Hawthorndene

Statement of Significance

Hawthorndene, a single-storey stone and iron residence constructed in 1892 in Victorian Rustic Gothic style, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
The place is a well-executed and highly representative example of the Victorian Rustic Gothic style. The modest cottage scale is enhanced by decorative features such as the traceried bargeboards to achieve a picturesque quality as a freestanding residence in a semi-rural environment.
The place reflects the development Albany as the principal port in Western Australia in the nineteenth century, and contributes to the ongoing importance of Albany as a prominent historic town.
The place displays landmark value having picturesque qualities, which enhance the surrounding environment, and an elevated siting on a large, sloping block of mostly undeveloped land.
The place is highly valued by the local and wider community for its associations with the history and development of Albany in the 1890s, and for its landscape and streetscape value.
The place is associated with the surveyor William Henry Angove who had the place constructed for his own occupation in 1892.

The laundry and bathroom are of little significance.

Physical Description

Some of the notable features of this place include:
• Single storey house, set adjacent to road
• Course faced random granite stone walls with stone quoins
• Steeply pitched corrugated iron on twin gabled projecting wings which flank a central section
• Central section has a verandah under a separate concave roof
• A chimney is located in the middle of the central section
• Each gabled wing has a projecting sandstone bay window
• Above the bay window are small gothic shaped ventilators
• Windows of the central part of the house have rendered surrounds

History

William Angove acquired 7.5 acres (3 ha) of Location 44 in November 1889. His parcel of land comprised Lots 23 to 33 on Seymour Street. Angove was residing at Pyrmont, in Serpentine Street, at the time. He is reputed to have bid for Strawberry Farm at the sale, but was beaten to the purchase by Francis Bird. In November 1890, Angove mortgaged the land to Albert Young Hassell for £1,000, and Hawthorndene was constructed. The Angoves are first recorded as occupying the place in 1892.

Hawthorndene was built as a semi-rural residence on a large landholding in a newly subdivided farm area on the outskirts of the town. As Albany developed in the first half of the 20th century, the residential area spread out toward the place. During the post World War Two boom period settlement and productivity in Albany's hinterland grew, with a corresponding growth in the town.

In March 1894, title to the property was transferred to Albert Young Hassell, and the Angoves moved to Grey Street. Hassell leased out Hawthorndene, as he already had a new residence, Hillside (1886) that he continued to occupy. In 1895, the tenant was a clergyman by the name of Brewster. In 1896, Emily Edwards purchased Hawthorndene on Lots 23 to 31. Albert Hassell retained Lots 32 and 33.

In 1919, Emily Edwards sold Hawthorndene and attached lands to Alfred Edward Radford. Radford is recorded as being a grazier in the Katanning district at the time of the purchase, and occupied Hawthorndene, presumably with his family, until his death in 1943. Title to Hawthorndene was transferred in 1954 to Joseph Llewellyn Radford of Balingup.

In 1958 and 1959, Radford sold off a number of the lots in the Hawthorndene land parcel, and new homes were eventually constructed on the land. Hawthorndene remained on a landholding of Lots 24, 25 and 26.

In 1965, the place was purchased by Percy Cecil Mills and his wife Daisy. The Mills were farmers of Hillside, Mount Barker. Percy Mills died in 1967 and Daisy became the sole owner of Hawthorndene. In 1973, separate titles were issued for each of the three lots, but the land continued to be transferred as one parcel. Colin Bruce Herbert and his wife Dierdre, farmers of Borden, acquired the property in 1973.

In 1983, Allan and Marjorie Brook purchased Hawthorndene. Allan Brook became the sole owner of the place following his wife's death. Allan Brook died in July 1999, and Hawthorndene passed to other family members who sold the place to current owners Joseph Peter Raudino and his wife Judith Auriel Raudino.

The place was then leased by the Raudinos to become the headquarters and accommodation facility for the Alzheimer’s Association of Albany.

(extracts taken from Heritage Council’s assessment documentation)

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High/Moderate
Authenticity: High

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.