Fawkes House

Values

The place is a good example of a substantial brick residence in the Federation Bungalow style.

The place has aesthetic value as a fine residence in a landscaped garden and orchard setting.

The place is associated with the development of the fruit industry in the Darling Ranges area, and in particular with the need to cultivate seedlings to support this industry.

The place is associated with George Fawkes, who was responsible for the establishment of the house and nursery and after whom the building is named.

It is one of a few examples of places associated with the development of market gardens in the Darling Ranges area.

Physical Description

The house is located within a heavily planted garden on the northern side of Union Road. To the east of the house and garden is an orchard and on the opposite side of the road is a packing shed.

The house is a brick and tile house in the Federation Bungalow style. It has wide verandahs to the front and side elevations. The verandahs are supported with turned timber posts and have decorative timber balustrades and valances.

There is a gable over the main entry into the house. The place is said to also comprise a separate wash house, a garage of laterite construction, and a 1920s tennis court, now a croquet lawn.

History

The place originally consisted of 160 acres and is said to have been first taken up in the 1890s. Subsequent to World War Two, there was increased settlement of the area as a result of Soldier Settlement Schemes and finance available from the Agricultural Bank. Market gardening became an increasingly popular industry in the area as Italian immigrants began to take up land abandoned by ex-servicemen.

This is the period that George Fawkes, member of the Plymouth Brethren, first settled on the land. He was responsible for the construction of the large homestead on the 160 acres property, which is said to have had the first tiled roof in Carmel.

Fruit orchards became one of the most commercially important crops in the area and up to the early 1900s young trees had to be imported from the eastern states. One of the first nurseries established in the area to produce seedlings for the orchards was by Thomas Price and Charles Harper at the Woodbridge Estate in Guildford. Fawkes also developed a nursery on his Carmel property in the 1920s, which is believed to have been the first nursery begun in the area and predates that of Wilson and Johns also at Union Road.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

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