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 contribution to a largely intact group of early twentieth century houses in the portion of Park Street from Olive Street to Townshend Road.
For information on the significance of the Park Street Heritage Area refer to the Local Planning Policy for the Heritage Area.

Physical Description

Architectural style
Typical of many well built 2-3 bedroom suburban houses of the early twentieth century, 98 Park Street incorporated elements of the Federation Queen Anne style. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as small business owners, office workers, senior retail employees and skilled tradesmen.
Plan form at the street frontage
• Asymmetrical facade. This features a uneven stepped façade, with a projecting central wing and a wrap-around verandah.
Roof form and materials
• Hipped-gabled roof clad with red corrugated metal sheeting. The form of the original roof has been modified by prominent second storey additions.
• Original gable over the projecting wing, with a roughcast rendered face set with vertical timber battens.
• Raked verandah roof formed as an extension of the main roofline.
• No extant chimneys.
Wall materials and finishes to the main facade
• Tuck-pointed brick walls. Painted to a small section on the eastern side of the main façade.
• Two rendered string-courses, one at door head height and the other at window sill height.
Other detailing to main facade
• Entrance door located at the rear of the western verandah. This features traditional moulded architraves, sidelights, highlight and stained glass panels.
• Two double-hung windows to the front of the projecting wing.
• Single double-hung window to the rear of the east verandah.
• Plain rectangular, rendered window sills.
• Reconstructed verandah with turned timber verandah posts and a frieze with turned timber balustrettes.
Streetscape setting
• House set back approximately 2.3m from the Park Street frontage.
• Lot width approximately 10.1m.
• Side setback of approximately 1.6m on the western side. Zero setback on eastern side.
• Palisade fence, framed by tall face-brick piers.

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.
Entries in the Rate Books suggest William Holladay Richards (carpenter) developed a house on this site in c.1904 and was using it as a rental property in 1905 - when Sydney Rees was identified as the occupant. The Richards family left the city to take up farming at around that time and the Rate Books identified Walter Green as the owner/occupier in 1908-1909. Walter James Green (motor mechanic/agent) and his wife, Elizabeth Agnes Green, remained here until c.1913, after which the property was again rented out. It had a high turn-over of occupants until the early 1930s, with most occupants only remaining here for around 1-4 years. A review of the Post Office Directories at 5-yearly intervals (together with reference to contemporary Electoral Rolls) indicates that some of the primary residents during this period included:
 1915: Roy L Duffield
 1920: L Thompson
 1925: Frederick Howard Vernon Nowland (chairmaker)
 1930: Albert Edward Hawtin (civil servant)
In the Rate Book of 1929-1930 ‘E Martin’ was identified as the owner.
The first long-term occupants were John Robert O’Sullivan (c.1891-1981) (hairdresser) and Jessie Stella O’Sullivan (nee Axell) (c.1898-1994), who were married in Boulder in c.1920 and had at least two children: Robert (‘Bob’) (born 1920, died while serving as a RAAF pilot in 1944) and Laurence (‘Laurie’)(born c.1922). This family had settled at 98 Park Street by 1933 and John and Stella were still listed at this address in the Electoral Rolls of 1980.
A plan of the lot prepared in 1927 and reviewed in 1955 for the purpose of planning sewerage and water supply services shows that the original footprint of this house is approximately half the current building. Aerial photographs from the mid 20th century demonstrate that the place undergone a number of programs of work since 1964. The most significant of these in 2002, and c.2007 when the second storey was added.
98 Park Street 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 continues to be used as a private residence.
Authenticity - Moderate - High: The original external detailing of the building is largely intact and sympathetically restored however the second storey has altered the scale of the
building.

Condition

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