6 Lonnie Street

Statement of Significance

The place has cultural heritage significance for the City of Subiaco: • For the way in which it helps to illustrate the development of the south-western end of Daglish by the State Housing Commission in the period around 1950 (completing the work commenced in this area by the Workers Homes Board in 1940 (historic values). • As a representative example of the modest, functional houses built as part of the development of the southern part of Daglish by the State Housing Commission in the period around 1950 (aesthetic values).

Physical Description

Roof form and materials • Hipped roof, clad with red tiles. • Hipped tiled roof to entry porch. Wall materials and finishes • Stretcher-bond face brick in dappled red/liver tones. Form and detailing of main façade(s) • Generally symmetrical street façade, with the entry porch forming a prominent central element. • Symmetry off-set by a prominent rectangular chimney on the south-eastern side of the porch and a wrap-around window at the south-eastern corner. • Paired piers of different widths to the corners of the porch, linked by a low face-brick balustrade. • Casement window, with each panel divided into 4 horizontal panes. Streetscape setting • The house is set on an irregular 5-sided block and the front setback varies from about 8-11m. • The front boundary is defined by a timber picket fence. Major alterations • The openings above the verandah balustrade have been filled in with aluminium-framed windows, shaded by metal awnings. • A modern patio has been built in front of the house on the south-eastern side of the porch (c.2019).

History

From 1897 until the late 1930s, the south-western end of the present suburb of Daglish was occupied by a government reserve, which was used as a Department of Agriculture quarantine ground for imported grape vines (c.1897-1904); a stock quarantine ground (pre WWI); an egg-laying competition ground (used to promote the poultry industry, c.1905-1911 and 1919-1924); a Poultry School for disabled returned servicemen (c.1916-1918); and the Government Horse Yards (where 300-400 working horses were stabled, c.1925-1938). The Government Horse Yards were relocated to Herdsman Lake in 1938, and in c.1940/1941 the former site was opened up for residential development. Over the next decade this included the development of houses along Nicholl, Nash and Lonnie Streets, the north-western end of Luth Avenue and the western side of Cunningham Terrace. Lonnie Street was first identified in Western Australian Post Office Directories in 1942, by which time 2 houses had been built, but development then ceased until c.1950. In 1951 a plan showing areas being developed by the State Housing Commission (SHC) in Floreat and Daglish was published in The West Australian. This included the section of Daglish bounded by Nicholl Street (southern side), Cunningham Terrace (western side), Lonnie Street (northern side) and what is now known as Charles Stokes Park. At that time the Daglish site was described as “a fully built up area” while the others were still in progress or pending development. The SHC had taken over from the Workers Homes Board in 1946/47 and commenced a major post-war construction program, including both rental and purchase schemes. As part of this program, available pockets of land were developed throughout the metropolitan area and in rural centres. The readily available evidence indicates that 6 Lonnie Street was constructed by the SHC in c.1950 as part of this post war effort to reduce the housing shortage in Western Australia. In 2016 a preliminary heritage assessment of the City of Subiaco’s Station Precincts identified this house as retaining a high degree of authenticity, as viewed from the street. It was subsequently entered in the Local Heritage Survey (Level 3 - Some Significance). Note: 6 Lonnie Street appears to have been constructed as a reverse image of the contemporary house at 19 Nicholl Street. This suggests that this was one of the standard designs used by the SHC at this time.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium: the authenticity has been diminished by the enclosure of the front porch, but the original design can still be readily understood.

Condition

Fair to Good: based on a streetscape inspection, the building appears to be generally in a sound condition (with some evidence of fretting mortar to the verandah balustrade).

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

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