what

house is that?
A guide to Victorias housing styles

what

house is that?
A guide to Victorias housing styles

04

05

This publication is a joint project between Heritage Victoria and the Building Commission to celebrate the Year of the Built Environment 2004, and our built heritage.
Heritage Victoria is the Victorian Government's agency for historical cultural heritage. We are a part of the Department of Sustainability and Environment. We are involved with the identification, protection and interpretation of Victoria's outstanding cultural heritage, providing information and advice, assisting decision-making and project design and encouraging appropriate development. We are architects, archaeologists, horticulturalists, planners, historians, conservators and marine heritage specialists. We provide administrative support for the Heritage Council of Victoria and ensure that the provisions of the Heritage Act are undertaken satisfactorily. This includes the Victorian Heritage Register, a list of protected heritage places of state or greater significance. The Register includes those places which are protected under the Victorian Heritage Act, ranging from buildings, landscapes, shipwrecks, archaeological sites, plantings, monuments and much more. For further information please contact us: [03] 9655 6519 www.heritage.vic.gov.au The Building Commission is a statutory authority that oversees the building control system in Victoria. We ensure the safety, liveability and sustainability of our built environment. The Commission does this by bringing vision, innovation and leadership to the Victorian building industry. We regulate building practices, advise Government and provide services to industry and consumers. The Commission aims to deliver: > Stronger industry leadership through: partnering and issues leadership; industry outcomes measurement; informed consumers; building sustainability > Better building control through: continuous practitioner development; renewal of building quality assurance; building knowledge management The Building Commission is located in Melbourne and has regional offices in Ballarat, Sale and Wangaratta. For further information please contact us: [03] 9285 6400 www.buildingcommission.com.au

FOREWOR

Foreword
Mary Delahunty, MP Minister For Planning
2004, the Year of the Built Environment, provides us with the opportunity to celebrate Victorias unique built heritage. Our built heritage is an important part of our daily lives particularly our homes. To a large extent, it is our homes that have charted Victorias social, economic and cultural history. Whether from the 1890s or the 1960s, our homes have recognisable features that reflect the era in which they were built. However, heritage can only survive if it adapts with the community. The best outcome for both heritage and the community is to identify and preserve heritage and incorporate it into future plans and development. Our heritage homes are perfect examples of heritage remaining entwined with the community in a sustainable way. It is important to understand and appreciate a buildings values and history, no matter what era it is from. Whether you are a student of Victorias heritage or a home renovator, I hope you will find this booklet a useful and easy guide to some of the more common architectural styles of housing in Victoria.

is the year of the built environment

2004 >

Mary Delahunty, MP Minister For Planning

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NTRODUCTIO

Introduction
Why would someone put a kangaroo on the roof of a house? I used to wonder because my tram passed a house with a terracotta kangaroo on the roof and stained glass kookaburras in the window.
Even the humblest houses outlive the people who build them or choose them. While city buildings rise and fall, whole suburbs stay much as they were built. You can stand in the street in East Melbourne and imagine what it was like in 1900, or see the 1920s in a street in Essendon. As you travel out from the city you can see growth rings (with denser knots around railway stations) as house styles have changed over time, sometimes gradually and sometimes with dramatic jumps. They reflect the attitudes and ideas in the air at the time, and remain a built graph of the collective unconscious of each era in Victorias history. When we choose to live in a house built in a period other than our own, we usually want to preserve at least something of the original, and this booklet can help achieve that objective. It describes the main styles of houses still present in Melbourne, including their cultural background and key exterior and interior features and colours. Knowing this helps us avoid mistakes when we are renovating, like putting horizontal windows in a Queen Anne house, or terracotta tiles on a Victorian house. It also gives us a deeper appreciation of our built heritage, as we understand for example that the starkness of modernism derives from a striving for purity in the years after World War II and that kangaroos replaced dragons on rooftops at the hands of people flushed with patriotism in the early years of federation. David Harvey Architect, Illustrator and Historical Advisor to this publication

Contents
Timeline Housing Styles In Detail: Early Victorian Mid Victorian Late Victorian Boom Style Queen Anne Edwardian Californian Bungalow Early Modern Modern Tips for Sustainable Renovation Further Information

