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Victorian Homes
“Pontville”
“Friedensruh"
“Tullamore"
Victorian Homes
Homes of the 1920-1930 era
We have a tendency to regard history as a time far into the past, remote perhaps from ourselves and our present may of life. The house we lived in as children is part of history, at least our personal perception of our own past. Most of us have a nostalgic attachment to the home of our childhood, and these often lesser regarded houses can be important landmarks signifying a sense of familiarity and local character. The inter war houses of the 1920 - 30 period are sparsely represented in our city, but are interesting due to the distinctive styles of architecture which developed at that time. Apart from the large substantial homes built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, most people had lived in simple timber cottages in the last decades of the nineteenth century. These cottages were functional and utilitarian in design and were universal as dwellings for the lower middle class.
By 1920, greater sophistication and affluence provided the opportunity for many to own a more substantial home. The acute housing shortage after World War 1 prompted improved housing for many, encouraging detached houses and led to the emergence of specific architectural styles common to the period. The best known and most popular of the inter war house styles were the type known as the "Bungalow ". Bungalow really referred to a detached single story dwelling, but it also became connected with several different styles, the most common being the Californian Bungalow. This came in several different characters, and many builders used a variety of hybrid styles, with differing detail to vary the generally economic basic design.
The Californian Bungalow actually derived from the West coast of U S A. and was variously adapted for Australia. Generally the style was of a small house with pitched, broad roof and heavy , prominent verandahs supported by large piers of brick, or timber supported by brick columns.
In Doncaster-Templestowe we are lucky to have a variety of Californian Bungalows in good condition. One in particular, "Caringa" in Monkton Rd Templestowe (Alternate spelling "Monckton") is a complete and most typical example of the style. It has major and minor gables with a verandah the width of the house in the angle of the minor gable. Many of this style of bungalow were decorated with roughcast or render and the Monkton Rd house has timber shingles on the gables so typical of the style. The four verandah posts are of brick, and support upper fretwork in timber. To add to the attraction of this 1920 house, is a period garden in the usual style of the era with a wire and timber fence and wire gate with straight path leading to the front door. The State Bank provided a design service for those who wanted to avail themselves of a bank loan. Or returned soldiers could buy a house built by the War Service Homes Commission to one of a variety of designs.
A simple timber house with wide gable roof in Park Rd Donvale, is believed to be of this type. State Bank Housing Scheme House Type 20 was the most common design, sometimes with double or triple windows, brick balustrade and timber post pairs.
A late Californian Bungalow house with the usual major and minor gables facing the street was built in Tindal's Rd, Donvale for Walter Aumann. This house has a verandah with concrete Tuscan columns over a solid balustrade and is of interest as a house associated with the well known orchard family. "San Souci" in Elgar Rd is a variety of California Bungalow with some special features. The roof is made of Marseilles terra cotta tiles and the gables are decorated with the timber shingles so popular in the 1920-30s. The large gable on this house forms the extension on a verandah supported on concrete Romanesque twist barley sugar columns on bases of red bricks. The three separate windows adjacent to each other forming one complete window are called triples.
A beautiful example of a large double fronted Californian Bungalow is in Linton Ave Templestowe. The paintwork is in the correct colours for the period and the minor gable on the roof has some features typical of the inter war period. These are decorative timbering and the use of roughcast rendering on the gable. The fence of brick piers with wire mesh between the piers is probably original to the house and is appropriate to the overall style.
In the 1920-30s, brick houses usually had brick fences, and timber houses timber and wire mesh fences, the latter often for economy to finish off a cheaper timber home. A very interesting example, perhaps the only one in the municipality of a combined shop and residence, is in Yarra St Warrandyte. This house of the 1920 - 30's period is a typical timber house with plain gables facing the street, the minor front one containing the shop front (unused in the 1990s) The shop is of, the usual traditional style with a central door set back from a display window on either side. It is painted in a cream and green combination which was the most popular colour scheme used in inter war houses. The lattice covered section on the side and the balustrade is in keeping with the whole. It is important to research the appropriate colours when restoring a period home of any era, and the larger paint companies have the correct colour chart for each kind of home. During the inter war period, colours generally used were cream and Brunswick green, buff and other stone shades and Indian red, a deep claret colour. In the brown range, Mission or Bungalow Brown were popular, sometimes lightened by Ivory or French grey. Pale coral or light green were other choices.
