Duke Street Heritage Area

Child Places

• 26016 House
• 26045 House
• 26049 House
• 26021 House
• 26026 House
• 26048 House
• 26044 House
• 26030 House
• 26037 House
• 26040 House

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic Value
• Duke Street has a distinctive urban character that has been primarily created by the local road closure and public landscaping of the late twentieth century.
• Within this setting the heritage character is derived from the modest, single, storey suburban houses dating from the Federation and early Inter-War era (c.1902-1924). Only one of these houses has been replaced (#3, c.1980s) and the defined period and nature of development has resulted in a complementary palette of materials and design idioms.
Historic Value
• The subdivision of this area was undertaken by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company of Sydney. This represents part of a much wider role that this company took in the development of Subiaco in the 1890s and early 1900s.
• The collection of houses in the study area helps to demonstrate the scale and standard of houses built and occupied by people such as small business owners, clerks and tradesmen in the early twentieth century.
• The study area was generally the place of residence for people who left only a small mark on the written records. However, it also accommodated at least two men who were prominent in the local community or were otherwise public identities of the early to mid twentieth century (see Associations - Residents, below).
Representativeness
• The study area includes a good representative collection of modest early twentieth century brick and timber housing developed in close proximity to the Rokeby Road tramway.

Physical Description

The study area includes good representative examples of the early twentieth century housing built and occupied by people such as small business owners, clerks and tradesmen in the early twentieth century. These included houses built for occupation by the owners, as well as investment properties intended for the rental market. As such they are all of a similar scale, but vary in form, detail and materials to create a diverse, but compatible, residential streetscape.
While Duke Street ran off Rokeby Road the narrow access to Coolgardie Street at the western end (now defined by side boundaries and garages) means the street would have never been used as more than a local thoroughfare. The junction between the subdivision of Duke Street and the pre-existing subdivision along Coolgardie Street created an unusual road layout with tapered verges (which were clearly visible as opened grassed areas planted with a scattering of street trees in a 1948 aerial photograph).
In the late twentieth century the nature of Duke Street as a local access road was reinforced by the closure of the street at the laneway running along the back of the Rokeby Road allotments.
Street works undertaken at that time included the development of a wide grassed area between #s 2 and 3 Duke Street, and the reinforcement of the verge planting to create a small parklike setting. Mature street trees now include a cluster of 4 palms at the road closure, 2 palms on the wide tapering verge in front of #12, plus several peppermint trees (Agonis flexuosa), and bottebrush (Callistemon sp). More recent infill planting of eucalypts and other species, together with well developed front gardens has created a streetscape in which the houses nestle within an informal landscape.
Of the ten original houses facing onto Duke Street, 5 have been assessed as making a considerable contribution to the heritage character of the study area for their aesthetic and/or historic values. A further 4 have undergone alterations that have altered the original external detailing to a greater degree and have been assessed as making some contribution.
Of these, #8 has had the greatest level of intervention; significantly impacting on the roofscape and walls finishes. However, this is also believed to have been the first hose constructed on the street, which was occupied by an owner/builder (Frederick Samuel Herbert Tipping, a clerk of the Government Printing Office) and therefore to some degree established the standard for the street.
Only one site (#3) has been redeveloped in the modern era. This single storey face brick and tile house (constructed in 1980s) has been assessed as making no contribution to the heritage values of the street, but still exhibits a compatible scale and materials.
The key features/elements of the heritage streetscapes and buildings are listed below.
Streetscape photographs are included in Section 2 (streetscape views) and more detailed descriptions are included in Section 3 (individual place records).

History

During the early years of settlement most of the Subiaco area formed part of the Perth Commonage. In 1879 land was set aside for the Fremantle to Guildford Railway and this line was officially opened in March 1881. Two years later the Western Australian government announced it would survey a section of the Perth Commonage into suburban lots and that these would be made available for private sale. The land in question incorporated the majority of Subiaco and part of Shenton Park (originally West Subiaco) and was laid out as 5 acre lots on a grid pattern - designated as Perth Suburban Lots (PSL).
The Subiaco Municipal Council was created in 1895; Metropolitan Water Works Board services were extended to Subiaco in 1898/1899; and the Perth Electric Tramways Company's line was built through to the corner of Rokeby and Broome Roads in 1899 and up Rokeby Road to Kings Park by January 1900. Loans made available through the granting of municipal status also allowed the funding of road construction and the laying of footpaths, which by 1903 comprised about 20 kilometres. From here, improvements like street trees and parks occurred under the influence of Alexander Rankin, who was the first Town Clerk and Engineer for the Subiaco Council.
A Certificate of Title for Perth Suburban Lot 277 and part Perth Suburban Lot 276 (totalling 5 acres and 18 perches) was issued in the name of The Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd on 18 September 1901. This area, which had existing frontages to Rokeby Road, Heytesbury Road and Nicholson Road, was laid out as a new subdivision, with a total of 34 allotments, including ten building allotments facing Duke Street (Lots 13 to 17 and 18 to 22 of Plan 2352).
The first lots within the subdivision were sold on 20 July 1901 (Lots 27-29 facing Rokeby Road). The first lots along Duke Street were sold to Frederick Samuel Herbert Tipping, who purchased Lot 15 (#8) on 30 May 1902 and Lot 16 (#10) in July of that year. Tipping also built the first house, being listed in the Subiaco Rates Books at 8 Duke Street in 1903 (suggesting that the house was built shortly after he purchased the land).
In March and August 1902 advertisements were placed in The West Australian for “Duke Street, 39 x 149 ft, close to tram, £48, terms”. In early 1903 other advertisements were placed for lots in Duke Street at £60 to £75 per lot, reflecting the increased interest in local development.
The last lots to be sold were Lots 21 & 22 (#s 3 & 5 Duke Street), which were formally transferred to Ada Josephine Hodginson in 1906 – although she must have been paying this off progressively as the Subiaco Rates Books had listed her as the owner from 1903.
The majority of the sites were developed immediately (in the period 1902-1905), but one was retained as a vacant development site until c.1914, while another two were occupied as double blocks until the early Inter-War era.
The sites were developed by a mixture of owner/occupiers and investors, but in a consistent manner with relatively modest houses suitable for people such as small business owners, clerks and tradesmen. Unlike the more elevated areas to the east of Rokeby Road, or major thoroughfares (such as the nearby Hamersley and Heytesbury Road) this small side street did not attract any development of larger villas.
Subiaco grew rapidly in the first decades of the twentieth century, with a strong and active community and pride in its identity as a ‘working class suburb’. Duke Street provides a microcosm of this development.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity
The overall integrity of the place as a collection of early twentieth century residential houses is high, with the exception of 3 Duke Street, which was replaced with a new house in the 1980s.
Authenticity
All of the houses have undergone some degree of adaptation and/or extension to meet modern living standards. Typical changes include rear extensions, alterations to verandahs, new fencing, painting/rendering face brickwork and re-roofing. However, the original houses (as viewed from the street) have, overall, retained a medium to high level of authenticity.
The highest level of intervention is to 8 Duke Street which has had its main façade rendered as well as having undergone significant alterations to the roofscape as part of second storey additions.
Condition
Based on a streetscape survey, the buildings in the study area appear to be generally well maintained and in good condition. Within the public realm, the verges are also generally well maintained.

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.