William Buckingham's Homestead

Statement of Significance

With its mud-brick walls, steeply-pitched roofs and minimal ornamentation, the place is a fine example of Western Australian vernacular architecture of the 1880s, demonstrating the colonial approach to the design of domestic housing.
The place is associated with the European settlement of south- western Australia and the development of the Roleystone and Kelmscott districts.
The place was constructed as the main residence on an extensive property and is associated with the growth of the Roleystone district as an extensive agricultural region.
The place is associated with the Buckingham family, the first family to settle in the Roleystone district, and who played an important and active role in the agricultural development of Perth, with farms, a vineyard and sawmill established in the Roleystone/Kelmscott area.
The place is highly valued by the community as is demonstrated by the community effort to lobby and raise funding for its restoration, and contributes to the community’’s sense of place as one of the few pioneer buildings remaining in the district.
The construction of the cottage is of technical interest, particularly its ability to display various vernacular materials and techniques used to build the original cottage and its subsequent extensions.
The place is one of the oldest extant buildings in the Roleystone area, and is the only place of its type and period in the district.
The sheep dip is an unusual construction and, as well as providing evidence of a process and form of construction that is no longer used, it is a rare structure in the Perth Metropolitan area.
The place is representative of the type of vernacular farm buildings built by early settlers in the Swan River Colony and reflects their way of life.

Physical Description

The place comprises a single-storey mud-brick, timber and corrugated iron cottage set within a simple garden, approximately 150 metres north of the 16th hole at the adjacent Araluen golf course. The cottage has a rectangular form, with timber-framed verandahs to the north, west and south elevations constructed with bush poles and an earthen floor. The walls of the cottage are constructed with a combination of rendered mud-brick, and timber-framing clad with corrugated iron and vertical jarrah slabs. The mud-brick portion of the house has a hipped iron roof, incorporating a lower-pitched skillion verandah roof, while the timber-framed section has a corrugated iron gable roof and a skillion verandah roof. The cottage has timber-framed sash windows and timber-framed door openings.
A Cockscomb Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) is located close to the Homestead and is believed to date from the 1950s.
A sheep’’s dip is located to the west of the house, comprising a ramped U-shaped trough, constructed with rammed earth and pea gravel, with a stucco finish.

History

William Buckingham’’s Homestead is associated with the Buckingham family, the first family to settle in the Roleystone district, and who played an important and active role in the agricultural development of Perth, with farms, a vineyard and saw mill established in the Roleystone/Kelmscott area.
Thomas Buckingham (1808-1879) married Mary Chanter (1814-1875) in 1835, and arrived at Fremantle on the ‘‘Sofia’’ in 1850, along with other members of the Buckingham family and members of the Cockram family, who were related by marriage. Initially, Thomas leased Leeder’’s Farm, before moving to Wanneroo in 1853, and, later, to Gingin. Thomas Buckingham sold these holdings in 1858, and purchased land at Roleystone. Their children were Maria (1836-1919), Thomas (1839-1913), Mary (1841-1913), Alexander (1843-1897), Betsy (1846-1915), Caroline (1849-1915), William (1853- 1917), Ellen (1856-1878), John (1858-1947), and Hugh James (1860-1940).
The Buckingham family also maintained agricultural and civic interests in Wanneroo, and contributed to the development of the Wanneroo district. The Buckingham’’s expanded development in Roleystone and though their agricultural aims were not met, their efforts in the timber industry were prodigious, especially in the mechanization of many processes.
William Buckingham (1853-1917) purchased the property in Roleystone in 1878, and the mud brick farmhouse was built soon after. Later the property was leased out and, in 1925, was purchased by Daniel Bevan. Alterations and additions were carried out around 1935, in the 1960s, and in 1999.
The Homestead is one of the oldest extant buildings in the Roleystone area, and is the only place of its type and period in the Roleystone area. The cottage was constructed over an 80 year period, with the original (c.1880) portion built in mud-brick with a hipped shingle roof and an earthen verandah to all four sides supported on bush poles. At this stage the cottage had only two rooms, but in the period up to 1935, two more rooms were added, including a new timber-framed weatherboard and fibro-clad kitchen extension with lean-to verandah on the south side, and a room created by enclosing the northeast corner of the verandah. It was also during this period that some of the bush poles were replaced with square posts and the verandah was partly removed and infilled with jarrah slab walls. In 1935, corrugated iron cladding replaced the jarrah slab walls and the lean-to was removed from the kitchen extension. Later alterations in the 1960’’s included replacing the internal mud brick walls with a concrete block wall, removing the eastern portion of the 1880s verandah and constructing a new timber-framed ablution area, replacement of the original timber floor with concrete, and replacement of the earlier windows. In 1999, extensive renovations were carried out to the homestead, with restoration and reproduction of the building fabric.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low-Moderate
Low

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.