Roofs of Californian Bungalows were often of terra cotta tiles or corrugated iron, these often painted green or dark red. In restoration, it is important to regard the house as an entity, with the garden, fences, and path to the front door appropriate in style. The picket fences with decorative tops are generally incorrect for 1920s houses. More correctly, a low brick or stucco covered fence to match the house itself is a better choice. For a timber house, a crimp or woven wire fence with a wire gate is the proper choice. Often, houses of the inter war period had low hedges along the fence each side of the gate. The path in many was of concrete, painted green, going straight up to the front door. Sometimes it was a formal curve, bordered on each side with neat flower beds, planted seasonally with bright coloured annuals. Lawns of buffalo grass, perhaps with a specimen tree or standard rose in the centre formed the nucleus of the front garden. Imported species was the norm, with the emphasis on small flowering shrubs, bulbs, roses and annuals at the lower level. Generally, the enthusiasm for Australian native gardens, apart from the odd small tree or bush was to come at a later date. Car ports are inappropriate for the period. Mostly driveways were at the side of the house, leading to a detached garage with wooden doors set back level with the house rear, close to the back door. To soften the bitumen or gravel drive, a grassed central strip was left in the centre of the driveway.
A variation on the Californian Bungalow was the Craftsman Bungalow. "Journeys End" in Bridge Rd Bulletin is a fine example of this style in our municipality. The house is two storey, built of timber with a major gable containing a protruding room (once a balcony) under the gable. Typically, shingles cover the upper gables. There is a minor gable on the west side of the house and Marseilles tiles cover the roof. This style of bungalow differs from the more common Californian in so far as Craftsman bungalows are often two storey, incorporating an attic room, sometimes with dormer windows. Instead of the heavy, dominant verandah, giving a squat horizontal line to the house, " Journeys End" has the angled verandah porch common in the more expensive, slightly grander Craftsman bungalows. We are fortunate to have such an attractive example of this style in Doncaster and Templestowe, a rarity here but quite common in Kew and Camberwell.
Westerfolds Manor in Templestowe is yet another variation of the bungalow type, one of larger and grander proportions. The Manor is a fine example of the English Cottage style bungalow with many of the characteristics of the style which was named after the style of many 1930's era homes in England. This grand house, standing at the top of a hill overlooking Westerfolds Park is seen at its best unobscured by any trees or surrounding foliage. Westerfolds Manor , built in 1936, is an imposing two storey brick house of asymmetrical design. The "L " shaped plan has multi- gables, with a tiled steeply gabled roof and is set off with attractive tall, rather mediaeval chimneys. The windows are double hung pairs with multi pane glass at the top. The whole evokes some of the more modern manor houses seen in the Home Counties of England and the interior reflects the Tudor paneled halls of mediaeval England. Typical art deco, geometric style plaster moulds decorate the ceilings. The rooms, large and well proportioned are painted white near the ceiling and have lovely timber panelling on the lower walls. No longer a private home, the Manor is a beautiful spot for the headquarters of Melbourne Water's Westerfold Park. The lovely gracious rooms provide a perfect setting for conservation displays and conferences set up by Melbourne Water staff for the interest and education of the public.
"Wellwood Manor " in Donvale is a superb example of an English or Tudor style bungalow. It has a steeply pitched roof and brick nogging, the brickwork being in a herringbone pattern. There is half timbering on the upper gables, this painted white in a tudor pattern, similar to Westerfolds Manor. The house features a large prominent chimney and decorative diamond patterned leadlights. The fancy brickwork is even carried over on to the side garage. A special feature in the grounds, is a charming little child's playhouse quaintly resembling a medieval cruck barn. It has a tiled roof and upper storey of shaped timber to complement the house and a pretty little diamond paned casement window on the top storey. This is really a child's dream come true ! The house has a lych gate on the street entrance appropriate in this style of home. Originally a lych gate was at the entrance to a church as a resting place for a coffin on its way into the church and later it became a shelter for parishioners.
Another house style derived from South West U S A, the Spanish Mission type was the style chosen for the Park Orchards Chalet. Originally planned as a clubhouse for a Country Club to be established on the Park Orchards Estate, this grand house was built around 1928. The Chalet has many features of the Spanish Mission Style with the roughcast render walls and tall arched windows. The roughcast effect provides the texture typical of Spanish or Moorish houses in the Mediterranean. The whole is painted white with features picked out in black. Shutters on the outside of the windows invoke visions of sunny Spain where the hot midday sun is repelled by shutters drawn over glass windows. The tessellated tops of shaped chimneys on the Chalet, are a reminder of Spanish and Morrocan mediaeval castles. A more recent addition of the black wrought iron which edges the balconies is sympathetic with the Spanish Mission style.