> 08 > 10 > 12 > 14 > 16 > 18 > 20 > 22 > 24 > 26 > 27

08 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980

Timeline
A new architectural style emerges when several buildings share similar characteristics, often influenced by building practices and by the mood of the times such as the confident boldness after the gold rush. Periods sometimes end abruptly, such as in the depression of 1892 or the two world wars, but more often they flow from one to another with long overlaps. Characteristics of older houses can sometimes be seen in contemporary homes, and for many styles, there is no definitive beginning or end - the dates given here are when the main thrust of each style occurred. There is usually a delay between the commencement of a style and its widespread adaptations in general housing. It is also rare to find examples of houses from before 1851 in Victoria. Please note that this booklet does not cover all known housing types in Victoria, but rather, looks at the most common.

Colonial > Neo Gothic > Early Victorian > Italianate > Tudor > Mid Victorian > Late Victorian / Boom Style > English /Arts & Crafts > Queen Anne > Federation > Edwardian > Californian Bungalow > Spanish Mission > Art Deco > Early Modern > Austerity > Modern > Triple Fronted >

ARLY VICTO

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Early Victorian
Australian houses built between 1840 and 1860 are relatively simple, whether terraced or freestanding. Usually sited close to the footpath, they have one or two rooms across the front, with one room sometimes projected forward in freestanding houses. Their appearance is formal but plain, with simple or no verandahs and restrained ornamentation.

1840> 1860

21

outside >
> pitched, hipped roofs of slate or corrugated iron > red brick or rendered brick walls, often painted to look like more expensive materials such as stone; or square-edged weatherboards > tall, narrow windows simply placed in the middle of each room > limited ornamentation

exterior colours >

Light Stone Biscuit

840>1860

Earth

Light Cream

inside >
> moulded skirtings and architraves, but ceilings often unadorned, with any ceiling roses and cornices fairly small and limited to front rooms > timber lining boards > hessian with wall-paper Brown Terracotta

garden >
> fences made of simple pickets with straight cut, arrow, round or spade head tops; capped corrugated iron fences sometimes used on side streets > a great variety of vegetables and fruit trees rather than ornamental plants were used

Brunswick Green

Purple Brown

renovation notes >

> roofs natural galvanised colour, or painted to match slate, or colours like maroon or cream > verandah roofs often painted in alternating vertical bands, with eau-de-nil (pale green) undersides > external walls generally variations of cream and brown with trims matching wood colours

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ID VICTORI

Mid Victorian
While retaining a similar form to its earlier Victorian precursors, this era of house design is distinguished by a greater level of ornamentation. There is an increased use of stucco on exterior surfaces, while decorative brickwork is prevalent in fashionable houses of the period. Verandahs, particularly those with timber frames, are common and often incorporate cast iron lacework and patterned tile floors.

1860> 1875

21

outside >
> timber houses used square edged weatherboards or wooden panels simulating block stonework > decorative brackets appear under eaves > some use of multiple window frames > red and blue stained glass beside entry doors

exterior colours >

Light Cream Pink Beige

860>1875

inside >
> large and elaborate skirtings, architraves, cornices and ceiling roses > walls and ceiling painted in harmonious bands of colour > timber lining boards stained or painted > paint or wall-paper or hard plaster

Fawn

Light Buff

Light Stone

Venetian Red

garden >
> fences feature more complex picket heads, while cast iron palisade pickets with bluestone or rendered brick plinths and columns are starting to appear > this period was dominated by the planting of conifers and fast growing evergreen trees Deep Brunswick Green Light Purple Brown

renovation notes >

> external walls brown or red brick, with white or cream at corners and openings > rendered walls left natural grey, painted or lime-washed; timber versions painted to match stone colours or various creams > trims, roofs and verandahs use the same darker, stronger colours as early Victorian style > interiors painted in harmonious bands of lower wall, upper wall, ceiling, with smaller strips of highlight colours on cornices

ATE VICTOR

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Late Victorian Boom Style

As wealth and confidence increase, houses still resemble earlier Victorian types in form, but assume a much grander, ornate appearance incorporating elements of the Italianate and filigree styles. Freestanding houses usually have one projecting room while terraces have a flat front wall but tall ornamented parapets and projecting wing walls at each end of the verandah. Both types, but particularly terrace houses, are sited fairly close to the street.

