House

Parent Place or Precinct

27310 Park Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

The place has cultural heritage significance:
• As a good representative example of the many 4-5 room brick homes which were built in Subiaco during the early twentieth century to meet the needs and aspirations of middle-class residents such as public servants, senior office workers, small business owners, skilled tradesmen and single/widowed women of private means.
• As a good representative example of the application of materials and detailing which were derived from the Federation Queen Anne style, but which were applied in a more restrained manner that suited the budgets and expectations of the middle classes in Subiaco during the early twentieth century.
• For its aesthetic contribution to a largely intact group of early twentieth century houses, particularly 77 and 85 Olive Street and 91 Park Street which have strong similarity of design and detail.
For information on the significance of the Park Street Heritage Area refer to the Local Planning Policy for the Heritage Area.

Physical Description

Note: While the houses have different footprints, the detailing to 85 & 87 Olive Street and 91 Park Street is very similar, reflecting their development by a single owner, over a short timeframe.
Architectural style
This small, but well built, suburban house incorporated elements of the Federation Queen Anne style. Its modest size suggests that it was purpose designed for the original owner, who appears to have been an older woman (born c.1839) of independent means.
Plan form at the street frontage
• 87 Olive Street has an asymmetrical façade, formed by a narrow house with a verandah along part of the northern side.
Roof form and materials
• Gabled roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting.
• Face-brick chimney with a corbelled cap.
• Prominent verge gable featuring a roughcast rendered face; a pattern of vertical, horizontal and diagonal timber battens; and plain gable boards.
• Bull-nosed verandah roof.
Wall materials and finishes to the main facade
• Tuck-pointed brick walls.
• Rendered stringcourse at door head height.
• Lower section of walls rendered (below an original second stringcourse at window sill height).
Other detailing to main facade
• Entrance door under the verandah, facing north (detailing not clearly visible from the street).
• Bull nose window hood to the front wall, with a frieze and brackets to match the detailing to the verandah.
• Two double hung windows to the front wall with a simple raked sill integrated with the stringcourse.
• Turned timber verandah posts; carved timber brackets, and a decorative frieze of alternating vertical and horizontal square members.
Streetscape setting
• House set back approximately 3.5m from the Olive Street frontage.
• Lot width approximately 6.2m.
• Parapet along southern boundary. Minimal set back to northern boundary.
• Front yard enclosed by timber picket fence.

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 218 and 219 were subdivided as Deposited Plan 214 in the early 1890s. This comprised 52 lots, including 24 lots with frontages to Ivy Street, which extended between Barker and Bagot Roads (renamed as part of Olive Street in c.1901).
In 1903 the City of Subiaco Rate Books identified the owner of Lots 8 and 9 as Annie Watts, and development of these sites may have been supported by an inheritance of £1,162, which Annie Johannah Catherine Watts (nee Kelly) (c.1839-1905) received from Edward Kelly (grocer, late of Subiaco) in May 1903. Annie died in June 1905 (leaving an estate valued at £1,130), after which the houses on Lots 8 & 9 appear to have been owned by her son, Edward Watts, until at least 1910-1911.
The 1903 Rate Book listed 3 houses across this site, with the occupants identified as ‘Baxter’ (81 Olive Street, now known as 91 Park Street), ‘Hilde’ (85 Olive Street) and Annie Watts (87 Olive Street). The first two were developed as conjoined houses and the third as a narrow free-standing house.
87 Olive Street had a high turn-over of occupants during the first half of the century, which suggests that it was primarily used as a rental property. A review of the Post Office Directories at around 5-yearly intervals (together with reference to contemporary Electoral Rolls) indicates that some of the primary residents during this period included:
 1906: Mrs Annie Watts (owner/occupier)
 1910: Sydney W Moore
 1915: Edward Gwyther
 1920: Ernest Alfred Rice (monumental fixer)
In April 1920, the group of “Three well built houses” at 81 [91 Park St], 85 and 87 Olive Street were offered for sale at £525, £525 and £350, respectively.
 1925: Mrs Lillian Hosking
Mrs Hosking lived here in c.1924-1926 and again in c.1930.
In the Rate Books of 1929-1930 the owner was identified as Charles McCoy.
 1930: Mrs Hosking
 1935: Rowland Price Jones (carpenter)
 1940: Mrs Hilda A Colbert
 1945: Mrs Josephine Stuart
 1949: Leonard Joseph Stewart (instrument repairer)
A plan of the lot prepared in 1927 and reviewed in 1955 for the purpose of planning sewerage and water supply services shows that the original footprint of the cottage has almost doubled in size. Aerial photographs of the place since the mid 20th confirm that the addition at the rear of the cottage (which includes a second storey) was undertaken in the late 1970s.

Integrity/Authenticity

Authenticity - High: The external detailing of 87 Olive Street appears to be largely intact and/or sympathetically restored/renovated. Large additions are set well back from the street frontage.

Condition

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

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.