PERIOD HOUSE STYLES IN ASHFIELD

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Bryce Ramsey
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1 PERIOD HOUSE STYLES IN ASHFIELD Ashfield was first established in the Victorian period, when the gold rushes were stimulating new prosperity and great population growth in Australia. The building of the railway from Sydney to Parramatta, which included Ashfield station, was the stimulus for the first important wave of settlement. Most of the early houses in Ashfield displayed what has become known as the Victorian Georgian style they were built in much the same manner as the simple houses of Georgian Britain. Only a handful of such houses remain. Some dwellings were made a little more decorative, with details such as those seen during Britain s Regency period. As the suburb grew, the cast-iron lace filigree satisfied the desire for more ornamentations. Many variations of this widespread style could be seen. As Australia moved towards federation, more varied styles appeared, some of them illustrating the wish for more dramatic, less formal designs. These Federation styles, showing the influence of America as well as Britain, also employed the better materials, like excellent brick and terra cotta tiles. And machine production that could lathetum and fret-saw timber in elaborate patterns. The Queen Anne and Arts-and-Crafts styles typify this phase of residential architecture. The Inter-War period was probably Ashfield s most prolific for home building. One great influence was the bungalow form that originated in California and spread throughout Australia. With its wide roofs and ample verandahs it suited the local climate better than many other forms. New materials such as concrete now supplemented older materials like corrugated iron. In these pages there are descriptive illustrations of house facades showing just a few of the main styles of architecture that can be seen in the houses of Ashfield. They form a part of the urban tapestry of the suburb its heritage. VICTORIAN FILIGREE This style appeared in single houses in semidetached pairs and terrace rows, either singlestoreyed or two-storeyed. Its name comes from the use of cast-iron lace or filigree decoration 1. Chimney with moulded top 2. State or corrugated metal roof 3. There may be a parapet instead of eaves 4. Balcony roof has a skillion or bullose profile 5. French doors to balcony 6. Cast iron filigree. There may be a similar lace ensemble on the ground floor. 7. Fire walls. Where there are no firewalls the balcony may be cantilevered or supported on posts. 8. Stucco façade Note: The ground floor fenestration is usually asymmetrical, the upper storey is symmetrical.

2 1.1 VICTORIAN ITALIANATE This style employed vaguely Italian Classical details such as quoining (embellished wall corners ) and the colonnaded loggia (what we call the verandah). It is always asymmetrical in form and generally free-standing. The style began with large houses such as Glentworth (the Convent of the Good Shepherd) in Victoria Street, and was adapted to much humbler dwellings. Some variants include a single-fronted and two storeyed types. 1. Fairly steep hipped roof of slates or corrugated metal 2. Skillion or bullnosed verandah roof 3. Chimney with moulded top 4. Stucco façade walling 5. Gable-fronted side wing, usually with decorated barge boards 6. Facetted bay with double-hung window sashes. The window heads were often stilted arched. 7. Verandah usually decorated with cast iron filigree 8. Pseudo-tower motif 1.2 VICTORIAN REGENCY So-called because of the carry-over of Regency detailing into the Victorian period. Houses of this style always have symmetrical facades and simple decoration. 1. Symmetrical façade 2. Brick walling with painted stucco finish. Many early houses of this style had stone walls 3. Hipped roof of medium pitch, covered in slates or corrugated metal. Many were originally shingled 4. Verandah typically with three bays, with timber posts and simple curvilinear valences 5. Verandah roof usually corrugated metal, often curved profile 6. Double-hung sash or casement windows. Sometimes French doors. Openings sometimes had moulded architraves

3 1.3 FEDERATION QUEEN ANNE The asymmetrical form continued into the Federation period and beyond. Houses were almost always single-storeyed and featured face brick and wither slate or terra cotta roofs. The cast iron embellishment of earlier times gave way to machine-cut timber decoration. 1.Fairly steep hipped roof of slates or tiles, often with crested ridges and terminals. Rafter feet often exposed. 2.Some houses have a gablet ventilator 3. Face brickwork, usually tuck pointed 4.Gabled wing at one side of the house. Sometimes the gable projects so far as to require supporting brackets 5.Projecting bay with casement windows 6. Decorative timber posts, brackets and frieze 7.Bracketed window hood 8.Decorative apron below window sill 9.Timber gable screen 10. Brick chimney with terra cotta pots 1.4 THE ARTS-AND-CRAFTS STYLE Houses of this style were built in the federation and Inter-War periods and, as the name implies, usually employed finely crafted finishes and details in timber or roughcast rendering and in features such as leadlights. Massing is asymmetrical or picturesque. 1.Asymmetrical façade arrangement, often incorporating a window bay 2. Conspicuous roofs of terra cotta tiles 3. Walling usually displays face brickwork and roughcast render. Corners may be emphasized by quoining 4. Rafter feet usually exposed. Eaves are often emphasised with timber decoration 5. Attic spaces often have a skillion dormer 6. Gable screen or infill 7.Chimney with roughcast detailing and terra cotta pots 8. Windows usually have a casement sashes with leaded glass, often with Art Nouveau motifs

4 1.5 CALIFORNIA BUNGALOW As the name implies, this style originated in America. In the Inter-War period it became one of the most common Australian housing styles. The asymmetrical form emphasised the increasing informality of domestic life at this time. 1. Comparatively low-pitched gable ensemble. Roofs may be shingles, tiles or corrugated metal 2. Panelled gable infill, usually with ventilator 3. Face brick walling in stretcher bond, indicating cavity-wall construction. Many houses have roughcast render as well 4. Taper-cut or spiky barge boards. Rafter feet are also often exposed. Eaves overhangs are often wide 5. Tapered pylons or colonettes supporting verandah beam 6. Project in window with hood and casement windows. Windows are often glazed with leadlighting 7. Main window often has a shingled skirt below the sill 1.6 SYDNEY BUNGALOW This house form became widespread, particularly in Sydney, in the late Inter-War years and continued to be built after World War II. It was uncomplicated in massing and often incorporated Art Deco motifs typical of the time. Straw-coloured or cream brickwork was popular. 1. Façade usually asymmetrical but sometimes symmetrical 2. Medium pitched roof usually of terra cotta tiles 3. Cavity brickwork in stretcher bond, often with raked bed joints 4. Boxed eaves 5. Soldier-course brick lintels 6. Double-hung windows, often with horizontal glazing bars 7. Brick piers, often with recesses or fins and corbelled caps 8. Art Deco details such as geometric brick patterning and leadlight designs

Bungalow. Essential Elements. Prominent porch columns,

Bungalow. Essential Elements. Prominent porch columns, Bungalow Essential Elements Prominent porch columns, especially square or battered piers Deep porches One or one and a half stories Roof that is either hipped with low pitch or gabled with moderate to