Sadlier and Redfern Street Heritage Area

Child Places

• 26822 7 Sadlier Street
• 26845 103 Redfern Street
• 26836 33 Sadlier Street
• 26856 119 Redfern Street
• 26844 51 Sadlier Street
• 26852 111 Redfern Street
• 26850 108 Redfern Street
• 26842 45 Sadlier Street
• 26843 47 Sadlier Street
• 26829 19 Sadlier Street
• 26834 31 Sadlier Street
• 26849 109 Redfern Street
• 26854 115 Redfern Street
• 26830 21 Sadlier Street
• 26824 9 Sadlier Street
• 26847 106 Redfern Street
• 26846 105 Redfern Street
• 26835 32 Sadlier Street
• 26831 23 Sadlier Street
• 26855 117 Redfern Street
• 26823 5 Sadlier Street
• 26840 41 Sadlier Street
• 26853 114 Redfern Street
• 26841 43 Sadlier Street
• 26851 110 Redfern Street
• 26825 11 Sadlier Street
• 26837 35 Sadlier Street
• 26832 25 Sadlier Street
• 26838 37 Sadlier Street
• 26826 13 Sadlier Street
• 26827 15 Sadlier Street
• 26833 28 Sadlier Street
• 26828 17 Sadlier Street
• 26848 107 Redfern Street
• 26839 39 Sadlier Street

Statement of Significance

The Sadlier and Redfern Streets heritage area is of: Aesthetic Value • As an aesthetically pleasing streetscape with a strong identifiable character, featuring an avenue of mature street trees, which frame views of the largely Inter War residences. • For its collection of many good, representative examples of Federation and Inter War cottages and villas which collectively illustrate a range and evolution of detailing between the 1920s and the 1940s. • For the cohesive streetscape created by a limited palette of materials and styles. Historic Value • As a representative collection of houses that illustrate the scale and standard of housing for the homes of unskilled workers to semi-professional and tradespeople, in the early twentieth century. • For the evidence it provides about the manner in which the residence of semi-professional and tradespeople existed alongside the residences of working people and employees. • For its association with the subdivision and rapid settlement of the area from the 1920s to the 1930s which demonstrates the rapid change of the district in this period. Representativeness • As a good representative collection of early twentieth century housing developed within walking distance of transport and services. Physical Form in the Public Realm • The houses, which (with the exception of three modern dwellings) were developed predominantly in the period 1920s to 1940s, have largely retained their original external detailing and form. The defined period and nature of development has resulted in a consistent palette of materials and form, enlivened by diversity of individual details, within a cohesive streetscape.

Physical Description

The heritage area comprises a group of largely intact inter-war era residences, all of single storey construction. The coherency of the street has been interrupted in places by contemporary development but on the whole, enough original fabric remains extant to form a cogent heritage area. Although each residence displays its own set of design details, there is similarity in form, scale, materials and design to tie the places together. Originally the houses presented as a street of red brick houses, many of which were enhanced with a tuck point finish. A large number of properties have subsequently had their facades painted and roofing materials changed from traditional iron to Zincalume. Whilst these changes impact on the authenticity of the property and the street as a collective, the changes do not materially harm the overall aesthetic of the street and many of the changes are reversible. The houses benefit from a regular subdivision and setback pattern, with well planted gardens complementing the street planting to create a typical Subiaco green, tree-lined street. The lots are generally 11-13 m wide although there are some houses with a much wider frontage due to the layout of the lots in relation to the streets. The green verges are approximately 4-5 m deep and planted with trees. Sadlier Street is a straight road running parallel with Railway Road and extends on a south west-north east axis whilst Redfern Street branches off to the east from Sadlier Road and has a staggered layout at the Derby Road intersection. Many of the properties also benefit from an open relationship with the street, with low boundaries and visual permeability between public and private realms. However this relationship is interrupted in places by high fencing or dense planting which reduces the visual contribution a place makes to the overall character of the street. Carports in the front setbacks also harm the contribution and relationship of individual houses to the overall presentation of the street.

