HOUSE, 49A JOHN STREET

Parent Place or Precinct

22385 North Fremantle Precinct

Statement of Significance

House, 49a John Street, is a single storey timber and zincalume house dating from the c1930s. The place has aesthetic value for its contribution to the streetscape and the surrounding area. It is representative of the typical building stock located within the residential areas of Fremantle. It is historically significant as a representation of typical workers' houses in the Fremantle area. The place is an example of the Federation Bungalow style of architecture.

Physical Description

House, 49a John Street, is a single storey timber and corrugated iron house. The roof is hipped with a gable over a projecting front room. The gable has simple vertical timber battens as a decorative feature. The roof extends at a reduced pitch to cover the verandah, which has been extended to form a carport at the side of the house. Walls are painted lapped weatherboard to sill height and painted fibrous cement above. The projecting room has timber framed six pane casement windows with a canvas window awning over. Timber fretwork verandah brackets have been added to the verandah posts, and there is a timber balustrade with cross brackets. A timber picket fence with brick pillars forms the boundary fence.

History

John Street was the main road surveyed through the parcel of land granted to Lt. Con. John Bruce in 1857. The land remained undivided and undeveloped until after John Bruce’s death, when his widow arranged for it to be auctioned as residential lots. A land sale was held in October 1890 to dispose of the estate of John Bruce. A large attendance resulted in all 88 lots being sold, for sums ranging from £21 to £102, at an average price of £33/16/0, well above the anticipated price. Towards the end of 1891, the new owners approached the Fremantle Council requesting that scrub be cleared so that they could access their blocks, and it is likely that this is when John Street, which had been marked on survey diagrams from at least 1833, was actually created. The area at this time was known as ‘Brucetown’. Pensioner Road, which ran from Stirling Highway (then Bruce Street) to the ocean and beach along the route of current Tydeman Road between Stirling Highway and the railway, and continuing beyond this point at the same angle, was renamed John Street in the late 1890s, being the continuation of the current John Street. This name remained until towards the end of the twentieth century, when roads were realigned to accommodate the expansion of Fremantle Port, and the current alignment of Tydeman Road was constructed.

The present John Street, from Stirling Highway to the Swan River, developed as a predominantly residential area, with the exception of the Gresham Hotel (to 1934) and the North Fremantle Oval (later Gilbert Fraser Reserve). At the western end of the street a number of prominent homes were built, while the eastern end was characterised by workers cottages. Long residential blocks on the south side of the street, east of the oval, had a number of cottages built along their rear boundary, facing the water. These were reported to have flooded frequently. The street overall fell into disrepair in the decades following World War Two, with many of the larger residences used as boarding houses and the cottages rented out. Many German and Polish migrants took up residence in this period. From the 1980s, gentrification of the area began, with older places either being restored or demolished to construct higher density housing. In the 1990s, most of the older houses at the eastern end of the street were demolished to allow for new waterside developments, most notably Pier 21.

A 1947 aerial photograph shows a roughly square building on the site, which appears to match later pictures of the place. A 1982 photograph shows the place as a weatherboard and fibrous cement cottage with simple timber gabling and a front verandah to the left half of the front façade, under the main roof. A 1994 photograph shows the house with additional skillion verandah to the front, supported on brick pillars. The construction date at the time was estimated as between 1919 and 1939. In 1996 the place was sold and photographs show the front additions in the 1994 picture have been removed. A carport has been added to the left of the residence and the grounds extensively landscaped.

Integrity/Authenticity

Altered sympathetically, reversible.

Condition

Good (This material was compiled by historians under contract to the City Of Fremantle in 1996 and has not been adopted by Council)

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

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