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 the standard of modest rental accommodation built for people such as tradesmen, junior employees, labourers and single women/widows in Subiaco during the early twentieth century. • As a good representative example of the application of materials and detailing which were common in the early 20th century, but which were applied in a more restrained manner for investment properties. • 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 130 Townshend Road was designed as simple weatherboard cottage and does not represent any of the major architectural styles. It was designed to a scale and form generally considered suitable for occupiers such as office workers, retail employees and both skilled and unskilled tradesmen. Plan form at the street frontage • Generally symmetrical façade, offset bay a bay window to one of the front rooms. Roof form and materials • Hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. • Raked verandah roof extending in a continuous line from the main roof. • Rendered chimney with a projecting cap. Wall materials and finishes to the main facade • Rusticated weatherboards. Other detailing to main facade • Bay window to the centre of the room on the northern side of the main entrance. • Centrally located entrance door, with moulded architraves and plain highlight (no sidelights). • Full-height double-hung window to each of the front rooms. Moulded timber architraves, plain sills. • Turned timber verandah posts and carved timber brackets (c.2008 reconstruction). Streetscape setting • House set back approximately 4.2m from the Townshend Road frontage. • Lot width approximately 10.9m. • Side setback of approximately 1m from the northern boundary and 700mm from the southern boundary. • Front yard enclosed by a scalloped top timber picket fence.

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 220 was subdivided as Deposited Plan 1552 in 1896 and advertised as the “Parkerville Estate”. This comprised 38 lots with frontages along the eastern side of Townshend Road (between Barker and Bagot Roads), part of the southern side of Barker Road, part of Salisbury Avenue (renamed as part of Park Street in 1901) and part of the northern side of Bagot Road. The Townshend Road part of this subdivision was developed at an early date. The Post Office Directories identified 8 primary residents in this area in 1901 and all 14 lots had been developed by 1905 (11 of which appear to have been occupied by weatherboard cottages). Entries Subiaco Rate Books show that James Allan owned houses on Lots 30, 31 and 32 by 1903 and that he was living in the house on Lot 32 until c.1910 (142 Townshend Road, demolished 2017). Allan was working as a ‘contractor’ in Subiaco in 1899 (when a cottage he owned and occupied on the corner of Bagot and Townshend Roads was destroyed by fire). In the Electoral Rolls of 1903 & 1906 he was listed in the Electoral Rolls as a ‘contractor’ of Bagot Road, while in the Rate Books of 1905 he was described as a builder. This suggests that Allan may have been responsible for the construction of the group of 3 weatherboard houses subsequently known as 136, 140 and 142 Townshend Road. By 1910-1911 the owner’s name had been changed to Mrs J Allan (Elizabeth) and she retained ownership of 136 and 140 until at least 1916 (although #142 had been sold by 1912-1913). The first recorded occupant of 140 Townshend Road was Edward Herron (moulder), who had settled here by 1903. Edward Herron (c.1862-1951) and Emily Louisa Abud (c.1862-1942) were married in Victoria in c.1890 and this couple had at least 3 children: Sydney (c.1891, died in infancy); Veronique Janet (c.1896) and Edward Eric (c.1902). Members of this family lived at 140 Townshend Road until c.1921, after which they established another long-term family home at 122 Townshend Road. The next long-term residents were Alfred Babb (c.1860-1940) (retired) and his wife Sarah Ann (c.1864-1935), who settled here in c.1925 and remained for the rest of their lives. After Alfred’s death the house was offered for sale by the executors of his estate: Lot 31 of Perth Sub Lot 220, Plan 1552, with a frontage of 36ft. by a depth of 122ft. with a J.W.B. Cottage containing 4 main rooms, kitchen, vestibule, enclosed rear ver., pantry, sleep-out, sewered. etc. 140 Townshend Road was then occupied by George Arthur Cochrane, a painter, and his wife Emily until the late 1950s. A plan of the site updated in 1954 for the purpose of planning sewerage and water supply services; a plan for alterations submitted to the Council in 1968; and plans for major rear additions prepared in 2007 confirm that the rear of the place has been progressively altered and extended, but that the extent of the original 4-room residence is still clearly evident. Plans submitted to the Council in 1968 note that the front verandah had been “fully enclosed in fibro and louvres”, but that it was proposed to reinstate it as an open verandah and reconstruct the floor. The plans also show that there was no bay window to the front room at that time. A photograph taken in 2002 indicates that there was no surviving evidence of the original verandah posts and trim. The c.2008 additions removed all of the earlier rear additions and replaced them with a new two-storey structure. The plans prepared for these works showed the bay window as a previously completed adaptation of the façade. Townshend 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 continues to be used as a private residence. Medium: The main façade has been modified by the construction of a bay window to the room on the northern side and a generally sympathetic reconstruction of the verandah.

Condition

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

Uses

Creation Date

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