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.

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

Physical Description

• Architectural style
The original style of 148 Barker Road has been obscured by later alterations. Based on the size and form of the earlier floor plan (as shown Metropolitan Sewerage Plan, Part Sheet 171, revised 1954), the house was originally a very simple symmetrical cottage of two brick rooms with timber framed rear additions. It appears to have been of 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
• Symmetrical facade. This features a central entrance door, flanked by windows to each of the front rooms.
Roof form and materials
• Hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting.
The main roof extends in a continuous alignment to form a raked roof over the verandah. In the 1990s two small gables were added over the line of the front windows.
• Plain painted brick chimney (consistent an original design of the place as a very simple brick cottage).
• Exposed rafters (consistent with alterations to the roofline in the 1940s).
Wall materials and finishes to the main facade
• Tuck pointed brick walls.
• Vermiculated rendered quoins to the outer corners (authenticity not determined, possibly dating from the 1940s).
Other detailing to main facade
• Verandah extending across the full width of the main façade.
• Centrally located entrance with no sidelights (consistent an original design of the place as a very simple brick cottage).
• Entrance door featuring geometric styled glazed panels in textured glass (consistent with the inter-war era).
• Windows to the front rooms designed with casements flanking a wider central panel. These feature geometric styled glazed panels in textured glass and simple flat sills (consistent with the inter-war era).
• Large masonry verandah piers (consistent with the with the inter-war era).
• Gabled timber arbour linking the verandah to the front gate (constructed in the late 1990s).
Streetscape setting
• House set back approximately 3.5m from the Barker Road frontage.
• Lot width approximately 14.2m.
• Side setbacks of about 900mm.
• Front yard enclosed by a face-brick plinth and piers, framing flat-topped picket panels. The height of this fence limits views to the main façade from the street.

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 209 was subdivided as Deposited Plan 419 in the early 1890s. This comprised 26 lots including 3 along the northern side of Barker Road (immediately west of Olive Street). The corner site, Lot 14, was developed as 148 Barker Road. Information from the Post Office Directories and local newspaper reports indicate that a house had been built here by 1902. The first known occupants were Frederick Charles Chandler (plasterer) and his wife Emily Jane (nee Stow), who were married in Subiaco in 1901 and lived here until c.1905 (with F Chandler being identified as the owner/occupier in the 1903 Rate Book).
In 1906 there were three plasterers with the surname Chandler living in Subiaco. An analysis of online family trees and birth/death records suggests that these were brothers, James Thomas Chandler (born c.1862-1938); Frederick Charles Chandler (c.1866-1910) and Ernest Albert Chandler (c.1868-1951). In the Subiaco Rate Books of 1906, James Chandler was identified as a builder and it is possible that the family were involved in the construction of their own houses at 148 Barker Road; 90 Olive Street (constructed c.1905 and occupied by Ernest); and 140 Barker Road (occupied by James until he moved to a newly built house at 72 Heytesbury Road in c.1906).
148 Barker Road had at least 5 different owner/occupiers from the time it was built until c.1924. A review of the Post Office Directories (together with reference to contemporary Electoral Rolls and available Rate Books) indicates that, in addition to Frederick Chandler, these included:
 1905: Mary Jackson
The 1905 Rate Book identified Mary as the owner/occupier, but she appears to have lived here for a relatively short time.
 c.1908-1911: Arthur Williamson Ridoutt (accountant)
 c.1912-1924: Miss Annie Greenall (midwife) & Elizabeth Bullen (widow)
Entries in the Electoral Rolls suggest that Annie Greenall and Elizabeth Bullen lived together at 247 Hay Street (c.1910-1911) and 148 Barker Road (c.1912 until at least 1921). In the Rate Books Annie was identified as the owner of 148 Barker Road in 1912-1913 through to 1916-1917. After that H Bullen (farmer) was identified as the owner. Miss Annie Greenall was identified as the primary occupant in the Post Office Directories in 1912-1918, changing to Mrs E Bullen in 1919-1924.
The first long-term owner/occupiers were the Grose family. In c.1924, Albert Grose (engine driver) (c.1880-1954) moved into the house with his wife Jessie Adelaide Louise Grose, nee Cormack (c.1888-1959) and their two children. Members of this family remained here until the late 1950s.
The City of Subiaco holds plans for alterations and additions submitted by “Mrs Grose” in 1941. These works included a brick extension at the rear of the original two-room brick cottage, providing a new kitchen, dining room, internal bathroom and bedroom, plus a lightweight sleep-out and back verandah. The extent of the “existing rooms” was limited to the two front rooms and entry hall and, based on the detailing of the place, it appears that the front verandah and roof were both re-designed at this time. Aerial photographs of the place indicate that the roof been clad with terracotta tiles by the mid twentieth century.
In the late 1990s another large addition (including a two storey portion) was constructed at the rear. These works changed the roof cladding to Zincalume and added two gablets above the front façade and a gabled arbour between the front verandah and gate.
148 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 - Low: The original detailing of the main façade has been heavily modified over time, including alterations to the windows (1940s), the construction of masonry verandah piers (1940s), the introduction of two gables to the roof (1990s) and the construction of a gabled arbour linking the verandah to the front gate (1990s).

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.