Wyola, Townshend Rd, 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

Views to the house from the street are partly restricted by mature garden plantings. Architectural style 130 Townshend Road was designed as simple weatherboard cottage and does not represent any of the major architectural styles. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as office workers, retail employees and both skilled and unskilled tradesmen. Plan form at the street frontage • Symmetrical façade, featuring a central entrance door, flanked by windows to each of the front rooms. Roof form and materials • Hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • Separate hipped bullnose verandah roof. • Face brick chimney with a corbelled cap.

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 220 was subdivided as Deposited Plan 1552 in 1896 and advertised as the “Parkerville Estate”. This comprised 38 lots with frontages along the eastern side of Townshend Road (between Barker and Bagot Roads), part of the southern side of Barker Road, part of Salisbury Avenue (renamed as part of Park Street in 1901) and part of the northern side of Bagot Road. The Townshend Road part of this subdivision was developed at an early date. The Post Office Directories identified 8 primary residents in this area in 1901 and all 14 lots had been developed by 1905 (11 of which appear to have been occupied by weatherboard cottages). The Post Office Directories did not include street numbers for Subiaco until 1906, but an analysis of the sequence of entries suggests that 130 Townshend Road had been occupied by David Marshall (carpenter, later supervisor, Public Works Department) by 1901. As David Marshall (c.1866-1940) had been identified as a resident of Townshend Road from as early as 1898 (and was listed as the owner/occupier of Lot 28 in the Rate Books of 1903) it is possible that the house may date from around the time of his marriage to Anne Mary Bindon (c.1878-1962) in 1897. Given his occupation as a carpenter, it is also possible that he was responsible for the construction of the house. During their early years in Subiaco, David and Anne had at least 3 children: Florence Irene (born c.1898); Annie Doreen (c.1902); and Walter Keith (c.1905). In letters to the children’s pages of The Daily News in 1908-1910, ‘Florrie’ referred to the house as “Wyola”. The Marshall family remained here until c.1919, offering their 5-room house for sale in April of that year. 130 Townshend Road was then occupied by George William Skipper (steward) until c.1927. The next long-term occupants were members of the Alden family, who had settled here by 1929. Betsy Collins (c.1873-1971) and Howard Alden (c.1867-1963) (storekeeper) were married in Meckering in c.1899 and had at least 4 children who survived infancy: John (born c.1900); Edwin (c.1906); Howard, jnr (c.1910) and Wenham (c.1915). Entries in the Electoral Rolls and Post Office Directories, together with newspaper items, indicate that, in the period around 1930, they shared the house for at least some of the time with Betsy’s brother, James Collins (a quarryman), sister-in-law, Susannah, and two of their adult children, William and Emily. Betsy and Howard were still listed at 130 Townshend Road in the Electoral Rolls of 1963. An analysis of a historical Metropolitan Sewerage Plan (dated 1927, updated 1955) and historical aerial photographs indicates that the footprint of this house has remained relatively unchanged. Wall materials and finishes to the main facade • Rusticated weatherboard. Other detailing to main facade • Centrally located entrance door, with traditional moulded architraves and plain highlight (no sidelights). • Single double-hung window to each of the front rooms. Moulded timber architraves, plain sills. • Chamfered square verandah posts. • Section of the original detailing remaining to the northern end. This features carved timber brackets and a frieze with turned timber balustrettes supporting horizontally tapered arched caps. Streetscape setting • House set back approximately 5.4m from the Townshend Road frontage. • Lot width approximately 10.9m. • Side setback of approximately 1.6m from the northern boundary. Minimal setback on the southern side. • Front yard enclosed by a timber-picket fence, backed by mature garden planting.

Integrity/Authenticity

High: Evidence of the original external detailing of the building (as viewed from the street) appears to be largely intact.

Condition

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

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

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