Inter-war Bungalow

Statement of Significance

The place is considered to have some aesthetic value as an exemplar of the Inter-war Queen Anne bungalow style. The place is considered to have some aesthetic value through contributing to the quality of its setting on its corner location addressing both Raglan Road and the parkland abutting Leake Street. The place is considered to have some rarity value within the Town of Vincent as an exemplar of an Inter-war Queen Anne Bungalow with a street and parkland frontage. The place has some representative value as an Inter-war Queen Anne Bungalow sharing the asymmetrical form, detail and bargeboard gables characteristic of the Federation Queen Anne style of architecture with the less pretentious Inter-war elements such as the rendered wall surfaces, dominant gables within the roof form, verandahs supported by dominant piers and rendered chimneys.

Physical Description

The single storey brick and iron dwelling was constructed in 1929 in the Inter-war Queen Anne Bungalow style of architecture. The dwelling embellishes characteristics of a Federation Queen Anne Bungalow demonstrated in its asymmetrical form, detail and bargeboard gables, together with the less pretentious Inter-war elements demonstrated within the rendered wall surfaces, dominant gables within the roof form, verandahs supported by dominant piers and rendered chimneys. Sited on a corner lot and designed to address both Raglan Road and parkland along Leake Street, the dwelling makes a strong contribution to the quality of its setting. The dwelling is delineated from Raglan Road and the parkland with a timber post and iron chain link fence entered through a decorative iron gate on the western corner of the fence. The dwelling is set back approximately 10 metres from Raglan Road with the front yard extending along the eastern boundary of the dwelling. A row of agapanthus runs along the eastern fence line and various planting including a Frangipani tree along the fence addressing Raglan Road. The dwelling has a complex roof form that is predominately hipped. Two gables address Raglan Road, the smaller of which forms part of the front protruding room and the larger sits behind forming part of the western elevation of the roof line. The gables echo each other in detail being rough caste with timber battens and decorative terracotta finials. The western, eastern and front portions of the dwelling visible from the street are face brick to head height with render above. All windows along these elevations are shielded by timer and tile projecting awnings. The front protruding roof has a set of three timber framed casement windows with leadlight decorations within a square bay and an awning above. Behind this front protruding room along the eastern end of the front elevation there is a porch area covered by an independent tile roof. This is well concealed from the street by vegetation. Entrance to the dwelling is from the western elevation. This elevation of the dwelling features an entry porch with a skillion verandah which is an extension of the main roof form. The verandah is supported by rendered columns with exposed brick capping which are adorned with a circular, cast cement shafts. The columns are connected by a waist high exposed brick wall with a rendered band along the top. The entry is recessed and located to the northern portion of the porch. A small gable echoing in design to those detailed above projects from the centre of the skillion verandah. A room projects from the western elevation and similar to the room projecting from the south elevation detailed above, a rough caste gable with timber battens and a decorative terracotta finial sits above the room. The protruding room also features the same window configuration with three timber framed casement windows with leadlight decorations within a square bay and an awning above. A further set of casement windows with an awning above are positioned adjacent to the protruding room. The east facing section of the dwelling features similar casement windows with decorative lead lighting and an awning above. A rendered chimney capped with three terracotta pots is positioned to the rear western elevation of the roof line. An internal site inspection was not made possible in the preparation of this heritage assessment. The original plans for the dwelling dated 1929 have been obtained by the Town which provides an indicative floor plan for the dwelling. A copy of the plans can be viewed in Appendix 2 of this report. Further updated detail on the internal design and layout of the dwelling would require an internal site visit. The plans dated 1929 show the main entrance to the dwelling through the eastern elevation. A hallway extends in an east - west direction and then diverts to a north-south direction. The lounge room projects south of the east-west hallway. A bedroom projects north of the north-south hallway and the dining room to the south. The hallway extends into what is referred in the plans as a 'breakfast room'. To the east of the breakfast room is a bedroom. The bathroom can be accessed from this bedroom or from the hallway. The kitchen is located to the west of the breakfast room. The breakfast room leads out onto the verandah. The laundry is located to the west of the verandah. This section of Raglan Road between Fitzgerald Street and Leake Street is characterised by a mix of modest Federation and Interwar Bungalows and cottages together with more recent developments undertaken in the 1990's. A number of the dwellings are mostly intact maintaining their original presentation to the road however some have undergone various alterations and additions to the facades diminishing their authenticity. None apparent

