Urivoca, Subiaco

Parent Place or Precinct

27310 Park Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

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 105 Bagot Road appears to have been designed in the Federation Bungalow style. It was set on a spacious block and was of a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as small business owners, professional men, skilled tradesmen and women of independent means. Plan form at the street frontage • Asymmetrical facade. • Projecting wing on the western side. • Abutting verandah extending across the remainder of the frontage. • Separate enclosed verandah (in the form of traditional sleep-out) along the eastern side of the house. Roof form and materials • Hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • Main roof extends in a broken-back alignment to form a raked roof over the verandah extending. • Separate, low-pitched hipped roof over the side verandah. • Prominent verge gable on the western side of the main façade, finished with a flush panel and vertical timber battens, and set over a row of curved timber eaves brackets. • Rendered chimney. Wall materials and finishes to the main facade • Main facade fully rendered, concealing any evidence of the original materials and detailing. Other detailing to main facade • Centrally located 5-panel entrance door, abutting the projecting wing. This features a highlight and sidelights (fitted with stained glass). • Two double hung windows to the projecting wing, set over a continuous moulded sill and under a raked window hood with curved brackets. • Two double hung windows under the front verandah, set over a continuous moulded sill. • Masonry verandah balustrade framed by painted brick piers, the latter capped by paired square timber posts. Solid timber valance with a shallow inverted v-shaped form. • Side yard developed with a detached single garage, constructed of brick with a simple gabled roof. Streetscape setting • House set back approximately 4m from the Bagot Road frontage. • Lot width approximately 10.1m. • Set back of around 900mm on the eastern side of the house and of 5.9m from the enclosed verandah on the western side. • Front yard enclosed by low painted-brick wall, capped with wrought iron panels and framed by painted-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 Lots 243 to 246 were subdivided as Deposited Plan 352 in the early 1890s. This comprised 141 lots of which Lots 5 and 6 were developed as 105 Bagot Road. This property was first listed in the Post Office Directories 1906 and was occupied by Ernest Frederick Waterhouse (accountant) in c.1906-1909, after which the family moved to Cottesloe. During this period, newspaper items referred to the house as ‘Urivoca’. In the Subiaco Rate Books of 1907-1908 the owner was identified as ‘Rosenbaum’, changing to ‘McDermott’ in 1912-1913. George McDermott (c.1873-1945) and Mary Cottee (c.1877-1967) were married in New Zealand in c.1897 and had 3 children: George (born c.1899); Mabel (c.1902); and John (‘Jack’) (c.1920). George, snr, was working as shift boss at the Ivanhoe Mine in the Goldfields by 1903 and was the mine’s underground manager in c.1906-1912. By 1915 he was working a mine in the Cue district, and in the mid-1920s was working the Southern Cross district. 105 Bagot Road therefore appears to have been the family’s city residence, where Mary and the children lived more permanently. Mary was still listed at this address in the Electoral Rolls of 1954, but had moved away by 1958. An analysis of a historical Metropolitan Sewerage Plan (revised March 1927) and historical aerial photographs indicates that major additions were constructed at the rear of the house in c.1983-1985, and that most of the roof was reclad at that time. The footprint of the front portion has remained relatively unchanged since the mid-twentieth century. Historical aerial photographs show that a garage had been built beside the house by 1948.

Integrity/Authenticity

The authenticity of the house within its streetscape setting has been reduced by the rendering of the main facade. Other than this, the external detailing appears to be largely intact and/or sympathetically restored/renovated.

Condition

Based on a streetscape inspection the buildings appear to be in a good condition.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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