House

Parent Place or Precinct

25555 Chester Road Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

Chester Road Heritage Area comprises a substantial group of Federation residences that predominantly demonstrate a similarity of design and detail of the bungalow style, with variations shown at No.13 with the unique stone parapet gable wall, and the two story residence at No.14. The group forms a cohesive cultural environment of the ‘Federation’ period and contributes to the social history of the Town.

Physical Description

Single storey painted brick, with rear addition. The hipped Zincalume roof has a decorative front feature gable of half-timbered roughcast and a bracketed awning over the set of three windows. The separate skillion verandah has simple square posts with elegant curved timber valance board with circular elements in the corners that form brackets.

History

The lower part of Chester Road was created in 1850 as a road reserve between blocks of Pensioner Guard allotments. The upper part of the road between Victoria Avenue and Princess Road was created by 1895 with six small lots of the 1895 Tyersal Estate fronting onto the road on either side of Pennell Road. The rest of the street frontage was taken up by three large locations.

In 1898 when Chester Road is first mentioned in the Post Office directories five people are living in the street. It is noticeable that four of these people can be definitely identified as either not living in Claremont or living elsewhere in Claremont in early 1897 which suggests the street was first settled later that year. Between 1898 and 1903 the number of residents remains steady at five or six suggesting six buildings in the street, two between Agett Road and Princess Street and four between Victoria Avenue and Agett Road.

By 1902 the subdivision pattern for the road was similar to today and seven houses were located along the street, with four of them located on the right hand side between Victoria Avenue and Agett Road and one on the left hand side; four of these five places would date to 1898.

The first house to be built in Chester Road was No.12 in 1897 during the ‘Birth of a Suburb’ period of development, a period of rapid growth in Claremont, which saw a population increase from 76 in 1896 to 469 in 1902. No.14 was also built during this period. Surviving building stock from this period indicate that housing types were mainly Federation Bungalows with a smaller number of workers’ cottages.

The remainder of the houses in the Chester Street Heritage area were constructed during the ‘Consolidation’ period. The ‘Consolidation’ period was a period of rapid growth within the Town. Population and housing grew steadily with 701 households and businesses in 1905, 872 in 1910 and 1,240 in 1915. The largest area containing houses of this period is the area bounded by Mary, Gugeri, Melville and Loch Streets and Stirling Highway. Surviving heritage homes from this period indicate that housing types were mainly Federation Bungalow and Federation Queen Anne with three to five rooms.

Uses

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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.