Terrace Houses

Statement of Significance

13-21 Coghlan Road, Subiaco, is of cultural heritage significance:
• As a relatively rare surviving example of a row of well-built semi-detached houses in Subiaco;
Note: this value has been diminished by the major alterations to the character of the exterior, including the rendering of the original tuck-pointed brick façade, alterations to the windows and removal of some of the prominent chimneys.
• As evidence of the construction of modest rental housing in close proximity to public transport (train and tram) during the early twentieth century;
• As an example of the standard of rental accommodation built for junior professional men and skilled tradesmen during the first decade of the early twentieth century.

Physical Description

13-21 Coghlan Road, Subiaco, was constructed as a row of five attached houses. Evidence of tuck pointed face-brickwork suggests that it may have been at least partly influenced by the popular Federation Queen Anne style, but this has been obscured by later alterations.
Key elements of the current place include:
• Single storey row, with each house defined by a simple hipped roof (clad in corrugated metal sheeting) and separated by rendered brick parapet walls.
• Brick chimneys.
There were originally two brick chimneys to each house, but these only remain to #s 19 and 21.
The chimney near the front was finely detailed in face-brick, with a projecting string course and a corbelled cap, the latter featuring a projecting row laid on the diagonal. The rear chimney was more robust and utilitarian, with simple stepped brick detailing.
These chimneys were a prominent feature of the place and their removal from #s13-17 has diminished the complexity of the roofscape.
• Bracketed eaves.
The eaves to the main façade have retained original carved timber brackets, each with a decorative turned-timber drop at the leading edge.
• Stepped parapet walls, each with a curved upper edge to the lower (front) section, reflecting the shape of the abutting verandah roofs.
At the face of the main roofline and the face of the verandah roofline, each parapet has a flat panel with a vermiculated finish.
• Bullnose verandahs
These now have a mixture of square and turned-timber posts and carved timber brackets. The detailing of some of the latter appears to have been influenced by the drop detail to the original eaves brackets.
• Face-brick walls, now rendered with the exception of the north end.
The painted strip of brickwork above the verandahs confirms that the primary façade was originally finished with tuck-pointed face brickwork.
The Coghlan Street and York Street facades have been rendered and each house has been finished with a different paint scheme
• Entrance door to one side of the verandah.
Each door has a single sidelight and a highlight. Original architraves are of chamfered timber with timber ‘capitals’ at the head of the door.
The gazing varies between the houses and now includes a mixture of stained glass, rippled glass, and plain glass panels.
• Triple paned window to the front room.
The detailing of these openings with a slightly wider fixed central panel, flanked by casements is consistent with the late-Inter war or early-post war era. The plain rectangular opening (with no sill) suggests that these were altered at the same time as the rendering of the facades.
The small front yards have been fenced with low masonry walls with robust brick posts, the latter having flat caps to #s 13 & 21 and tapered caps to #s 15-19. These have been detailed individually with a face-brick finish to #13 and rendered finish to the others. Infill panels include a variety of timber pickets and metal bars.
At the rear of the site there is a garage off York Street to #21 and a shared access lane for carports to the other dwellings.
The surrounding streetscape is mixed, with a large commercial development to the south (fronting Hay Street), a row of contemporary attached houses diagonally opposite (24-34 Coghlan Road, now occupied as professional suites and offices) and detached early twentieth century housing opposite. The site abutting to the north is occupied by a carpark for the former Freemasons Hall (which faces Roberts Road).

