23 Sadlier Street

Parent Place or Precinct

26270 Sadlier and Redfern Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

The Sadlier and Redfern Streets heritage area is of:
Aesthetic Value
• As an aesthetically pleasing streetscape with a strong identifiable character, featuring an avenue of mature street trees, which frame views of the largely Inter War residences.
• For its collection of many good, representative examples of Federation and Inter War cottages and villas which collectively illustrate a range and evolution of detailing between the 1920s and the 1940s.
• For the cohesive streetscape created by a limited palette of materials and styles.
Historic Value
• As a representative collection of houses that illustrate the scale and standard of housing for the homes of unskilled workers to semi-professional and tradespeople, in the early twentieth century.
• For the evidence it provides about the manner in which the residence of semi-professional and tradespeople existed alongside the residences of working people and employees.
• For its association with the subdivision and rapid settlement of the area from the 1920s to the 1930s which demonstrates the rapid change of the district in this period.
Representativeness
• As a good representative collection of early twentieth century housing developed within walking distance of transport and services.
Physical Form in the Public Realm
• The houses, which (with the exception of three modern dwellings) were developed predominantly in the period 1920s to 1940s, have largely retained their original external detailing and form. The defined period and nature of development has resulted in a consistent palette of materials and form, enlivened by diversity of individual details, within a cohesive streetscape.

Physical Description

Single storey rendered brick and terracotta tile house. The house was originally constructed with fairfaced brick and possibly a tuckpoint finish. This has now all been obscured due to the rending of the brickwork around the house.

The roof form to the street frontage remains in its original form with staggered gables to Sadlier Street and a further gable to the side elevation. All gables have fibro panelling and timber battens.

The visible section of elevation contains a three section window with 1950s style top hung awning windows and a fixed central pane. Metal operable awnings protect the windows on the south west elevation.

The entrance is altered with a full height yellow glazed panel alongside the door. The form of door cannot be seen.

A flat roofed verandah extends across the south corner of the house with a concrete block enclosed wall. This is a feature from the 1950s/1960s.

The garden is well planted and also provides hard standing for on-site parking. It is enclosed by shrubs without a formal boundary treatment.

History

This portion of Sadlier Street was subdivided for residential lots in 1893 by owners, the NSW company, Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company. However the lots were not taken up rapidly. In 1896, lots in the Redfern Estate, Subiaco were advertised in the local press as ‘Good Building Lots, near the railway line’. The subdivision was managed by Alfred Axon, the local branch manager for the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company. Axon was also a significant individual investor in Subiaco property.

Lots 75, 76 and 77 were transferred to Charles John Ellis of NSW in 1898 but there is no evidence to indicate that the land was developed by this owner. Analysis of Rate Books and PO Directories indicates that this place was likely constructed c.1925. It is possible that this residence and the two adjacent (HN21, 25) were constructed by the same developer using similar designs and builders.

The Rate Books contain the following listings:
• 1929/30 & 1936/37 Mrs Caroline Place (home duties) – owner/occupier

The PO directories list the following occupants:
• 1926 - Place, Benjamin A
• 1928 – 1946 Place Mrs Caroline
• 1947 – 1949 Humphries, Mrs J

The first occupants and owners, Benjamin Augustus Place (c1863-1926) and Caroline Carter (c1868-1946), were married in 1886 and had lived in Subiaco from the early 1900s. Benjamin Place was an engine driver and following his death in 1926 Caroline lived on in the house until her death in 1946.
Aerial photographs indicate that a skillion roof addition was present at the rear of the residence from the mid-20th century. This addition has been modified and added to since then, with the latest modification in 2016.

Integrity/Authenticity

Altered finishes to the façade and the 1950s style verandah canopy have diminished the authenticity of the place. The original design intent remains visible

Condition

Good

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.