House

Parent Place or Precinct

25394 Union and Redfern Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

The Union and Redfern Street Heritage Area is significant for:
Aesthetic Value:
The area contains aesthetically pleasing streetscapes with a strong heritage character. In particular, cohesive streetscapes have been created by a limited palette of materials and styles.
The area contains many good, representative, suburban examples of Federation Queen Anne houses and Federation Bungalows. These include both gentlemen’s villas and modest suburban houses, and collectively illustrate a gradual evolution in architectural detailing of these places between 1899 and the early Inter-war years.
Historic Value:
The residential subdivision of this area represents the early development activities of Sydney and Melbourne based real estate agents and property developers. In this context it helps to illustrate the status of Western Australia as a place of opportunity during the gold rush era of the late nineteenth century – attracting significant interest and investment from the eastern states.
The collection of houses in the heritage area helps to demonstrate the manner in which the family residences of professional men and business owners (such as senior civil servants and merchants) existed side by side with the smaller houses of semi-professional and tradespeople.
The collection of houses in the heritage area helps to illustrate the scale and standard of housing considered appropriate for these families in the early twentieth century.
The area was a place of residence for a number of people who were prominent in the local business community or were otherwise public identities of the early to mid-twentieth century.

Physical Description

The detailing of the original house has been partly obscured by major additions in a matching style, undertaken in the late twentieth century.
It appears to have originally been a double fronted house with a gabled-hipped roof and a projecting wing at the northern end of the main facade. This wing retains a rectangular bay with a pair of casement windows with stained glass highlights, set over a projecting moulded sill. A matching rectangular bay and window is located on the recessed northern section of the original façade. Both of these bays are capped by gable roofs with what appear to be pressed metal panels behind a square pattern of timber battens. Immediately south of the projecting wing there is a recessed entry under a semi-circular arch. This entrance features a three-panelled door with a highlights and a single sidelight – all with stained glass panels.
The above is consistent with many other relatively modest, double-fronted, twin-gabled villas of the era. However, in the late twentieth century the scale of the place was altered with a major addition along the southern side. This included a second projecting bay, which is set forward of the original house and linked to that by a small recessed area. What may have originally been a simple verandah across the northern part of the façade only, has been extended as a ‘wrap-around’ verandah across the whole frontage. Together with the matching detailing (including the gable ends, black tuck-pointing and matching joinery and sills), this unifies the original house and the major additions as a “seamless” façade.
The modern wing is set back approximately 4.5m from the boundary, which is defined by a low limestone wall with matching piers and infill panels of sear pointed metal bars. The garden features a mature tree near the northern end and is otherwise laid out with lawn and garden beds.
Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in very good condition.

History

Perth Suburban Lot 253 was purchased by John Brandon, John Thomas Lawler and Thomas Tate of Sydney in October 1889 and, about six months later, it was transferred to Thomas Read of Sydney, solicitor. Read did not develop the 5 acre site and it was on-sold to the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company of Sydney in October 1897. Building lots in Deposited Plan 1933 began to be sold along the Rokeby Road frontage of PSL 253 from May 1898 and the first sites to be sold along Campbell Street (Lots 31 and 32) were transferred to a new owner in June 1899. However, development was slow and the first houses were not built until 1903/04.
Lots 29 and 30 were sold to Arthur Rishworth Wieland in May 1904 and the Subiaco Rates Books indicate that 14 Campbell Street was built for the Weiland family in that year. Arthur settled here with his wife Margaret (who he had married in 1899) and their growing family - with at least two children being born during their time in the house that they had named “Rishworth” (honouring his mother, whose maiden name was Clara Emma Rishworth). In 1904 Arthur described himself as a clerk, and by 1910 he was working as a stores accountant and officer in charge of stores for the Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Department. The Wieland family remained here until the early 1920s, after which they moved to Swanbourne.
The next owner was Charles Hoare, who lived here with his wife, Annie. By 1931 Charles was serving as an Inspector for the Western Australian Government Railways in Narrogin, and for at least part of this time the house was let out. In 1934 the Hoare family returned at least briefly to 14 Campbell Street, and in February of that year offered it for sale, together with another house at 10 Hamersley Road. The household furniture at 14 Campbell Street was offered for sale in February 1935 in anticipation of the Hoare’s departure from “the State for an extended holiday”.
The next long-term resident was Samuel Rosenthal, who lived here with his wife, Minna. Samuel was a prominent architect of the inter-war era and was known as a cinema specialist. He first came to Perth in 1914, at the invitation of Harold Boas, but left for military service shortly afterwards. He returned to Perth in 1923 to work with Harold Boas again, and then established his own practice, which he continued until 1941. After World War Two he joined the Commonwealth Department of Works, where he remained until his retirement in 1965. After he left 14 Campbell Street, Samuel rented 139 Coghlan Road, Subiaco, from 1947-1953.
14 Campbell Street was originally a much smaller house set in spacious grounds. Historic aerial photographs confirm that the projecting bay at the southern end of the main façade was added in the period 1981 Occupants of the property from its time of construction until c.1949 included:
1904-1921 Arthur Rishworth Wieland, civil servant
1922-1930 Charles Edwin Hoare, foreman, WAGR
1931-1932 Vacant
1933 George William Wilson, civil servant (formerly of 4 Campbell St)
1934 Charles Edwin Hoare, WAGR
1935-1946 Samuel Rosenthal, architect
1947-c.1949 Mrs Maud Vickers, widow, her daughter, Joyce Muriel Douglas and son-in-law, Kenneth Lindsay Douglas
to 1995.

Integrity/Authenticity

Note: The large southern addition and other alterations dating from the late twentieth century have altered the scale and style of the place and diminished its authenticity as one of the original houses in Campbell Street (presenting it as a large and important villa rather than what was originally a more modest suburban villa set on a spacious double block).

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

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.