Mattie Furphy's House

Author

City of Nedlands

Place Number

13705

Location

11 Kirkwood St Swanbourne

Location Details

Relocated to Allen Park, adjacent to P23687 Tom Collins' House.

Other Name(s)

(formerly) 74 Clement St

Local Government

Nedlands

Region

Metropolitan

Construction Date

Constructed from 1912

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type Status Date Documents
Heritage List Adopted 19 Dec 2017
State Register Registered 13 Jul 2007 HCWebsite.Listing+ListingDocument, HCWebsite.Listing+ListingDocument

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type Status Date Documents
(no listings)

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type Status Date Grading/Management
Category
Municipal Inventory Adopted 15 Apr 1999
Municipal Inventory Adopted 27 Apr 1999 Category C

Statement of Significance

The Furphy residence in Clement Street, Swanbourne has aesthetic, historic, representative and rarity cultural heritage significance. Though in poor condition, the house has high integrity as it remains uncornpromiscd with few changes to its original design. The deep verandahs, post and rail fence. and lock of adornment mark the house as a 'working man's' cottage. It is a good representative of increasingly rare 'turn of the century' timber couages. However. the most significant feature of the house is its close association with LItefinal years of Joseph Fnrphy's (author Tom Collins) lifo. The house ..vas built for Joseph's son Sam as (I home for Slim and his wife Mattie. Joseph and Sam, both being artistic handymen, did much of the work on the house. Joseph Furphy became a renowned Australian author after 'his death. His works, particularly Such is Life became popular during the 19)05 and 1940s. even though he had published as early as 1903. Joseph Furphy died in this residence in 1912 and is buried in Karrakaua Cemetery.

Physical Description

This single storey, modest cottage has a hipped galvaniscd corrugated iron roof with north and south gables. The timber framed cottage with jarralt weatherboards and brick chimney presents <111 understated picture to the street, The tcadlights (Ire significant. It h;JS an interesting outbuilding lind much of the original fabric, such as the fence with link mesh. is still In place, though in poor condition.

History

Sam Furphy was the son of Joseph Furphy (Author Tom Collins). This house has direct links to Joseph through his involvement in the development of the land and house, In 1905 Joseph and his wife. Leonie. moved to Western Australia 10 be close to their children. Felix and Sam. They bought three adjacent lots in Clement Street. Swanboume. and proceeded to Clear the land and build shocks for themselves. In 1906 Sam bought Joseph's And Felix's land and eventually he and his wife Mattie built the house that still stands in a hugely unaltered stnte on the corner of Pine Close and Clement Street. Joseph, who worked as a handymnn while writing short stories and poetry. helped Sam and Mattie to build the house. In his letters Joseph Furphy makes references to the house and grounds and some of the work he undertook there to help his son and daughter-in-law. Joseph died in this house of a cerebral haemorrhage on 13 September 1912 after walking a borrowed horse from his house in Servetus Street. Sam and Mattie Furphy moved from the house in Clement Street to Joseph Fnrphy's house in 1939

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Poor

Other Reference Numbers

Ref Number Description
SW2 LGA Place No

State Heritage Office library entries

Library Id Title Medium Year Of Publication
8427 The Furphy family in Western Australia : upwardly mobile in Perth. Journal article 2005
8075 Initial conservation works to Mattie Furphy House, Swanbourne. Report 2006
9967 Mattie Furphy's House (1907-1909) 74 Clement Street, Swanbourne. Interim draft report. Heritage Study {Cons'n Plan} 2005

Place Type

Individual Building or Group

Uses

Epoch General Specific
Original Use RESIDENTIAL Single storey residence
Present Use RESIDENTIAL Single storey residence

Architectural Styles

Style
Federation Bungalow

Construction Materials

Type General Specific
Wall TIMBER Weatherboard
Other TIMBER Other Timber
Roof METAL Steel

Historic Themes

General Specific
OCCUPATIONS Intellectual activities, arts&craft
PEOPLE Famous & infamous people
OCCUPATIONS Domestic activities

Creation Date

21 Jun 1999

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

19 Sep 2022

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.