House, 27 North Road

Statement of Significance

• This place has aesthetic value as a predominantly intact example of the Victorian Georgian style. • The place is a landmark in the streetscape for its continuity in the community since 1888. • The place has historic value for its association with settlement in the late 19th century. • This place has social value as a demonstration of the form and scale of housing for leading members of the community in the late 19th century

Physical Description

A single storey brick and iron house that has been finished with rough cast render. An asymmetric plan form with large faceted corner bay. Timber framed double hung sashes to alternate openings. The front entrance consists of a traditional arrangement of timber panelled and glazed door with side lights to both sides and a 3-sectioned fanlight. A verandah wraps around the front elevation and bay, positioned below the eaves line with a faceted skillion canopy to the bay which continues around the side and front elevations supported on simple timber posts with a timber fascia/frieze extending between each post. The roof is an extensive complex hipped form of corrugated iron with a tall chimney to the side planes of the roof and shallow eaves. The flooring in the original house is made from amabalis fir, a timber similar to douglas fir that was imported to Western Australia to craft ebonised pine furniture. The timber remaining from this project was used to make the floor boards for this residence

History

This portion of Bassendean was one of the first areas to be subdivided as town lots of approximately 2 acres each. The land was subsequently subdivided as smaller residential lots in the early 1900s. North Road was named in honour of Lord North of Guildford, an early Secretary of State for the Colonies. Descendants of Lord North were influential in the government and parliament of Western Australia. The river side of North Road was seen as a most desirable residence for the early settlers in West Guildford, later Bassendean. This residence was constructed c1890 and was known as the ‘Bungalow’. The place is most closely associated with civil servant George Tuthill Wood (c1863-1943) and was one of the first homes built in the new locality of West Guildford. The residence originally had drinking water from the Guildford artesian scheme and the extensive grounds of the property included a croquet ground. George Wood was a senior member of the Crown Law Department and instrumental in the foundation of the West Guildford Road Board. He was the Honorary Secretary from 1901-1905 of the West Guildford Road Board. He served on the West Guildford Road Board from 1901-1907 when he resigned to take up an appointment as the Resident Magistrate in Broome. Born in Suffolk in 1863, Mr Wood first went to New Zealand where he was educated at Christchurch. At aged 23 he was called to the Bar and part of a firm Hamersley and Wood. He then went to Melbourne until 1896 when he moved to Western Australia and settled in West Guildford. Three years later he was called to the WA Bar and promoted to Crown Prosecutor. He continued this office for nine years and resigned to become resident magistrate in Broome in 1908. In 1920 he was transferred to Bunbury and after two years was appointed to Perth. He was the Police Commissioner and appointed to head a government inquiry into events in the Kimberly later known as the Forrest River massacre. Mr Wood retired from half a century of law in 1933 aged 70 years. George married Susannah Miller in 1897 and they had two sons Derisley and Keith. George Wood died in 1943 aged 80 years old. Aerial photographs indicate the house has been extended to the rear in the 1970s and the original red corrugated iron roof was replaced at that time. Since then further additions and alterations have been undertaken to the rear of the property.

Integrity/Authenticity

High High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update