House

Statement of Significance

• This place has aesthetic value as a large and intact example of the Inter War California Bungalow style executed in brick, tile and stone that demonstrates the form and detail of the style. Internal details that remain from the original construction are likely to reflect this style. • The place is a landmark in the streetscape as one of the remaining original residences built when the area was settled. • The place has historic value for its association with the settlement of South Perth in the Inter War period by professional and affluent men and their families. • The place has historic value for its association with prominent writer and academic Dorothy Hewett and her family, notably her father Arthur Thomas Hewett who built the house. • The place has social value as a demonstration of the scale and form of houses built for professional men and their families in the Inter War period.

Physical Description

20 Ridge Street is a single storey California Bungalow style residence built in an elevated position to take advantage of long views over the river. The house is of single storey construction built with tuckpointed brickwork to the lower sections, rendered brickwork to the upper sections of the wall and sitting on an ashlar limestone plinth. The roof has Marseilles patterned tiles with hipped half-timbered jerkinhead gables. A stone chimney with terracotta honey pot flue projects from the southern plain of the roof. The house presents with an asymmetric façade containing staggered projecting bays and a recessed entry. The high stone boundary wall obscured much of the façade from clear view however the panoramic curved window remains one of the key features of the façade. The window is curved, and is made up from segments of clear glazed casement sashes. The adjacent section of façade is more angular in form with non-original windows and doors. Original windows to the place are inter-war leaded lights which were typical features of this style of house. The recessed entry porch contains such windows and also retains the original leaded light door.

History

This residence was built in c1935 by Arthur Thomas (Tom) Hewett a carpenter and builder by trade and later farmer and investor. Tom Hewett (c1892-1966) married Doris (Rene) Coade (c1896-1971) in 1922. The Hewett family moved from Wickepin and settled in South Perth in 1935, initially living with Rene's parents Edward and Mary Coade, at 19 Ridge Street (corner Glyde Street) while Tom Hewett built this house. Tom and Rene Hewett had two children, Dorothy and Lesley. Dorothy Coade Hewett AM D.Litt. (21.5.1923 – 25.8.2002) was a prominent Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright. Dorothy Hewett was initially educated at home and through correspondence courses while in Wickepin, but after the family moved to Perth in 1935, from the age of 15, she attended Perth College. The Hewett and Coade families had a literary and artistic background, the Regal Theatre in Subiaco, was built by Dorothy Hewett’s grandfather Edward Coade, and her father was the manager when it opened as a cinema on 27 April, 1938. Dorothy was a talented writer and studied English at the University of WA where she embraced a bohemian lifestyle. In 1944, Dorothy married communist lawyer, Lloyd Davies and joined the Communist Party in 1946. During her second year at UWA, she won a major drama competition and a national poetry competition. In 1948, her marriage with Lloyd Davies ended in an acrimonious divorce, with Lloyd suing her for defamation over a particular poem in one of her books. The book was later withdrawn. In the 1950s she relocated to Sydney to live with Les Flood, with whom she had three sons. This relationship ended in 1958, and she returned to Perth. In 1960, Hewett married Merv Lilley, also a poet, former seaman, community commentator and unionist, and the marriage lasted until the end of her life. They had two daughters, Kate and Rose. She taught English at UWA from 1961 to 1973, becoming a prolific and popular writer, and one of Australia's leading playwrights. When Dorothy and Merv Lilley returned to Perth they lived in a house in Forrest Street, South Perth that was in the rear of 20 Ridge Street that was built in 1959 and demolished in 1992. Dorothy Hewett's parents lived at 20 Ridge Street until their deaths, Tom in 1966 and Rene in 1971. The form and extent of the residence at 20 Ridge Street has not changed significantly since its construction although it is likely that the interior has been modified to suit current standards.

Integrity/Authenticity

High / Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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