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 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. 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 modest but well built 2-3 bedroom suburban houses of the early twentieth century, 150 Barker Road incorporated some elements of the Federation Queen Anne style. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as professional men, office workers, retail employees and skilled tradesmen. Plan form at the street frontage • Asymmetrical façade, featuring a projecting off-centred wing, flanked by two small verandahs. Roof form and materials • Hipped- gabled roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • Prominent verge gable with a roughcast rendered face, decorated with a mixture of vertical and curved battens, together with a row of small arched panels. • Small louvered gablets at either end of the short, east-west ridgeline. • Narrow battened eaves. • Painted chimney with rendered detailing and cap. • Separate hipped verandah roofs. Wall materials and finishes to the main facade • Painted brickwork (original tuck-pointed face-brick) • Two rendered stringcourses, one at window sill height and the other at door head height. Other detailing to main facade • Entrance door located at the end of the western verandah. • 5-panel door with stained glass panels, traditional moulded architraves, and highlight & sidelights with textured glass panels. • Single double hung window to the front wall, set over a projecting moulded sill with a decorative under-sill panel. • Similar window under the east verandah. • Raked window hood with decorative carved brackets and square battens to the sides. • Turned timber verandah posts (with the original detailing shown on the post attached to the wall at the front of the west verandah). • Tessellated tiled floor to the west verandah. Streetscape setting • House set back approximately 5m from the Barker Road frontage. • Lot width approximately 14.2m. • House set back approximately 3m from the west boundary, and approximately 900mm off the east boundary. • Modern, gabled roof carport located near the front of the block on the western side. Designed to compliment the detailing to the main gable. • Front yard enclosed by a face-brick plinth and piers, framing a palisade fence. Palisade gates.

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). Lot 15 was subsequently developed as 150 Barker Road. The first known occupants were a clerk, John Charles Hogan (c.1880-1950) and his wife, Alice Knyfton Hogan (nee Spencer) (c.1871-1950), who had married in Perth in c.1903. John Hogan purchased Lot 15 as a vacant site in c.1913-1914 (which was around the time he was transferred from the Kalgoorlie Post Office to the head office in Perth); had built a house here by c.1915; and lived here for much of the time until 1929 (when a newspaper notice stated that he had been transferred to Adelaide). At the time of his retirement in 1936 it was reported that Hogan had been employed in the public service for 42 years, and worked for both State and Commonwealth departments in various states, as well as in New Guinea. In c.1929 the property was purchased by another clerk, Walter Young. Walter Young (c.1902-1993) had married Eva Mary Abbott (c.1904-2001) in Perth in c.1926 and they lived here until around the early 1990s. A plan of the site prepared in 1954 for the purpose of planning sewerage and water supply services shows that the original footprint of the residence is approximately half the size of the current building. It featured a verandah across half of the rear elevation with steps accessing the back yard where the wash house and brick water closet were located. A galvanised iron garage was located in the rear of the lot. By the 1990s, the main part of the house was clad with ‘Alu Tiles’ (laid over the original corrugated iron). In 2000, a large addition was constructed adjoining the rear, which retained the original structure and roof form (with the latter re-clad with corrugated sheeting). A new carport was also constructed alongside the main elevation. These later works have not obscured the extent and form of the original residence. 150 Barker Road was adopted on the City of Subiaco Local Heritage Survey in 2021. 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 - Medium: The authenticity of the house within its streetscape setting has been reduced by the painting of the original tuck-pointed face brickwork. Other than this, the external detailing appears to be largely intact and/or sympathetically restored/renovated.

Condition

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

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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