Minawarra

Values

The place is a very well executed and substantial Federation Queen Anne residence located in landscaped grounds.

The place has associations with the establishment of the Peppermint Grove suburb in the late 1890s and early 1900s largely as a result of the increased settlement during the state’s gold rushes in the 1880s and 1890s

The place is representative of the ‘grand houses’ constructed at the turn of the twentieth century in the Peppermint Grove area.

Physical Description

Set well back behind mature trees, this large Federation Queen Anne style limestone and terracotta single storey residence has paired bays with half timber gables. Its eastern end has an L-shaped timber verandah. The setting of the house in impeded by development to the east and west, which partly obscure views of the western and eastern bays.

History

Peppermint Grove was Swan Location 84, which was originally granted to John Butler in 1832. The land was sold to a syndicate in 1887, which included George Leake, Charles Crossland and Alexander Forrest, and had been surveyed for subdivision by 1891. Building did not begin in the area until the mid 1890s at the time when there was increased settlement and economic prosperity as a result of the state’s goldrushes in the 1880s and 1890s. By the turn of the twentieth century, the area was dominated by substantial residences located in the landscaped gardens and grounds of large residential lots. The Peppermint Grove Road Board, established as a separate road board in 1899, influenced building construction at this time, favouring the use of Cottesloe stone and timber shingles constructed in the area. Minawarra was designed by J. J. Talbot Hobbs and built in c. 1900 for politician Sir Walter James. James was born in the Swan River Colony in 1863 to Edward James Snr and Lucy James (nee Francisco). He was admitted to the WA Bar in 1888, and became a partner of the law firm Stone, James & Partners. Sir Walter James became a prominent politician in the late 1890s and was elected as the member of the Legislative Assembly for East Perth from 1894 to 1904. Whilst in Parliament, James became a strong campaigner and champion for the lower classes, the franchise of women and the cause for federation. From 1902 to 1904, James was the Premier of WA and was also appointed Attorney General from 1902 to 1906. He was later Chancellor of UWA from 1930 to 1936. The property was purchased by the Vincent family in the early 1920s. Mrs. W. H. Vincent was well known in the area from the 1930s to the 1960s as the founder of the Kylie Music Club and the Minawarra Chamber of Music Club, which both met at her home for a number of years.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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