HOUSE, 100 ATTFIELD STREET

Statement of Significance

House, 100 Attfield Street, is a finely detailed, single storey limestone and brick house dating from c. 1900.
The place has aesthetic value for its unusual decorative brickwork, render and timber features
The place contributes to the heritage character of Attfield Street and the surrounding area.
It is an unusual example of the typical inner suburban houses found in the Fremantle area.
The place is a modest but good example of the Federation Bungalow style of architecture.

Physical Description

House, 100 Attfield Street, is a single storey, limestone and brick house built in 1900 with an asymmetrical facade designed in the Federation Bungalow style of architecture.
The house is elevated above street level due to the local topography. The walls are of limestone construction with brick quoins and features and rendered details including a distinctive star motif. The roof is hipped and gabled and clad with corrugated iron. The gable end has a decorative timber barge and finial. There are two chimneys with corbelled caps. A gablet with timber louvers over the main roof is part of a later addition.
The asymmetrical facade has a projecting front room with a gable roof and separate timber bullnose verandah. A second, bullnose verandah runs across the main facade and shelters the central front door. Both verandahs are supported on timber posts and decorative timber fretwork valances.
There is a timber picket fence on a limestone plinth to the front boundary line.

History

Attfield St is named after Dr George Attfield, Imperial Surgeon 1854-1879, who qualified in London in 1850. He attended Fremantle Gaol and was Superintendent at Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. Attfield married a daughter of Surveyor-General Roe. He died in Brighton UK c1923. The street was developed from the late 1890s, with the majority of the houses dating from the first two decades of the twentieth century.
House, 100 Attfield Street was built in 1900 for John Tattersall, a lighthouse keeper. It was first occupied by William Brisbane, a watchman.
John Tattersall had arrived from England on the ‘Daylight’ in August 1877 with his wife and they originally settled in Geraldton, where they had three children. After Mrs Tattersall died John married Mary McCarthy (a widow) in Geraldton in 1886.
House, 100 Attfield Street is shown on a c. 1910 Metropolitan Sewerage plan as a brick/stone cottage with front and rear verandahs. There was a tank stand, retaining wall, water closet and timber outbuilding to the rear of the house. The house was located on the southern two thirds of a lot shared with No. 98 Attfield Street.
By 1910, John Tattersall and his family had moved to Fremantle and were living at 100 Attfield Street, where they stayed until c. 1930, although Mr Tattersall owned the house until 1935.
Between 1935 and c. 1955, House, 100 Attfield Street was owned by William Dobinson and occupied by a succession of tenants. Cecelia Carter next purchased the property and owned it until her dead c. 1970. The house continued to be rented during this time. House, 100 Attfield Street changed hands several times in the 1970s and 1980s.
This place was included in the list of heritage places in the City of Fremantle identified by the Fremantle Society (1979/80) - RED -significant for contributing to the unique character of Fremantle. By this time the house had been rendered and the front verandah modified.
The place was added to the Fremantle Municipal Inventory in 2000 and the Heritage List in 2008.
In the 2000s Sarah McEvoy and Owen Castle owned 100 Attfield Street and undertook extensive conservation works over many years including the reinstatement of original features and finishes based on investigations and documentary evidence. During this time cement render was removed from external walls and the limestone and brick quoins were conserved and decorative render details reinstated. The bullnose verandahs with fretwork valences and the ornate bargeboards and finials were also reinstated and an extension was added to the rear.
In 2023 the heritage listing for this place was reviewed as part of the Annual Update of The Heritage List and Local Heritage Survey. On 13 March 2024 Council resolved to upgrade the Local Heritage Survey Management Category from Level 3 to Level 2.

Integrity/Authenticity

High degree of integrity (original intent clear, current use compatible, high long term sustainability).
High degree of authenticity with much original fabric remaining.

Condition

Condition assessed as good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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