House

Statement of Significance

The place has aesthetic significance as a particularly fine example of the architectural style typical of the area and period. It has historic significance reflecting the development and settlement of the area.

Physical Description

Single storey red brick and tile residence. Flying gable to front of house. Pebble dash panel and timber battens to gable end. Highly decorative rendered panel above front window. Cornice moulding below panel. Window comprises four casement sashes with fixed panels above and decorative timber skirt to large sill. Small gable over entrance to verandah. Fretted timber bracketing to verandah. Rendered string course to walls. Limestone footings. Note use of woodwork rather than iron lace decoration, due to expense, time and cost of transport at time of building.

History

The earliest development in the Triangle was, naturally, closest to the Hay Street commercial centre. Churchill Avenue and Barker Road, and the side streets such as Axon Street, Townshend Road, Olive Street and Coghlan Road, were mostly developed by 1905. Development then spread into the central area between Bagot and Heytesbury Roads by 1915, followed by the southern portion, along Thomas Road. One of the first land releases was Berry Brow Estate which extended from Rokeby to Townshend Roads, between Hay St and Barker Road. It was marketed as the 'Toorak of Perth.' Others were Bowral Park (1896), the north east corner of the Triangle around Barker and Coghlan Roads, and Parkerville Estate, the stretch of Townshend Road between Barker and Bagot Roads. The area has always been predominately residential, and indeed, the Triangle gained a reputation in the early days as being a prestigious area - workers settled along the railway line, and the more affluent moved up the hill to what was perceived as the better part of Subiaco. One of the earliest public buildings in the area was the Home of the Peace, on Hamersley Road and Thomas Street, which opened in 1902. Other public buildings include St Andrew's and St Catherine's churches. Thomas Street was gazetted by 1883, and named after Mr J H Thomas, Director of PWD. (Sources: Wise's Post Office Directory 1905-1925; Real Estate Maps, Battye Library Collection; Spillman, Ken, Identity Prized: A History of Subiaco, City of Subiaco, UWA Press, 1985, p. 74; Chate, A, H., History of Subiaco, c1952; Moore, D., Subiaco - Attitudes and Ecological Succession, no date, c 1980.)

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Historic Themes

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