1989 'Towards Dawn: Federation Architecture in Australia 1890-1915.' It was noted that the terraces featured elements that were not only rare but possibly unique in Australia. In particular this included the prominent Monger Street side-entrance to Nos. 225 - 227 Beaufort Street, described as creating a Shavian effect, which refers to the architecture of style of Sir Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912), a prominent Victorian period architect. James Orchard Oxley of Narrogin, Surveyor purchased Lots 134 and Lot 30 in 1893 and in 1897 both were transferred by endorsement to his wife Ethel Oxley. The houses were then numbered 229 to 239. A building permit was issued in November 1896 for the construction of the terraces, with the builder to be William McDiarmid. The rapidly expanding population following the Gold Boom of the 1890s created a high demand for temporary housing, especially rental accommodation close to the city. By the late 1890s, the City of Perth was issuing up to 150 lodging house licences each year. By 1898 the terraces were listed as boarding houses with No. 231 being listed as 'Forest Lodge', a name that does not appear again in the records. By 1915 Ethel Oxley is listed as owning the numbers 225 - 241. Throughout Oxley's ownership the terraces were rented out to tenants. A high proportion of the occupants listed in Rates Books are women and there appears to have been a rapid turn-over of tenancies. While the place is not listed specifically as a boarding house after the first few years, this high turn over suggest that the properties were likely to have been used for this purpose. Following Ethel Oxley's death in 1922, the titles returned to her husband, James, then recorded as a resident of Darlington. James Oxley died in 1925, and the titles were transferred to Elsie May Oxley, widow of Darlington. Elise May Oxley retained ownership of Nos. 225 - 227 Beaufort Street for over forty years, but was never resident there. From the 1930s, Nos. 225-227 Beaufort Street is listed with only one tenant, Mrs Olive Solomon. Mrs Solomon operated the place as apartments until the early 1940s. By 1946, the tenant is listed as Olive Oakley. It has not been established whether this was the same women with a different married name. In 1966, ownership of the property was transferred to Frances Thomas, single woman of Rockingham. In 1973, Michelle Hopkins Thomas, minor, born 1960 was included on the title as a tenant in common with Frances. The ownership remains the same in 2008. The terraces were entered on the State Register of Heritage Places in July 2007 on an interim basis, however did not receive permanent status and were subsequently removed from the State Register in August 2008. Currently (2010) there is a Conservation Order placed on the properties.

Integrity/Authenticity

Intact

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Historic Themes

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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.