These 1920-30s homes, clearly now in a minority among the plethora of houses built in the last forty years, stand out as an interesting reflection of the architectural styles of the times: It is pleasing to see how many of them arc in good condition, obviously cared for by proud owners. Many of these have sought expert advice when contemplating painting or other alterations. This will ensure a sympathetic result in the style of the original house. The presence in any community of a variety of homes from many eras, adds interest and richness to the streetscape. It is to be hoped that these inter war houses will continue to he preserved and cherished for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
Source: Judith Leaney writing in 1996 09 DTHS Newsletter
Edwardian or Federation Style Homes
The Federation house was the first distinctively Australian house style. The earlier Georgian and Victorian styles were largely an inheritance of the early British settlers who brought their architectural preferences with them. Often indeed houses were carried on ships, stripped down to portable proportions and re- erected in Australia. Settlers were thus able to set up their homes, complete with Victorian furniture, pictures and carpets as reproductions of the lifestyle they were so used to in England.
The small worker's cottage made of wattle and daub or rough hewn timber with a wide verandah around the outside, can more accurately be described as the earliest representation of an authentic Australian style of architecture.
These small homes, however, were often transitory and unplanned, being added to willy nilly as the family grew, and cannot be said to constitute any particular form or style.
By 1900, the growing middle classes, on the wave of prosperity which accompanied Federation, together with the pride engendered in the proclamation of a new nation - The Commonwealth of Australia - were able to afford a mogri) substantial home. The great Exhibitions of 1880 and 1888 had fostered the push for an Australian identity which had its origins in the Gold Rush of the 1850's. At Federation in 1901 in Australia, as in much of the Western world, a sense of optimism had arisen. Problems, about since the Industrial Revolution, could at last be solved due to technological and scientific advances. The telephone and electricity had been invented and were spreading throughout the country. Transport in particular had improved. Rail links were advancing, the motor car was in its infancy, even powered flight had made a beginning.
The ability to travel into the city for work by train and tram obviated the need to live in crowded inner suburban terraces, which by 1990 were sinking into slums. Town planning schemes were mooted, many designed as garden suburbs centred around tramlines. These were purely residential zonings consisting of brick houses with tiled roofs, complete with gardens and wide tree lined streets with nature strips. As sewers were gradually replacing the old pan system, there was no need for rear lanes. Central shopping centres were planned and the old style corner shop had no place in the sparkling new subdivisions. Generally the growing middle classes embraced this new concept and the quarter acre block with detached house and garden which has become a symbol of the Australian way of life, was born.
The Federation style of architecture is rather a mish mash. Borrowing elements from Queen Anne, the Arts and Crafts movement, and Art Nouveau styles, nevertheless the Federation house developed a style which is uniquely Australian.
The Arts and Crafts movement in particular with its emphasis on craftsmanship, use of regional materials and a certain rusticity, had an influence on houses built in the first two decades of the twentieth century. The swing away from the heavily ornamented grand and somewhat sombre Victorian house led to the romantic and picturesque Federation house. There are many examples of the more ornate Federation style homes in the older suburbs of Kew and Hawthorn. Roofs featuring gables, dormer windows, turrets and corner towers (often called candlesnuffers) abound.
In Doncaster and Templestowe, the examples of Federation style houses are more subdued as befitted a rural area where the homestead was usually a farmhouse situated on a large orchard acreage. Many of these feature the open verandah around the house as a protection from the sun and to catch the breeze.
"Morialta" the home of John and Emily Read, the orcharding family in Templestowe, is an example of the transitional style from the Victorian to Edwardian period. Many houses show characteristics of overlapping periods. Often new styles are slow to take on, as people generally are conservative and unwilling to embrace unfamiliar ideas. The Read home is an asymmetrical timber house with Victorian Italianate features, but the use of beautiful timber fretwork on verandah brackets and the general use of decorative timber is very characteristic of Federation style.
The Trinity Lutheran Manse in Victoria St Doncaster is a classic example of a Federation home built in the first decade of this century. Said to have been designed by A B Koch who designed the neighbouring church, the house has many features of the Federation style. Red bricks were used in the construction of the Manse. One of the main changes from Victorian style to Edwardian was the use of rich earth coloured brickwork. In contrast to the grey stucco covered walls of many Victorian buildings, the down to earth honesty of ruddy tones, was typical of the Romantic Federation period. The Manse has a corrugated iron roof with gable bays projecting each way. The gable ends are decorated with the timber fretwork beloved of Federation architects. Scroll brackets have hanging barge boards embellished with timber motifs in a chrysanthemum design. The roof has a gambrel, or small crest at the ridge with terra cotta cresting and finials. Decorative brickwork distinguishes the chimneys. Curved valances on the verandahs between the turned timber posts typify the Federation style which emphasised rounded shapes in direct contrast to the geometric precision of the Victorian style.