1875> 1892

21

outside >
> Italianate elements such as rendered walls, tall parapets, arches and moulded ornaments > multi-coloured and tuckpointed brickwork; timber versions used wooden blocks patterned and painted to look like ashlar stone > dense and even spread of ornamentation, including intricate iron lacework and complex tiled patterns on verandah floors and entry pathways > increasing use of triple windows and blue and red coloured glass beside entry doors > doorways and windows sometimes arched

exterior colours >

Pale Cream Light Cream

875>1892

Light Stone

Biscuit

Brown

Eau-de-nil

inside >
> lavish internal ornamentation > more varied, complex and stronger colours > complex paint and wall-paper schemes

garden >
> fences commonly palisade-style with cast iron spears on stone plinths and ornamented end piers of stone or cast iron > similar to Mid Victorian with bold and strap foliaged plants such as Yuccas, Aloes, Canna, Alocasia, Wigandia, Croton, Cordyline, Draceana, Musa, bamboos & ferns

Maroon

Light Purple

renovation notes >

> > > > where visible, slates on roofs often laid in patterns, sometimes multi-coloured external walls red or brown brick, with white or cream at corners; rendered walls usually left natural grey trims similar to earlier Victorian styles, but colours stronger and more vivid complexity of ornament and colour diminish from front to back of house

20 16

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UEEN ANN

Queen Anne
Derived from English and American styles that revived elements from the architecture of Queen Annes reign (1702-14), these picturesque houses are deliberately complex, creating a kind of vigorous grandeur. Most are freestanding and set well back from the street, but terraced versions do exist. Plans invariably have one room projected forward, often with others projecting sideways from the main body of the house.

1895> 1910

21

outside >
> steeply pitched roofs, with at least one gable end facing the street and often an octagonal turret > widespread ornamentation, including terracotta ridge cappings, finials, dragons and gargoyles; fretted freize panels and post brackets, turned verandah posts, chimney cornices and terracotta pots > leadlight windows and fretwork featuring patterns ranging from geometric to extravagant art nouveau designs

exterior colours >

Light Straw Light Cream

895>1910

Manilla

Pale Green

inside >
> ceilings often divided into panels ornamented with plaster straps and shallow patterns with art nouveau motifs > frequent use of timber panelling on lower walls in front rooms > fire-places and ingle-nooks. Walls with picture rails and sometimes wall-paper, pressed metal or painted plaster Red Oxide Brilliant Green

Red Brick

Olive Green

renovation notes >

> > > > > strong colours, textures and ornament applied fairly evenly over the whole building red brickwork with flush joints and unglazed Marseilles roof tiles weatherboards on timber version usually painted cream, buff or brown gable ends and stucco often given a natural grey wash or painted cream timber mouldings to gable ends painted dark brown or sometimes cream, other woodwork painted cream, brown or green

garden >
> fences usually timber pickets with fretted picket heads > palms were very popular and native trees were beginning to be used

18 20

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DWARDIAN

Edwardian
Also known as Federation style, houses built at this time draw on both Victorian and Queen Anne features. They follow a similar plan to Victorian houses, but are set further back from the street. Many mid-Victorian ornaments are still used, but houses are less grand than in the Boom Period, due to the impact of the depression of 1892.

1901> 1916

21

outside >
> lofty, steeply-sloped hipped roofs with wide eaves, behind prominent, front-facing gable ends > walls of red brickwork with flush joints, with cream-painted render to bases and gable ends or in bands on larger buildings > timber versions use ashlar blocks painted stone colours, or square-edged bull-nosed weatherboards, painted cream > return L-shaped verandahs, roofed with corrugated iron and ornamented with iron lace or timber fretwork > windows often made up of several tall narrow frames with small square sashes and sunshades supported by timber brackets

exterior colours >

Pale Cream Light Cream

1901>1916

Red Oxide

Light Straw

Venetian Red

Eu-de-nil

inside >
> Victorian ornaments such as plaster cornices, ceiling roses, skirtings and architraves still popular > stained glass in front windows, featuring geometric and curvilinear shapes and sometimes native plants or birds Red Brick Mid Brunswick

renovation notes >

> roofs usually slate, terracotta tiles or corrugated iron (often painted terracotta) > gable ends ornamented with rough stucco, left natural grey or painted cream, and battens painted dark brown > verandahs increasingly feature timber fretwork rather than cast iron lacework ornamentation

garden >
> fences commonly timber pickets > palms were used & occasional native plantings

