House, 122 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

Architectural style 122 Townshend Road is a simple symmetrical house which does not represent any of the major architectural styles of the early twentieth century. 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 facade. This features a central entrance door, flanked by windows to each of the front rooms. Roof form and materials • Hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • Face brick chimney with a corbelled cap. • Hipped bull-nosed verandah roof. Wall materials and finishes to the main facade • Painted brick (originally tuck-pointed brick). Other detailing to main facade • Centrally located entrance. This has a 4-panel door, traditional moulded architraves, narrow sidelights, highlight, and stained glass panels. • Single double-hung window with a rendered rectangular sill to each front room. • The verandah appears to have been reconstructed. It features chamfered square verandah posts, carved timber brackets and a frieze of square timber balustrettes. Streetscape setting • House set back approximately 3.4m from the Townshend Road frontage. • Lot width approximately 10.8m. • Front section of house set back from the Park Road frontage by approximately 1.2m. House built up to this boundary towards the rear. • House built up to the boundary on the northern side. • Front yard enclosed by a timber post and rail fence with crimped wire panels.

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. The Subiaco Rate Books confirm that a house had been developed on Lot 13 by 1903 and that this was owned by Mrs E Wolfe until at least 1916. More detailed research would be required to determine if this was one of the houses that had been built by 1901. Ellen Frances Mallett and Michael James Wolfe were married in Victoria in c.1889 and this couple had at least 4 children in the period c.1891-1895. Michael was a police officer and entries in the Electoral Rolls suggest that Ellen maintained a family home in Subiaco, while Michael was posted to various locations around the state. In the Electoral Rolls of 1916, Ellen was identified as a resident of Boulder, where she lived with Michael until the time of her death in March 1921. The next long-term residents were the Herron family. Emily Louisa Abud (c.1861-1942) and Edward Herron (c.1862-1951) were married in Victoria in c.1890 and had at least 2 children who survived infancy. Emily and Edward were long-term residents of this part of Townshend Road, having lived at 140 Townshend Road in c.1903-1921. After moving to 122 Townshend Road in c.1922, they remained here until around the mid-late 1940s. By 1949 Edward had moved to 199 Barker Road, where he was living with his daughter, Veronique. During this time Edward’s occupation was given as ‘moulder’, and for a time he was a partner in the firm ‘Kay and Herron, Brass Founders’ (retiring in 1929). An analysis of a historical Metropolitan Sewerage Plan (dated 1927, updated 1955) and historical aerial photographs indicates that this house was progressively extended to the rear, including additions undertaken in c.1980 and c.1919. The footprint of the front portion of the house has remained relatively unchanged.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium: The authenticity of the house within its streetscape setting has been reduced by the painting of the brickwork.

Condition

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

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update