The Edwardian timber house north of the Doncaster and Williamson Rd junction, formerly the home of the orchardist Otto Bloom is at risk, due to its proximity to commercial development. Surrounded by factories and offices, it has lost some verandah features since the Heritage Study was written. The house is built of timber, with a hip roof and two projecting gables. A side window has a skillion hood. The angle verandah is decorated with a valance with curved timber and rails. Some of these have been removed or have collapsed. This use of curved timber was very popular in Federation architecture and gives a pleasant decorative appearance to the facade.
Source: Judith Leaney writing in 1995 03 DTHS Newsletter
Edwardian or Federation Style Homes
A particular feature of many Federation roofs was the use of terra cotta Marseilles tiles. The tile had won a medal at Melbourne's Centenary Exhibition in 1888. The bright red tile was somewhat slow to achieve popularity, but by the turn of the century was a favourite with architects and builders. It had been invented by Galardon Bros of Alsace France and was imported in large quantities by the firm of Wunderlich. All decorative terracotta work during the Federation era was an unglazed apricot colour. The Wunderlich catalogue contained a variety of finials and decorated gargoyles together with delicate crested ridge capping in many designs. After World War 1, shipping curtailment forced Wunderlich into local production in a factory at Brunswick where millions of tiles were made.
"Yarra Lodge" formerly Hemsworth House, in Yarra St Warrandyte was built in 1906 for the Blair family. The house then known as Koh-i-Noor is a delightful example of the Federation style. Built of timber, it is a triple fronted house painted cream and green, a suitable colour combination of the era. The roof is of Marseilles tiles, with full crested ridge capping in terra cotta tiles. The finial on the edge was known as "Ram's Horn" a very popular design of the period, widely used.
The turned timber posts on the verandah are fitted between a valance of cast iron in a fancy design. An appropriate garden is fenced off by a wooden picket fence painted cream and grey blue, again an excellent choice.
Fierce dragons and other gargoyles were popular as finial decoration but local flavour was introduced by using designs of gumnuts, kangaroos and emus. The Melbourne firm of Rocke and Co were foremost in the production of these patriotic emblems.
There is a beautiful Edwardian house on the corner of Mitcham and Ruby St Donvale. It is a triple fronted house with gables facing the front and side. A very pretty minor gable is at the front corner above a corner window. This is decorated with a turned timber finial. The verandah is a continuation of the roof and has a delightful fretwork design frieze along its length. The paintwork is very appropriate in its use of lemon yellow and white which is continued in the garage and outhouses at the rear. The whole is set in an attractive period garden which provides privacy and acts as a noise barrier.
The influence of Art Nouveau decoration can be seen on the porch of River Clay shop in Yarra St. Warrandyte. Art Nouveau was a movement early in the century to lay emphasis on curved flowing lines as opposed to traditional styles of architecture, on Victorian and earlier buildings. The River Clay building is small, with a front facing gable porch, decorated with roughcast with a fretwork valance curved in the Art Nouveau manner. A balustrade in timber finishes off the attractive front porch.
There is no particular time when one style ceases and another takes its place. A transitional or over lapping period exists, as some owners are always anxious to embrace new architectural styles and others cling to the older more familiar style. The Edwardian style gradually gave way to the Inter-War bungalow types as costs increased and the m elaborate roof styling and decoration became prohibitive financially. An example of this transitional period, is a house in Foote St Templestowe. This house is the usual hip roofed Edwardian timber style with minor gables on both sides. Roughcast with timber decoration is on the upper gables. The unusual feature here is the use of barge boards curved as in a Japanese pagoda on the front of the house. These were a feature of the Japanese bungalow variation of the bungalow types built during the 1920 - 30 period.
Source: Judith Leaney writing in 1995 06 DTHS Newsletter
Heritage Revisited
To give a email financial assistance to the owners of the properties named in the report, a Heritage Fund has been set up and many property owners have successfully applied for and received small grants to improve their houses or to receive advice on appropriate treatments. Time does not stand still, and since that time we have sadly lost several homes listed in the 1991 report. But the good news is that many people, encouraged by the interest shown in their homes, have completed beautiful appropriate alterations, repainted in suitable colours, and are proudly more aware of the heritage value of their properties.
"Heimat", the lovely old homestead in George St near the Reischiecks Sporting Reserve, is recognised by the council as a valuable heritage property, and will be retained. Its future is problematical, but it will possibly be leased to a tenant and thus kept permanently as a City of Manningham property.
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