History

On 13 March 1883, 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 subject site subsequently formed part of Perth Suburban Lot 190. In June 1898, a new Certificate of Title was issued for a block of land measuring 1 rood and 8 perches (approximately 1,214m2) on the north-western corner of Coghlan Road and Gibney Street (later renamed York Street). This comprised the whole of the land in deposited diagram 740, which included lots 13, 14 and 15 of Section J of PSL 190.
In 1903 the site of 13-21 Coghlan Street was transferred to Ernest Saunders Porter of Perth, Architect, and in May 1905 it was transferred to Sarah Ann Taylor of Fremantle, Married Woman. In July 1905 Sarah Ann Taylor and Samuel Taylor mortgaged the property for £1,000 indicating that substantial development had been undertaken on the site (although the first residents were not listed in the Post Office Directory until 1907). It is not clear, however, if the place was built by the Taylors or by the previous owner, Ernest Porter of Porter and Thomas Architects.
On the land title documents Samuel Taylor was described as a saddler and he is believed to have lived at #15 in c.1906-1908.
In the 1890s and early 1900s, the population boom that followed gold discoveries in Western Australia encouraged some speculative development of terrace housing in Perth, Fremantle, and newly developing suburbs such as Subiaco – however this was at a time when the style was falling out of favour in the eastern states and freestanding houses emerged as the dominant type. Some other examples of semi-detached and terrace houses that were built as rental properties in Subiaco at that time, include:
• 18-32 Catherine Street, Subiaco. Row of eight, two-storey attached dwellings constructed in c. 1904.
• 6-12 Campbell Street, Subiaco. Two matching pairs of single storey semi-detached houses constructed in c.1904.
• 18-20 Campbell Street, Subiaco. Single pair of single storey semi-detached houses constructed in c.1904.
• 15-27 Hay Street, Subiaco. Row of six, two-storey attached dwellings constructed in c. 1904-05.
• 2-8 Catherine Street, Subiaco. Row of four, two-storey attached dwellings constructed in c.1905.
• 24-34 Coghlan Road. Three matching pairs of single storey semi-detached dwellings constructed in c.1906.
In 1908 the property was sold to John Tyson (a grazier of Mt Narryer Station in the Upper Murchison). No further reference has been found for a Samuel Taylor, saddler, in Western Australia and it is possible that he was the Samuel Taylor, saddler, who was living in NSW in 1909.
Following the death of John Tyson in 1916, 13-21 Coghlan Street had been sold to James Laidlaw, a retired businessman and racehorse breeder. It then remained in the ownership of the Laidlaw family until 1938 when it was purchased by Giovanni Bertola of Mt Monger, Miner. Bertola had migrated to Australia from Italy in c. 1927 and at the time of his death in 1952 it was stated that he had followed the occupations of miner, orchardist, poultry farmer and farmer.
During the first half of the twentieth century many tenants stayed for only 1-4 years, but Mrs Annie Maria Gibson and her daughter, Doris, lived at #19 from c.1935-1958, while Ernest and Hilda Hayow lived at #21 from 1939-c.1948. Another tenant, Mrs May Naughton, lived at #13 from 1915-1923 and then at #19 from 1924-1928.
Initially the tenants had occupations such as teacher, accountant, clerk, civil servant, draper, butcher and organ builder, indicating that the terrace houses were attracting professional men as well as skilled tradesmen. When Albert Foster (an accountant) left 13 Coghlan Street in 1913, a detailed description of furniture for sale indicates that this was of a high quality – which also suggests that the accommodation as attracting ‘good quality’ tenants.
In the 1930s-1940s the tenants included retired couples, “married women” (most of whom would have been widows), and men with occupations such as truck driver, steward, painter, carpenter, mechanic and labourer.
By the mid-late 1950s a number of tenants were Post WWII Yugoslavian refugees, and some of these took the opportunity of home ownership when the property was sold by Mrs Bertola in 1959. Through the sale processes the five houses were transferred to separate ownership, with at least three of them becoming long-term family homes as follows:
• #13: Isidor Iskra of 13 Coghlan Road, Subiaco, Labourer
Isidor and Marija Iskra and their young children, Claudio and Egidio, had migrated to Western Australia in 1950, travelling on the ‘Selgum’. Members of family remained at 13 Coghlan Road until at least 1980.
• #15: Elena Stemberger of 15 Coghlan Road, Married Woman
Michele and Elena Stemberger migrated to Western Australia in 1950, travelling on the ‘Selgum’. Members of the family remained at 15 Coghlan Road until at least 1980.
• #17: Stella Kenda of 17 Coghlan Road, Subiaco, Married Woman
Stella’s husband, Antonio, migrated to Western Australia in 1949, travelling on the ‘Dundalk Bay’. The family remained at 15 Coghlan Road until the late 1970s.
• #19 and 21: Emilio Stiglich, Mechanic, and Maria Stiglich, Married Woman
Emilio and Maria Stiglich had also migrated to Western Australia as Post WWII Yugoslavian refugees, arriving on the ‘Dundalk Bay’ in 1950. In 1958 they were living in West Leederville and purchased these houses as investment properties.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - High: The place continues to be occupied as a row of residences.
Authenticity - Moderate: The overall design and form of the terrace can still be readily understood, but the rendering of the original tuck-pointed brick façade and alterations to the windows have had a major impact on its aesthetic qualities and character.

Uses

Creation Date

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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.