House

Statement of Significance

The house at 40 Guildford Road is a substantail and good example of the Federation Arts and Crafts style, which demonstrates the aspirations of the original developers for this neighbourhood before the growth of traffic on Guildford Road impacted so heavily on amenity.

Physical Description

This substantial middle class house takes a typology of a Federation Queen Anne bungalow and with detail, such as the elaborate gable infill, symmetrical alignment of chimney and feature gable, changes it into a Federation Arts and Crafts style. Set on a busy street behind a substantial brick wall.

History

This section of Guildford Road is part of the East Norwood Estate which was developed in 1898, on part of Locations A4 and A5, on the eastern side of the Fremantle-Guildford Railway line, in the East Perth/Mt Lawley area. The subdivision was carried out by surveyors Crossland & Hardy on behalf of the Perth (WA) Estate Company Limited of 364 Hay Street. The strong demand for new housing was a result of the population boom created by the gold discoveries in the State. One member of the Perth (WA) Estate Company was Zebina Lane, who was an engineer and mine owner at the Great Boulder mines, and one of a number of people who made money in gold mining and reinvested it in land developments during this period. The Company had previously developed the adjoining Westralia Estate on the west side of the railway line on Location A4. The estate was promoted as having 'splendid building lots', 'made roads' and 'river frontages'. In the latter case these were the larger blocks along Joel Terrace which were expected to attract the wealthier buyers. It is evident from the subdivision map that this was not one of the earliest blocks sold, the earliest being those used for 'spec' and rental housing along the railway line (East Parade), Bramall and Summers Street. The estate's boundary nearest to the subject place was Stanley Street (two house blocks from No. 40), which later became the boundary between the Town of Vincent (formed 1995) and that portion of Mount Lawley which is in the City of Stirling. This section of Guildford Road was listed in the Wise's Post Office Directories initially as 'Guildford old road' and by 1905 it was known as 'Old Guildford Road' and listed in conjunction with Lord Street. Around 1908 it became known as 'Guildford Road, Norwood' and it remained so until the 1940's. Builder, John Berne Hawkins was in residence in 1915 at this end of the street and possible in No. 40 but the houses in this section of Guildford Road were not numbered in the Directories until 1917. In that year No. 40 was occupied by Andrew Cavanagh. The subject place was well positioned for access to Perth's train system via the nearby Mount Lawley Station. Then in 1924 a single tram track was laid from the tram terminus on the corner of Lord and Lincoln Streets through the Mount Lawley Subway to Maylands. In 1939 this line was duplicated and the Subway widened to accomodate the second track. This further improved access to the City. In 1925 the resident was Herbert Illingworth. At that time the area around the Mount Lawley Subway (just a street block away) was a thriving village. The shops and businesses also listed in the Directories were No. 1 Guildford Road Methodist Church, No. 3 plumber, No. 5 Laundry, Nos. 8 - 10 butcher, No. 12 fancy goods and draper, No. 14 confectioner and grocer, No. 15 newsagent, stationer, tobacconist and State Savings Bank agency, No. 18 tobacco and fancy goods and No. 19 butcher. In 1932, No. 40 was occupied by F. W. Joyce and in 1949 the last year of the Directories the resident was Alan F. Richardson.

Integrity/Authenticity

Moderate

Uses

Creation Date

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