20

ALIFORNIAN

21

Californian Bungalow
With variants that include Indian and Tudor revival as well as the Californian original, these rugged and cosy looking houses combine Arts and Crafts concepts with the ideal of the simple house in a natural setting. More rustic than preceding styles, most are single storey with a simple L-shaped plan and set well back from the street.

1910> 1930

outside >
> vast gabled roofs, with chimneys on outside walls > red brick or, bull-nosed weatherboard walls > massive brick or rendered verandah piers and balustrades > small, squarish windows usually grouped in front rooms and often in bow shaped projections

exterior colours >

Cream Pale Green

1910>1930

Buff

Slate

inside >
> stained timber panelling to head height on interior walls, with painted plaster above

garden >
> fences commonly crimped wire with looped tops or timber pickets or, less often, brick fences similar to verandah balustrades > variegated and colourful shrubs and smaller trees gained popularity; hedges and standard roses became common

Mission Brown

Grey Green

renovation notes >

> > > > roofs usually terracotta tiles or, if corrugated iron, painted red or green walls red brick with flush joints, and brown or green-stained shingles at gable ends timber walls painted cream, buff and stone with verandah trims in tones of brown or dark green windows either double hung or casement, with panes in small rectangles or diamonds or featuring Art Nouveau or Arts & Crafts patterned stained glass > verandah brackets, flat roof rafters, roof eaves brackets and verandah details often ornamented with curvilinear carving > ceilings divided into panels with plaster straps, patterned in front rooms but plain in back rooms

Indian Red

Royal Blue

ARLY MODE

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23

Early Modern
After the Great Depression of the 1930s, single storey detached houses predominate. Set well back from the street on fairly large blocks, they exhibit a simplicity of style that reflects both economic stringency and the move towards modernism. Building forms are simple and fairly austere with limited embellishment, although the influence of a number of decorative styles such as Spanish Mission, Georgian Revival and Art Deco is apparent.

1930> 1940

21

outside >
> bold and assertive forms made up of simple block shapes > ornamentation limited to the front porch, chimney and occasional brickwork patterning > design emphasis on the horizontal, especially in window frame patterns

exterior colours >

White Rose Pink

1930>1940

inside >
> Art Deco or other design motifs on glass doors to living and dining rooms, and in cornices and ceiling mouldings > decorative paint schemes with lighter tones

Ochre

Terracotta

garden >
> front fences, commonly brick some with decorated wrought iron panels featuring Art Deco zigzag motifs and matching gates > wide areas of lawn were used with narrow perimeter garden beds having trimmed hedges and small shrubs; driveways invariably had two wheel strips

Lime White

Indian Red

Apple Green

Dark Brown

renovation notes >

> > > > brickwork usually cream, red or brown with darker highlights external paint colours cream, white, off white, stone, terracotta, dark brown Art Deco zigzag patterning in brickwork on eaves, stepped arches over entry porches and chimneys occasional use of clinker bricks in feature panels

ODERN

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Modern
Modernism in 20th Century architecture is broadly characterised by open planning and simplicity with bold geometric shapes and little or no ornamentation. Modern architecture was actively encouraged by young avantegarde architects. The style is principally distinguished by having almost nothing in common with traditional houses.

