Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Statement of Significance

• The place has aesthetic value as an excellent intact example of a residence built in the late 19th century in the Victorian Georgian style within a garden setting including an impressive Morton Bay Fig Tree. • The place has historic value for its association with the development of the district in the 19th century. • The place has social value as a demonstration of the type of accommodation built in the late 19th century for affluent members of the community. • The place has historic value for its association with early settlers, the Dodd, Thompson and Lukin families.

Physical Description

A magnificent Moreton Bay Fig is positioned in the corner of the garden and branches out over to the far side of the road. The garden also contains a myriad of mature planting to create a luxurious setting of dense planting to the house. The Moreton Bay Fig is marked by a National Trust plaque commemorating the planting in the late 19th century on land originally cultivated by the Dodd family, who were early settlers of Western Australia. The property is situated behind a high brick wall which obscured much of the place from clear view from the street. The place is of single storey painted brick and tile construction with a shallow pitched hipped roof with a tall brick corbelled chimney to the front plane of the roof. The roof sweeps down to form the verandah canopy with a subtle break of pitch and is supported on square timber posts with a paved deck

History

This residence was originally built c1873 for Mary Ann, nee Dodd and John Thompson. Mary Ann's parents Jane and James Dodd established the Cleikum Inn in the 1830s on a site on the southern side of the road between Perth and Guildford just west of the Swan River. The 40 acre landholding was transferred to their daughter Mary and, on her return to the area in the 1870s with her husband, they built this home and the family later subdivided the land around it under the name of the 'Nurstead Estate'. A name which recognised her mother's ancestral home in England. Mary and John Thompson had married in 1854 in York and they had three children all of whom relocated to West Guildford with their parents in the 1870s. John Thompson is believed to have built the original cottage which has undergone many additions and alterations. The Morton Bay Fig tree which dominates the streetscape and is planted within the grounds of the property is believed to have been planted by John and Mary Ann Thompson when they settled at this residence in the 1870s. From c1910, the house was occupied by George Lukin (c1853-1931), who named the house, Wilgoyne. Information from the current [2017] owner states that the place has undergone internal modifications and additions that have removed original elements. Externally the residence has been extended and the original brickwork painted and new windows inserted.

Integrity/Authenticity

High Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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