Houses at 51-53 Goderich Street

Statement of Significance

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE gazetted with permanent entry (as amended) of State Registered Place (23/07/2004) Houses at 51-53 Goderich Street, two brick houses with corrugated iron roofs, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
+ the place is a rare intact example of vernacular Victorian Georgian architecture constructed in Perth in the 1870s and 1880;
+ the place demonstrates the typical rental accommodation available to average urban residents in Perth in the 1870s and 1880s: and
+ the two houses contribute to the significance of the Goderich Street Group Precinct in East Perth.
The linking structure between the two houses is considered to be of no significance

Physical Description

External - 51 Goderich Street is a single storey, free-standing, brick house. It features a symmetrical façade set under a hipped roof, which has an east-west ridgeline and is clad with short-sheet corrugated iron. The Heritage Council’s Assessment Documentation for 51-53 Goderich Street, dated 23 July 2004, states that the roof was originally covered with shingles and that some original shingles were still in-situ at that time. Evidence of this continues to be visible to parts of the verandah. Two chimneys remain towards the rear of the west elevation. Each of these was constructed of face-brick (now painted), with a single-course projecting string, a two-course stepped cap, and an arched brick chimney cowl.

The verandah, which extends across the main frontage and returns along the eastern side of the house, has a dropped, hipped roof, with a small gable over the central entrance. The floor is clad with timber boards and a timber lattice privacy screen partially encloses the western end. Each of the square timber verandah posts has a plain plinth, stop chamfered corners, a slender cornice, and a simple drop detail to the upper face. Above the cornice, the posts are linked by shallow arched solid timber valance panels, with boxed projecting eaves over.

The north and west façades are finished with tuck-pointed face-brick in Flemish bond, with a rendered base course. The main (north) facade features a large semicircular arch over the front door and segmental arches over the windows. The western wall has been painted.

The central entrance is fitted with a three-panel door. The upper half is fitted with a stained glass panel with a ribbon and vase design. Above the door, the semi-circular highlight is fitted with stained glass in a complementary style. Each of the front rooms (flanking the entrance hall) has a wide double hung window with six-panes to each sash. These have plain, square profile rendered sills. Along the eastern elevation, two sets of French doors open onto the side verandah.

The house is set slightly above the level of the street and two steps link the front gate and the verandah. The front boundary is defined by a face brick plinth and posts, with rendered capping and spear topped metal rod infill panels. On the eastern side of the house a modern double carport and garden shed have been constructed with detailing reflecting that of the house.

Along the eastern (Forrest Avenue) frontage there is an early Flemish bond brick fence that may date from the same time as the house. This has an 11-course plinth capped by a triangular profile rendered cap. The length of the fence is divided into panels by 21-course face brick posts with pyramid shaped rendered caps. Spear topped metal rod infill panels link the posts above the plinth.

Internal - The Heritage Council’s Assessment Documentation for 51-53 Goderich Street, dated 23 July 2004, includes the following information about the interior of 51 Goderich Street:
The floor plan of No. 51 is typical of a slightly more substantial nineteenth century cottage ……[The place has] two front rooms located off a centrally located hallway, which extends the depth of the main building and a further two rooms behind. The kitchen is located under the skillion verandah across the back of the building. The two front windows have double hung six pane sash windows. The back verandah has been enclosed at a later date to accommodate bathroom and laundry and a verandah on the eastern side has been partially enclosed, and the enclosed face brickwork has been painted …. Internally, walls are generally in good condition with some minor cracking in the plaster. Floor timbers are mostly original wide butt jointed boards with some patching and are generally in very good condition. Ceilings in both houses are lathe and plaster ….. [and in No 51 these] are generally in fair condition. In the front two rooms and entrance hall of Number 51 are intact cornices, ceiling roses and plaster mouldings in the style of the late Georgian period. Other internal details are largely intact, including original windows and doors with original hardware.

An internal site inspection in June 2017 confirmed that the both the living and dining rooms have elaborate plaster mouldings to the ceiling, featuring recessed panels with egg and dart detailing. There is a wide heavily moulded archway between the living and dining rooms, and more restrained archway between the front and rear sections of the entrance hall. In the hallway and four main rooms, clear evidence remains of original floorboards, skirtings, architraves, plaster detailing and wall vents. The form of the skillion roof of the rear portion of the house is still clearly evident, but this area has been renovated with a new kitchen, bathroom and laundry. Major renovations have been undertaken throughout and the interior is in good condition (with minor cracking noted over the front door).

History

This lot is located on part of original Town Lot E18. When street numbers were first allocated in c1897, this house was No. 328. It changed the following year to No. 133. Then from 1900 it was No 41, before being given No. 51 from 1908 onwards.

Perth Council Rate Collection Book (1879) lists the dwelling now known as No 53 and notes that a dwelling at No. 51 was under construction, with both houses (on part Town Lot E18) owned by James C. Fleming (who held the post of Superintendent of Telegraphs for Western Australia from 1869 until his death in 1885).

Newspapers record Fleming asking for improvements to the street in 1881:
A letter from Mr. Fleming, which was received and read at a previous meeting, was again referred to by the Mayor, asking the Council to make a footpath in front of his newly-erected houses in Goderich Street. (The Inquirer and Commercial News 6 July 1881 p 3)

Fleming resided in one house and rented the other, but which house he lived in and which he rented has not been determined (although it seems likely that he would have moved into the more substantial property at No. 51). In 1884 Fleming, by now Superintendent of Telegraphs, held a public auction to sell his household furniture, and sold both properties to George Taylor, a builder.

Electoral Rolls, Rate Books and Post Office Directories suggest No. 51 was used as a rental property by George Taylor, as occupancy changed often. Tenants included Richard G Pratt (engineer) 1895-1898; Cecil Thomas 1899; O C Thomas 1900; C J Alford 1901; Sheepshank 1902 and John Flanagan (clerk) 1903-1907.

George Taylor died in 1908, after which ownership of the property passed to his son, Walter, a salesman, who moved into the house with his new wife, Rita (nee McNally, from NSW). Apart from short periods in c.1917-1922 (whereabouts not determined) and c.1924-1925 (53 Goderich Street), Walter and Rita appear to have remained at 51 Goderich Street for most of their lives. In a newspaper notice in 1950, Walter Taylor was described as a “sports outfitter”. He died in 1966, aged approx. 84 years.

The 1954 sewerage plan shows the house with a verandah along the full length of the street and east side of the house, and the wc at the rear fence line (Forrest Avenue). Aerial photos from 1948 show there was also a dropped verandah roof running along the length of the south side. Over the years there have been no major changes to the roof form or size of the house.

As at 1985 (SLWA Photo 313908PD) the house had red painted short sheet corrugated iron to the main hipped roof and verandahs. Part of the east verandah had been enclosed to form a room which had a door opening to the north verandah, and two mismatched windows on the east elevation (this enclosure has since been removed). The windows under the front verandah were six pane double hung timber sashes. Walls were brick, unpainted. There was no boundary fence to Goderich Street, (or perhaps a very low random course wall). The Forrest Avenue boundary is not visible.

Between March 2001 and February 2002, the red painted corrugated iron roof was replaced and a free-standing car port was built on the east side of the house. In c. 2003, the rear of the lot (along with the rear of No 53) was subdivided and a new two storey development was built at 21 Forrest Avenue.

Integrity/Authenticity

High level of integrity.

High level of authenticity. Despite some changes over time, the house retains it original form and layout and the internal details and finishes are evident in the principal rooms.

Condition

51 - Very Good, 53 - 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.