House- 67 FORREST STREET

Statement of Significance

As a typical Edwardian home built of brick with corrugated iron roofing the house at 67 Forrest Street has cultural and heritage significance for the following reasons: .* It represents gracious and comfortable living in the first half of the twentieth century in this seaside suburb; . *it is one of several houses in what the Cottesloe Municipal Inventory refers to as the John Street Heritage area which includes Broome, Forrest, Napier, Barsden Streets and Curtin Avenue. Many of these places are classified by the Trust; . * it is associated with the family of Gustav Mengler a well-known merchant in the eastern goldfields and an agricultural pioneer in the Shire of Cranbrook in the South of Western Australia; . *the house is a good example of Edwardian domestic architecture with tuck-pointed red brick, some stucco quoining and easement windows with some leadlighting

Physical Description

The house at 67 Forrest Street on the comer of Barsden Street was built in 1917. It is of tuck pointed red brick on coursed rubble limestone foundations. The original iron roof has been replaced with zincalume. There is a verandah with turned posts, simple brackets and wooden railing on the eastern and northern sides. The prominent gable to the east has a wooden fmial and decorative timberwork with roughcast render infill. Also on the east is a timber awning over the easement window of the living room and at a lower level there is a new door to the original cellar. The windows and front door have some leadlighting and stained glass. There is stucco quoining and some decorative window sills. The two chimneys are of brick with stucco sections finished with corbels and terracotta chimney pots. In the 1960's a verandah and laundry over a carpark were added but these were demolished in 1996 to make way for the extensions added by the present owners. The latter, which are reached by a short set of steps in the space which was the original dining room, include a third bedroom, new kitchen, family room, sewing room, laundry and outside deck are in sympathy with original structure. There appears to have been a picket fence onto Barsden Street and a gate nearer the corner with Forrest Street. By 1994 this had been replaced by corrugated cement sheeting. The present owners have moved the gate to opposite the entrance steps to the house and built a square arch over it. The fence sheeting to the north of it has been replaced by a low limestone wall. South of the gate the sheeting remains but is hidden behind a hedge. Inside the architraves, picture-railings, leadlighting and stained glass (art nouveau) have been retained and copied in the extensions.

History

Assessment 2003 Construction 1917 Alterations/additions 1996 by Walter Hunter architect/designer The house at 67 Forrest Street was built in 1917 by Gustav Mengler for his mother and two unmarried sisters. Cottesloe being midway between Fremantle and Perth developed quickly as a suburb after the completion in 1881 of the rail link between the city and the port. The road between the two was also improved serving the nearby suburb of Claremont. With the discovery of gold and the subsequent growth of the state many well known families built homes in the area. The Cyclopaedia of Western Australia in 1912 described Cottesloe as having "the advantage of having a river as well as a sea boundary. It is almost purely a residential suburb, many of the wealthiest citizens of the State having handsome homes there. The municipality has during the past year or two been expending its energies in developing attractions for trippers from the city and elsewhere. Refreshment rooms, a skating rink, picture shows and band concerts have been provided while ample provision is made for the pleasure of devotees of surf bathing in the summer time". Gustav Mengler was born in South Australia in 1882. At the age of eighteen he came to Western Australia and joined the staff of Watson's Produce Stores in Fremantle but within a year was transferred to Kalgoorlie to take control of the firm's establishment there with the option of buying it. This he did and became one of the foremost successful merchants in Kalgoorlie becoming a town councillor and a member of the Committee of the Trading Employers' Association of the Eastern Goldfields. In 1908 he was joined by his younger brother, Herman and they took up property at Tenterden in the southwest of the state. From then on he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits at his farm "Lilllydale" concentrating on the breeding of merinos and the production of fine wool.

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