House

Parent Place or Precinct

27310 Park Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

The place has cultural heritage significance: • As a good representative example of a well designed and detailed “gentleman’s villa” of Subiaco dating from the early twentieth century. • For its aesthetic value as a good representative example of a well-designed Federation Queen Anne villa of the early twentieth century, designed to a style and scale suited to the professional/business classes. • 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. For information on the significance of the Park Street Heritage Area refer to the Local Planning Policy for the Heritage Area.

Physical Description

Architectural style 154 Barker Road was designed in the Federation Queen Anne style. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as professional men, business owners and skilled tradesmen. The late twentieth century additions and alterations have not obscured the extent and form of the original residence. Plan form at the street frontage • Asymmetrical facade. This features a stepped façade with a verandah extending across the full width of the house and returning partway along the western side (where it abutted a west-facing projecting wing). Roof form and materials • Hipped-gabled roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • Verge gable over a rectangular window bay to the front wall. This features a tall finial and a painted brick face set with a zigzag pattern of timber battens. • Louvered gablets to the ridgelines. • Secondary gable over the west-facing wing, featuring a tall finial and simple vertical battens. • Painted brick chimneys with rendered detailing and cap. Wall materials and finishes to the main facade • Painted brick in a Flemish bond pattern (originally tuck-pointed face-brick). • Rendered stringcourse at window sill level. Other detailing to main facade • Main entrance located towards the end of the western verandah (facing west). This features a 5-panel door, highlight and sidelights. • French doors facing south, at the end of the west verandah. • Rectangular bay window towards the western end of the front wall with single, narrow double hung windows on either side and a bank of 3 double hung windows to the front. The latter have a wide central sash, flanked by narrow sashes, with decorative moulded architraves featuring a button motif. • Another front window, partially screened from view by garden planting, appears to have a similar triple double-hung window form, with a plain rectangular sill over a decorative under-sill panel. Streetscape setting • House set back approximately 6m from the Barker Road frontage. • Lot width approximately 14.2m. • Side setback of approximately 1.4m along the western side and 600mm along the eastern side. • Car parking hardstand at the south-western corner of the site. • Front yard enclosed by a scalloped timber picket fence and gates. • Mature planting screens much of the eastern half of the façade from public views.

History

Subiaco's population increased significantly in the 1890s due to an economic depression in the eastern states and the discovery of gold in Western Australia. During the 1890s property developers bought large landholdings for subdivision in the Perth metropolitan area. The original subdivisions in Subiaco were generally simple grid pattern developments with small lots suitable for occupancy by working families. However, the more elevated parts of the suburb, particularly towards Kings Park, also attracted business and professional men and some lots were later amalgamated to accommodate their larger homes and gardens. Mixed development occurred and within the Park Street Heritage Area this ranged from narrow, single storey terrace housing through to a large 2-storey house set in spacious grounds. The readily available evidence indicates that the number of houses within this area increased from around 24 in 1901 to 72 in 1906; 86 in 1910; 91 in 1915, 94 in 1920 and 13 by 1925. Development then stabilised, with 106 houses and 1 block of flats identified in 1949. Perth Suburban Lot 209 was subdivided as Deposited Plan 419 in the early 1890s. This comprised 26 lots including 3 along the northern side of Barker Road (immediately west of Olive Street). The Subiaco Rate Book of 1903 listed Lot 16 as vacant land. By 1905 a house on this site was owned and occupied by J Anderson (commercial traveller). John Joseph Fletcher Anderson (c1869-1941) and Emily Lilias Sibley (c1860-1939) were married in Hobart in c.1894 and were still living there when their daughter was born in 1895. They appear to have settled in WA in c.1899 and at the time of John’s death in September 1941 it was reported that: Travelling the Murchison territory for the past 41½ years, Mr. Anderson was a well known authority on conditions outback. The Anderson family lived at 154 Barker Road until c.1917, during which time two newspaper notices (1906 & 1908) referred to their house as “Tavistock”. Other newspaper notices indicate that the family were active members of St Andrews, Subiaco. It has not been determined who Anderson worked for, but the size of his house suggests that he was successful in business. From c.1917 until at least the mid-twentieth century the occupants changed every few years, which suggests that it was primarily used as an investment property. A review of the Post Office Directories at around 5-yearly intervals (together with reference to contemporary Electoral Rolls) indicates that some of the primary residents during this period included:  1920: Mrs Laura Monson  1925: George Gunton (miner) In March 1925 a brief newspaper notice stated that J Gunton had sold the house. It is likely that this was George’s wife, Janey.  1930: George Henry McKerrow (carpenter) In the Rate Book of 1929-1930, the owner was listed as E Griffith.  1935: John James Woolley (retired)  1940: Listed as vacant in the Post Office Directory  1945 & 1949: Mrs Ella Merle Annear A plan of the site prepared in 1954 for the purpose of planning sewerage and water supply services shows that the original footprint of the residence was approximately half the size of the current building. By the early 1990s the At some stage prior to 1990 the main part of the house was clad with ‘Alu Tiles’ (laid over the original corrugated iron). In the early 1990s a large addition was constructed adjoining the rear, which altered the roof form including the addition of dormer windows. At this time the ‘Alu Tiles’ were removed and the roof clad with new corrugated sheeting. 154 Barker Road was adopted on the City of Subiaco Local Heritage Survey in 2003. It has been assessed as level 3 (contributes to the heritage of the City of Subiaco).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - High: the place remains in its original function as a residential dwelling. Authenticity - Medium: The authenticity of the house within its streetscape setting has been reduced by the painting of the original tuck-pointed face brickwork and alterations to the roofline towards the rear. The other external detailing to the main facade appears to be largely intact and/or has been generally sympathetically restored/renovated.

Condition

Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be in a good condition.

Uses

Creation Date

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