Two Houses

Statement of Significance

The modest pair of houses, at 1 & 3 Bouverie Place are fine neighbouring examples of the Federation Georgian style, having the same form and the same detailing, design and fabric of Federation bungalow dwellings. Their modesty demonstrates the role and status of early development in this area.

Physical Description

Both places are of the same design and detail. They are single storey residences with a full width bullnose front verandah, hipped gambrel roof, symmetrical frontage with central front door (with sidelights and fanlights) flanked by a double hung window each side. The windows also feature sidelights. The verandahs are supported by turned timber posts and have a vertical timber detailed valance and decorative fretwork brackets (No 3). The painted chimneys are corbelled. Both places have low brick (painted) walls and pickets. The gardens are mature and mostly obscure views of the places. Painting the face brick walls and reroofing.

History

Bouverie Place was created as part of the Leeder Estate subdivisions, which began in 1891 with the sale of 19 blocks of land. This area was part of a further subdivision of lots (between Anzac Road and Bourke Street) into garden lots ranging from two to ten acres. It is possible that Bouverie Street was named after Edward Bouverie Pusey (his father took on the name 'Pusey' upon gaining an inheritance. Edward was one of the leaders of the British Oxford Movement. The street is of the short thoroughfares off Oxford Street which initially led into the swampy land on the eastern side of Lake Monger. There were Chinese market gardens at the end of Bouverie Place up to the 1920s. Chinese market gardeners, Chong You and Sue Wing were listed there in 1910. These men generally worked in partnerships or as group and many were relatives. They worked the soil by hand, using makeshift tools and tradtional Chinese methods. The watering was done in the traditional way by walking up and down between the rows of vegetables with a pole across their shoulders and a bucket of water on each end. The house at No. 5 appears on the 1900 PWD sewerage plans. Numbers 1 and 3 are listed in the 1915 Post Office Directory but not in 1910. There were a number of long-term residents in Bouverie Place. The Horsley's are listed at No. 7 from at least 1915 to 1949 (by then Mrs Bridget Horsley) and the Guelfi family at No. 6 was in residence from 1925 to at least 1949 (by then Mrs Susannah Guelfi). In 1949 Robert Stace was in residence at No. 1 and Ernest Marsh at No.3.

Integrity/Authenticity

High degree

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