1945> 1970

21

outside >
> squarish proportions, tending to the horizontal > flat roofs > walls made of rectilinear geometric shapes > occasional bold, curved elements like a spiral stair, driveway or garden wall > wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows combined with blank walls and small windows like punched holes > house often raised above ground on thin columns, so that it seems to float

exterior colours >

Cream White

1945>1970

Salmon Pink

Ochre

inside >
> flat plaster walls with minimal cornices the only ornament > small architraves and skirtings in either stained or painted wood Light Cream Apple Green

garden >
> occasional front fences in brick, sometimes with wrought iron panels > front yards were wide and covered mostly by neatly trimmed lawns with wheel strips in the driveway and narrow perimeter garden beds Red Black

renovation notes >

> > > > . columns, balustrades and other necessary but incidental elements made as thin as possible cream or salmon pink bricks; render or fibre cement walls painted white or cream timber or steel window frames often painted white colours used in small areas, usually primary red, yellow or blue, sometimes green, orange or pastels

IPS FOR SUS

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Tips for Sustainable Renovation

Chances are sustainability didnt enter your mind when you were pursuing that Queen Anne or Early Modern gem you had your heart set on. But now the sale contract is signed and sealed and renovations are on the agenda, its time to think energy-wise.
Whether you have bought an existing house whose style you want to preserve, or you are hoping to convert a period piece using contemporary design styles, there are many things you can do to live in a more sustainable home. You may have to think more carefully than someone building a new house, and ensure that you maintain key heritage features. Picking up just a few of the following suggestions can help you save money, make your home more comfortable and help the environment, whilst maintaining the character of your house: > choose north facing rooms when planning your open living areas (even if that wasnt their original purpose) > use pergolas and deciduous trees on the north side of your house to shade it during summer while letting winter sun through > reduce your exposure to east/west sun with thick plantings or screens > add or extend eaves and/or verandahs > install shutters > install self-closing exhaust fans > insulate roofs, walls and floors > Install water-saving fittings and consider a rainwater tank and solar hot water as an option > build shade walls of material with high thermal mass (eg stone, brick or rammed earth), which take a long time to warm up and a long time to cool down > place tight-fitting pelmets over curtains and blinds to reduce heat loss on cold nights > retain existing mature trees and shrubs for natural shade and protection mulch and use drip irrigation to save water > install door and window seals to eliminate draughts Dont forget to reuse or recycle building materials wherever you can: > use them in your own renovation > offer them to other renovators > use discarded stone or beams to make borders for the garden Your architect or builder may be able to suggest other energy-wise features you can include in your renovation plans, or visit www.5starhouse.vic.gov.au

Further Information
health & safety >
Asbestos was widely used as a building material from 1919 until the early 1980s and exposure can cause permanent damage to your health. Do not allow anyone to start work on your renovation until you have established if there is any present in the existing building. For information about asbestos, speak to your local council, architect or Registered Building Practitioner. Lead paints were also commonly used up to the 1980s, and can be toxic and harmful. There are many products and techniques to prepare finishes; ask your hardware supplier about the safest methods for your home. Always use a Registered Building Practitioner if your renovation project is valued at $5000 or more. Planning laws apply throughout Victoria and you may have to apply for a permit for more information, contact your local council.

reference >
The information in this booklet is only intended as a guide and there are many characteristic variations in every home across Victoria. For historical, factual and technical information, please visit your local library. Some suggestions for further reading include: Architecture in Australia A History by J M Freeland Penguin Books Australia, 1972 Australias Home by Robin Boyd Melbourne University Press, 1952 Identifying Australian Architecture by Richard Apperly, Robert Irving and Peter Reynolds Angus & Robertson, 1989 Guide to Melbourne Architecture by Philip Goad Watermark Press, 1999 The History and Design of the Australian House by Robert Irving Oxford University Press, 1985 Our Inter-War Houses by Bryce Rayworth National Trust of Australia, 1991

online >
For direction and ideas about building and renovating, please visit the following websites: www.buildingcommission.com.au www.archicentre.com.au www.consumer.vic.gov.au For more information about heritage in Victoria, please visit www.heritage.vic.gov.au Information Victoria provides a wealth of information about the history of Victoria, and general information about our State. A variety of material and free brochures are available from their Melbourne store at 356 Collins Street, or online www.information.vic.gov.au 2004 is the Year of the Built Environment across Australia. YBE Victorian Office Level 27 Casselden Place, 2 Lonsdale Street PO Box 536E Melbourne VIC 3001 [03] 9285 6331 www.ybe2004.vic.gov.au

Building Commission & Heritage Victoria

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