History

During the early years of settlement of the Swan River Colony the majority of the Subiaco area formed part of the Perth Commonage. The original 5 acre lots for Subiaco were part of the wider Perth settlement surveyed in 1883 being designated as Perth Suburban Lots (PSL). The Subiaco Municipal Council was created in 1897 and the area developed rapidly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century with a strong and active community and pride in its identity as a ‘working class suburb’. The discovery of gold in the Kimberley, Murchison and Kalgoorlie regions in the 1880s and 1890s, and the concurrent granting of Responsible Government in 1890 had a huge impact on the development of Subiaco as was the case for the City of Perth and for Western Australia as a whole. The gold boom resulted in a huge influx of people coming to Western Australia. Confidence in the future of Western Australia led to a number of wealthy land speculators and developers from the eastern states taking a strong interest in the growth of Perth and its outlying areas such as Subiaco. The substantial growth of the period is reflected in population statistics with numbers leaping from about 100 people in 1895 to approximately 1300 people by mid-1896. The late 1890s through to the 1910s brought about consolidation of the new Subiaco municipality as the rapid development of the gold rushes made way for a period of steady growth. The cultural landscape reflected this with ever-increasing numbers of houses and commercial buildings, and the construction of social, cultural and recreational spaces and local infrastructure. The portion of Subiaco which included Sadlier Road and Redfern Street was subdivided for sale in the early 1890s. Sadlier Street The plan above prepared in the mid-1890s confirms that what is now known as Sadlier Street was at that time known as Bronte Street, and was lined by residential subdivisions of Perth Suburban Lots 261, 262 and 263. Redfern Street was also subdivided at this time. However, despite this early subdivision pattern, it was not until 1912 that the first resident was listed for Bronte Street in the Western Australian Post Office Directories, and this was the only house to be listed until c.1922. Based on a preliminary analysis of the residents listed in the Post Office Directories for the period 1920 to 1926, the first residence in Sadlier Street was located at HN9 (since redeveloped). Three houses were listed in the Post Office Directory in 1922, seven in 1925 and 23 in 1930, by which time Sadlier Street had been almost fully developed (with 19 houses on the north-western side of the street and 4 houses on the south-eastern side). Notices of building permits published in the West Australian during that period indicate that this development in Sadlier Street was at least partly underpinned by the work of local builder/developers including Richard Thompson (who obtained permits for the construction of 2 brick residences in this street in 1926); Walter Lay (3 brick residences, 1926, 1928 & 1929); Thomas Singleton (2 brick residences, 1926 & 1927) and Park Estate Agency (1 brick residence, 1929). The naming of Bronte Street was changed during this period, as recorded in the following newspaper article of November 1926: To prevent its confusion with Bronte street, East Perth, Bronte-street, Subiaco, will, in future, be known as Sadlier-street, in honour of Subiaco's V.C. When the last Post Office Directory was published in 1949, there were 24 houses listed along Sadlier Street, the last of these having been built in the late 1930s (HN47). The last vacant site (HN45) was not developed until c.1970 (redeveloped in 2011). In 2015 there are 25 houses along the street. Redfern Street, (Derby Road to Sadlier Street) As in Sadlier Street, despite subdivision in the 1890s, development was slow in Redfern Street and by 1911 there were still no residents listed in the Western Australian Post Office Directory for the section of Redfern Street between Railway Road and View Street. The first entry appeared in 1912, when Alfred Smith was living to the west of Federal Street (later identified as #70). Steady development then commenced, with 5 houses listed in 1915, 11 in 1920, 18 in 1925 and 24 in 1930. No further sites were developed in the 1930s or 1940s and in 1949 (the last year in which the Post Office Directories were published) there were 16 houses along the southern side of street and 8 along the northern (all located between Sadlier and Federal Streets). Since that time, 7 more houses have been built (#s 67, 68, 84, 88, 90, 92 & 110), bringing the total to 31 houses.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity High – all the houses remain in residential use Authenticity Moderate – Four of the original houses have been demolished with the sites being redeveloped. In addition, extant original houses have generally undergone alterations in the form of changed finishes to original fabric or changed roofing materials which impacts to some degree on the authenticity of the individual house and area as a whole. However, the original houses (as viewed from the street) have overall retained a medium to high level of authenticity. Condition Generally good. Many of the houses have undergone repair/restoration works and present in a good condition collectively.

Creation Date

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