House

Parent Place or Precinct

25912 Kings Road Heritage Area, Subiaco

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 andexpectations 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. • For its association with the rapid development of Subiaco in the early 20th century and the small scale development by local builders, in this instance Lemuel Arthur Waldron. Kings Road is of cultural heritage significance within the City of Subiaco for the following reasons: • The existing development along Kings Road continues to represent the rapid development of the higher parts of Subiaco (near Kings Park) with good quality Federation Queen Anne houses during the early the twentieth century (with a particular focus on the c.1901-1914 period). • The defined period and nature of development along Kings Road resulted in a complementary palette of materials and design idioms, enlivened by a diversity of individual details. Unlike many other local streets, the majority of the properties have retained a medium to high level of authenticity. Collectively they provide a good representative collection of middle-class Subiaco houses dating from the early twentieth century (extending from c.1901-1923). • The character of the Kings Road streetscape epitomizes the general character of what is now known as the City of Subiaco’s Triangle Precinct. • The history of the houses along Kings Road helps to demonstrate the original settlement of this part of Subiaco as a solid middle class area, in which the family residences of more senior white-collar workers existed side by side with the smaller, but still well-built, houses of more junior white-collar workers, retail employees and tradespeople. • The history of the subdivision and early sale of residential lots along Kings Road helps to illustrate the status of Western Australia as a place of opportunity during the gold rush era of the late nineteenth century – attracting significant interest and investment from the eastern states.

Physical Description

Architectural style • Surviving detailing suggests that this house was designed in the popular Federation Queen Anne style. Plan form at the street frontage • Asymmetrical façade with the main verandah extending across the front and returning along the southern side. • Shallow projecting bay to the southern half of the front façade. Roof form and materials • Gable-hipped roof clad with traditional short-sheet corrugated iron, painted red. • Bullnose verandah roof. • Painted brick chimney (originally face-brick) with a simple projecting rendered cap and terracotta pots. Wall materials and finishes to the main façade • Plain rendered façade, with evidence of the original tuck-pointed face brickwork above the verandah roof. Detailing of main façade • Prominent gable over the shallow projecting bay to the main façade. This has retained original Art Nouveau inspired detailing, with a flush face and vertical ‘ripple’ shaped timber battens to the upper half, and a textured face with vertical battens and carved corner details to the lower half. • Full-height double hung window to the room on the northern side of the main facade. • Mid-twentieth century style door to the room on the southern side of the main facade. This opening may have originally been a second full-height double hung window. • Main entrance set at the rear of the side verandah, facing south. • Traditional French doors at the rear of the side verandah, facing west. • Turned timber posts, decorative carved brackets and ripple-shaped frieze balusters to the verandah (the latter reflecting the detailing to the gable). Streetscape setting • Main façade set back approximately 5.5m from the front boundary. • Front boundary defined by a modern acorn topped timber picket fence. General condition • Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in fair to poor condition (with deteriorated roof fixings and roof plumbing, plus some evidence of deteriorating external timber and localised cracking to the brickwork along the northern facade).

History

This part of Subiaco had been laid out as a residential subdivision by September 1891, but there was only one resident listed along the street in the Western Australian Post Office Directory of 1901 (referring to Park Street) and 2 in 1905 (referring to King’s Road). This was followed by a rapid period of development and by 1910 there were 14 houses within the Study Area, being 73 Bagot Road (now known as 3 Kings Road), #s 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21 Kings Road, 12 Hamersley Road (now 28 Kings Road) & 14 Hamersley Road (now 25 Kings Road). Steady infill continued after that time and the street was fully developed by the mid 1920s. A newly built house at 4 Kings road was advertised for sale in mid-1912: CLOSE Thomas-st.-New Residence, five rooms, kitchen, vestibule, bath, pantry, laundry. Waldron, No. 4 Kings-road, off Bagot-road, Subiaco. And CLOSE Thomas-st, New Brick Residence, large dining-room, 3 bedrooms, wide hall, drawing-room, kitchen, vestibule, enamel bath, laundry, electric light, inspection invited before purchasing any other, £750. Waldron, No. 4 Kings’s-rd, Subiaco. This suggests that the builder was probably Lemuel Arthur Waldron. Newspaper advertisements indicate that Waldron undertook a considerable amount of speculative residential development in Subiaco in the period c.1901-1913. However, these advertisements may just represent a fraction of his work, as in June 1904 he claimed to have already sold 17 houses in this area. Typically, the places advertised were 5 to 7 room brick houses, valued at between £450-£600, which equates to a good quality brick villa of the early twentieth century. During this period Waldron also placed numerous advertisements for houses and shops for rent, and dealt in new and used furniture. An analysis of information in the Rate Books, Western Australian Post Office Directories and Electoral Rolls indicates that the first owner/occupier of this house was William Colin Scott McLintock, who had been appointed as an Inspector of Schools by the Education Department in 1912. Mr & Mrs McLintock were living here when the birth of their daughter was announced in January 1913, but the house was leased to Joseph and Ethel Levy in c.1914-1917. Other short-term occupancies followed (including a period of owner/occupancy by Henry Martin Myatt in the first half of the 1920s), after which 4 Kings Road became the long-term family home of William Bishop (c.1873-1954) and Matilda Bishop (nee Dabovich)(c.1874-1952). During this period William operated butchers premises at 439 Hay Street, Subiaco (c.1921-1925), and then 91 Rokeby Road (c.1926-1932). Reference to an inter-war era Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Department plan, plus a review of historical aerial photographs dating from 1964 and 2016, indicates that the building envelope of the front part of the house has remained largely unchanged. An analysis of the readily available information suggests that the primary occupants of the property from its time of construction until c.1950 included: 1913 William Colin Scott McLintock, inspector of schools 1914-1917 Joseph Victor Levy, manager, and Ethel Levy, home duties 1918 Silverstone 1919-1920 Carlisle Gillespie 1921-1925 Henry Martin Myatt, civil servant, and Catherine Hazel Myatt, home duties 1925-c.1950 William Daniel Bishop, butcher, and Matilda Celestine Bishop, home duties

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium authenticity Based on the surviving detailing above the verandah roof, the main façade was originally tuck-pointed face-brick

Condition

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in poor condition (with much of the external paintwork in a deteriorated condition).

Uses

Creation Date

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