House, 455 Guildford Road, Bayswater

Values

• The place is associated with the development of Guildford Road as the main thoroughfare in Bayswater throughout the 20th century.
• The place is a representative example of a post-WWII residence built in the Bayswater area.
• The place is representative of the practice of government acquisition of properties for the provision of housing in the Perth metropolitan area.

Physical Description

House, 455 Guildford Road, Bayswater is a simple single-storey brick and tile 1950s house and displays the characteristics of the domestic architecture of the era. The house is asymmetric with the eastern half of the façade projecting marginally forward of the western section together with a centrally positioned porch entrance. The roof is a complex hipped form with red brick chimneys. The property has traditional wide overhanging eaves lined with fibre cement sheeting. Front windows are casement.
The external brickwork has been rendered and painted which contrasts with the limestone plinth and the terracotta tiles to the windowsills and roof. The verandah canopy is corrugated metal with a slight bullnose edge, supported on squared timber columns and makeshift timber brackets.
There is a small front garden directly outside the house with paving and planting which extends to the brick retaining wall for the parking area. Brick steps lead from the front garden down to the parking area with an alternative paved path leading around the side of the house.
The front entrance opens into a hallway which provides direct access into the Lounge with all other rooms accessed beyond an arch. The second section of hallway is located in the centre of the house with access to the Bathroom, Bedrooms 1 and 2 and the Dining area. The remainder of the house is accessed via the Dining area.
Floors are timber and internal walls are plastered. The house contains simple decorative elements such as stepped arches in the hallway and into the kitchen, and a simple face-brick surround to the fireplace in the lounge. The laundry contains an original concrete double wash trough.
The rear section of the house forms a traditional sleep-out area with double hung sash windows from the kitchen and louver windows to the outside. The walls are painted brick to the house and end walls and timber framed with fibro cladding to the external walls. The ceiling is raked and lined with fibre cement cladding.

History

The end of WWII signalled the start of a dramatic period of growth in the Bayswater district. Between 1947 and 1954 the population more than doubled to 14,555. Although the future site of 44 Guildford Road, Bayswater (later renumbered to 455 Guildford Road, Bayswater) was subdivided in 1897, few of the lots were developed at this time in this area.
Lot 20, the site of House, 455 Guildford Road was acquired in 1907 by well-known Perth builder and businessman, William Atkins, as an investment property. Although there were several owners in the first half of the 20th century, the site remained undeveloped until after it was purchased in 1946 by Laurel Edith Hammond (1916-1979).
It remains unclear exactly when House, 455 Guildford Road, Bayswater although it was not extant in 1948, and appears in an aerial photograph in 1953. Aerial photographs indicate that the form and extent of the residence have not changed significantly since construction.
Laurel Hammond (née Gell) was the widow of Flying Officer Robert Meath Hammond who died in a flying accident in Victoria in 1945. The couple married in 1938 and had two small children, Pauline and Robert, at the time of Robert Meath Hammond’s death. Further research is required to determine if the residence was partially funded by the War Service Homes programme.`

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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.