House

Parent Place or Precinct

27310 Park Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

The place has cultural heritage significance:
• As a good representative example of the many 4-5 room brick homes which were built in Subiaco during the early twentieth century to meet the needs and aspirations of middle-class residents such as public servants, senior office workers, small business owners, skilled tradesmen and single/widowed women of private means.
• As a good representative example of the application of materials and detailing which were derived from the Federation Queen Anne style, but which were applied in a more restrained manner that suited the budgets and expectations of the middle classes in Subiaco during the early twentieth century.
• For its aesthetic contribution to a largely intact group of early twentieth century houses, particularly the adjacent similar property at 173 Barker Road.
• For its association with the rapid development of Subiaco in the early 20th century and the small scale development by local builders of many residential properties.

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

Physical Description

173 and 175 Barker Road were designed as a very similar pair and between them they provide considerable evidence regarding original detailing.
Architectural style
Typical of many modest but well built 2-3 bedroom suburban houses of the early twentieth century, 173 Barker Road incorporated some elements of the Federation Queen Anne style. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as office workers, retail employees and both skilled and unskilled tradesmen.
Plan form at the street frontage
• Asymmetrical facade. This features a shallow rectangular window bay to the front wall and a short set back to the entry area on the western side of the main façade.
Roof form and materials
• Hipped-gabled roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting.
• Verge gable over the front window bay, finished with roughcast render, 2 vertical timber battens and a timber finial.
• Battened eaves and decorative eaves brackets, set over a slightly projecting flat cornice.
• Rendered chimneys with slender chimney pots. Possibly originally featuring a pattern of recessed panels to the caps (as seen at 173 Barker Road).
• Hipped, bull-nosed verandah roof.
Wall materials and finishes to the main facade
• Tuck-pointed brick walls laid in Flemish bond.
• Rendered stringcourse at mid wall height.
Other detailing to main facade
• Recessed ‘porch’ to main entry, with a 4-panel door, traditional moulded architraves, sidelight, highlight and stained glass with a leaf motif.
• Two full-height double-hung windows with timber kickplates to the window bay.
• Verandah featuring turned timber posts, a simple frieze of turned timber balustrettes, modern tiled finish to floor and stone steps.
Streetscape setting
• House set back approximately 2.7m from the Barker Road frontage.
• Lot width approximately 7.5m.
• Minimal setback on western side. Setback of about 900mm on eastern side.
• Front yard enclosed by a palisade fence, partly overgrown by garden plantings.

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. Part Lot 5 and Lot 6 were later developed with two very similar houses, 173 and 175 Barker Road.
Entries in the 1903 Subiaco Rate Books recorded ‘E Basan’ as the owner of Lots 1 to 6, DP 1552. This was Ernest Thomas Anderson Basan (financier/money lender), who built his own home on Lots 1 & 2 (159 Barker Road) in c.1902. Lots 5 & 6 were listed as vacant in 1903, but by 1905 part Lot 5 and Lot 6 had been developed with 2 houses. 175 Barker Road was used as a rental property until c.1916. A review of the Post Office Directories at around 5-yearly intervals (together with reference to the available Rate Books and contemporary Electoral Rolls) indicates that some of the primary residents during this period included:
 1905: Mrs Catherine Howard (widow)
 1910: H F Mueller
The Rate Books listed Basan as the owner of 173 & 175 Barker Road in 1910-1911, changing to ‘Dynan’ (or similar) by 1912-1913.
 1915: Samuel Robert Till (labourer)
The name of the owner changed to ‘E Williams’ in the 1915-1916 Rate Book and this marked the beginning of a long association with the extended Williams/ Silvester family. Edwin Joyce (‘Ted’) Williams (of the Telephone Mechanical Department) (c.1885-1919) and Vera Waley Silvester (c.1892-1970) were married in 1916 and had at least two children in c.1916-1918 – both of whom were born at 175 Barker Road. Following Edwin’s death, aged only 33 years, ‘Mrs E J Williams’ continued to be identified as the primary occupant until 1922, after which the house appears to have been rented out for a few years.
Online family trees state that Vera married her cousin, Alfred William Silvester (c.1870-1956) (theatrical artist*) in Queensland in 1929 and they had a son in 1930. By the late 1930s this family was living at 175 Barker Road, including Vera’s older children who had taken their step-father’s surname. Vera was still listed at this address in the Electoral Rolls of 1968.
*At least three generations of the Silvester family worked as magicians and entertainers in Australia from the 1870s until at least the 1940s.
A plan of the site prepared in the 1927 and reviewed in 1955 for the purpose of planning sewerage and water supply services shows that the original footprint of the residence has not changed significantly apart from an addition at the rear, which has replaced an original verandah. Aerial photographs of the place since the mid 20th century indicate that this addition took place c1980. The extent and form of the original residence are still clearly evident.
173 Barker Road was adopted on the City of Subiaco Local Heritage Survey in 2003. It has been assessed as level 3 (contributes to the heritage of the City of Subiaco).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - High: the place remains in its original function as a residential dwelling.
Authenticity - High: original external detailing and form of the building (as viewed from the street) appears to be largely intact and/or sympathetically restored/renovated (noting that the brickwork to the side elevations has been painted).

Condition

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

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.