History

North Perth, initially called 'Woodville' and 'Toorak' after the early estates within the area, developed rapidly during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th Centuries. In March 1899, the suburb was declared North Perth Road District and in October 1901 North Perth was gazetted a municipality. North Perth was seen as a good place to live as housing was relatively cheap, and it was within walking distance of the City. During the early years North Perth was on the outskirts of the Perth metropolitan area, with bushland extending from the suburb's limits. By 1903 subdivision had gone on so rapidly that North Perth's street plan extended to the junction of Walcott Street and Wanneroo Road, although many of the roads were to remain bush tracks for years. Much of the housing in North Perth was built between 1895 and 1935. Angove Street was a commercial centre of the suburb and included the Police Station while View Street housed many of the public buildings, such as the Town Halls, Post Office and Fire Station. Trams from the City to North Perth ran along Fitzgerald Street from 1900 to 1953. The lines entered Fitzgerald Street from Bulwer Street with the first route ending at Forrest Street. The Fitzgerald Street line was continued north along Angove Street with the Albert Street terminus opening in 1906. This line was extended to Charles Street in 1927. These extensions led to rapid growth in North Perth throughout the first part of the 20th Century. The development along Raglan Road where the subject dwelling is located reflected the general pattern of development in North Perth outlined above. The Perth Sewerage Plans for 1901 showed one dwelling to be located on the northern side of Raglan Road between Fitzgerald and John (now Leake) streets and four dwellings on the southern side and indicated that the subject dwelling had not being constructed by this time. Wise's Post Office Directories also reflected the development patterns for North Perth outlined above. As indicated by the above-mentioned sewerage plans of 1901, the southern side of Raglan Road between Leake and Fitzgerald streets developed more quickly than the northern side where the subject dwelling is located. The Directories indicated that up until 1912 the only dwelling to be located on the northern side of the street in this section of Raglan Road was the house at No. 140. This dwelling has since been largely altered with the original Federation style façade of the building being removed and replaced with a Mediterranean-influenced façade strongly diminishing the authenticity of the dwelling. Prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the northern side of Raglan Road between Leake (formerly John Street) and Fitzgerald street consisted of five dwellings at Nos 140, 146, 148, 150 and 154. The remaining two dwellings located in this section of Raglan Road were constructed in the Interwar Period with the dwelling at No. 138 constructed circa 1923 and the subject dwelling at No. 156 constructed in 1929. Today there remain the same original seven dwellings in this section of Raglan Road. The first listing of the subject dwelling at No. 156 Raglan Road in the Directories is 1931, with the occupant being James Field. This information correlates with the City of Perth building licence cards in which a Building Licence was issued to James Field for the construction of a dwelling at the subject lot in 1929. A copy of these plans, dated 1929, was obtained by the Town confirming that James Field was the owner of the property. Next door at No. 154 was John P. Woodthorpe, a member of a well-known local family that operated a butcher's shop at No. 2 Angove Street in North Perth. By 1949 Mrs Mary Woodthorpe was the resident of No. 154, suggesting that John may have died in the interim. James Field continued to be listed as the resident of the subject place, No. 156 Raglan Road, until 1947 when Roy Field (perhaps a son of James) was listed at the address. His name appeared until 1949 when the Directories ceased. The information available suggests that the Fields were both owners and occupants of the dwelling since it was first constructed in 1929 until at least 1949.

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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.