House

Statement of Significance

House, 316 Wharf Street, Queens Park, a timber-framed, fibrous cement clad and cement tile roofed house with a face brick chimney, is significant for the following reasons:

It is a surviving example of prefabricated housing built in the Post-War period; and,
It contributes to the community’s sense of place as a tangible reminder of the City of Canning’s growth in the Post-War period.

Aesthetic Value:
House, 316 Wharf Street is a representative example of a Post-War Austerity Cottage.
Historic Values:
House, 316 Wharf Street is representative of the period of growth in Queens Park immediately following World War II when the suburb grew rapidly, and prefabricated housing was a viable solution.
Social Values:
House, 316 Wharf Street contributes to the community’s sense of place as a tangible reminder of the history and development of the City of Canning.
Scientific Values:
House, 316 Wharf Street demonstrates the type of pre-fabricated technology the State Government adopted to build houses quickly and economically in the Post-War period.
Rarity
The place is an example of a Post-War timber framed, fibrous cement clad, prefabricated house.
Representativeness:
The place is a representative example of a Post-War Austerity Cottage typical in Queens Park during the 1950s.

Physical Description

House, 316 Wharf Street is a timber framed building on stumps, clad in fibrous cement sheeting, with a simple hipped, cement tile roof. The composition of the street facing facade is symmetrical with a protruding central porch with a pitched roof, flanked on either side by timber-framed casement windows. All other windows have been replaced with
aluminium framed windows. The verandah floor is red painted cement. The chimney at the eastern end is constructed of face brick. There is no boundary fence.
Solar panels have been added to the street facing roof pitch and the original lot has been subdivided in a battle-axe configuration, with a new house built at the rear.

History

Queens Park was originally called Woodlupine, after Woodlupine Creek. This was named by colonial British settlers in recognition of the heavily treed woods and an abundance of lupin flowers. The railway station opened in 1899. The suburb’s name changed in 1912 to Queens Park, said to honour Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII. Later, some of it became East Cannington and St James.
The Queens Park Primary School opened in 1906 to serve children of the surrounding area, which was made up of rural properties such as poultry farms, piggeries, market gardens and orchards. Sister Kate’s was established in 1934, at that time only accessible via a sandy track. It was not until the Post-War period that the rural nature of Queens Park changed
into the residential suburb, with rapid growth and development occurring from 1950 into the 1960s.
Aerial photographs show that 316 Wharf Street was built between 1953 and 1965. It is a typical Post-War house, modest in scale and materiality, reflecting a period of austerity and materials shortages, especially those built by the State Housing Commission (SHC). Queens Park was one of several ‘Housing Commission sponsored areas’ in the metropolitan area,
developed in a decade where around 73% of SHC homes were timber framed, rather than of brick construction.
It is typical of the 1954-1956, SHC pre-cut, timber framed homes. These were being produced by mid-1954 for country towns, and typically comprised two or three bedrooms, kitchen, living room and sometimes a dining room, with wood or fuel stoves, fireplaces and laundry. Influenced by Modernist design, they lacked decoration, but sold well due to their
affordability.
Delivered by the SHC to ‘cut out ready to erect and complete in every detail’ they were later referred to as ‘labour only’ homes. The houses could be put up very quickly – sometimes in as little as two weeks, but more ordinarily taking about six weeks. In the first six months of scheme, pre-cut homes were erected in 53 country towns.
Since it worked so successfully in country areas, the scheme was initiated in the Metropolitan area from 1954. In the first six months, 402 pre-cut houses were delivered to Perth suburban locations, with 176 completed in this time.
The Commission believed it was addressing concerns about uniformity as ‘careful planning is provided for alternate siting, which will result in pleasing variation’. There were ten pre-cut designs in use. The pre-cut housing scheme was discontinued in January 1956, on account of the general contraction of the building industry in this period, except for homes in the Northwest. In the five years the scheme had operated, 3,717 pre-cut SHC homes were erected, of which 2,371 were in country areas.
In 1959, State Building Supplies issued a booklet of eleven standard plans for pre-cut homes to make available to the general public the low-cost designs that had been used by the government. Everything except electrical fittings was supplied, with clear instructions so that while it was ‘recommended’ to have a builder supervise it was ‘not necessary’.
Hundreds of tenants under the Commonwealth-State Rental Housing Agreement Act (1945) applied to purchase their rental homes in the 1950s. The 1956 Housing Agreement Act further moved focus away from rental properties to encouraging home ownership and divested power to the States to determine the terms on which homes were to be offered to applicants.
Aerial photographs show that c. 2010 the block was subdivided for a new development at the rear.
More research would determine if 316 Wharf Street was built by the SHC. The SHC Annual Reports sometimes identified specific street addresses. A historical Certificate of Title search or Rates Book search is another avenue which may assist.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - High
Authenticity - Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.