House (War Service Home)

The Commonwealth Government created the War Service Homes Commission in 1919 to assist returned servicemen and their families to buy affordable houses by providing low interest loans to purchase homes built by or on behalf of the Commission, or existing houses. From 1919 to 1922 the Commission purchased large areas of land and built houses in advance of applications in a range of standard designs prepared by Commission's architect. However, due to mounting costs the Commission ceased building houses and from 1921 all new housing was built by others under contract issued after public tender. Then, from 1922, the Commission appointed the State Savings Bank of Victoria to provide homes on the same terms as the Commission and from then until at least 1940 all new War Service homes in Victoria were designed and built by or on behalf of the SSBV.

This serial listing comprises the houses designed and built by the Commission at 42, 46, 48 & 50 Shamrock Street, Brunswick West and 17, 19, 25, 27, 29 & 31 Glenora Avenue, Coburg. The Commission purchased the land in 1920 and the houses were constructed from 1920 to 1922.

The houses are detached bungalows in garden settings, modest in scale and character, built with similar materials and architectural elements displaying Arts & Crafts influences in a range of standard designs. Common design elements include:

- Walls of face brick or face brick and render
- Hip or gable clay/cement tile roofs. The deep eaves have visible rafters and are often supported by timber brackets.
- Timber double hung sash windows with multi-paned uppers, in singles or pairs or set within projecting bays with shingled hoods.
- Shingled or timbered gable ends with louvered vents.
- Tiled hoods supported on timber brackets above front windows. In some designs, this is continuous across the facade creating a 'floating' gable above.
- Plain brick or render chimneys with terracotta pots
- Entry porches or verandahs set under the main roof line with arched or square openings.

Non-original alterations or additions to the houses and other buildings on the properties, and all fences are not significant.

How is it significant?

The War Service Homes Brick Houses are of local historic and aesthetic significance to Moreland City.

Why is it significant?

The houses demonstrate the important Commonwealth repatriation initiative to provide affordable housing for returned servicemen and their families after World War I and are among the first houses built by the Commission in Melbourne. They are of particular significance as representative examples of the standard designs used by the Commission from 1919 to 1922 and demonstrate how the Commission designed and built houses before responsibility was transferred to the State Savings Bank of Victoria, which went on to the construct the majority of the War Service Homes in Victoria. Collectively, the houses demonstrate the approach of using standard designs to ensure the houses could be built economically and efficiently and to achieve visual cohesion when built as a group, but with variations in appearance to avoid repetition. Together with the timber homes constructed by the Commission elsewhere in Moreland they demonstrate the range of house types provided by the scheme. (Criteria A & D)

The houses are aesthetically significant for the simple designs that feature the restrained use of Arts & Crafts details to provide variety and visual interest. These include the deep eaves and window hoods with visible rafters supported in timber brackets, and use of materials such as brick and roughcast, and clay/cement tiles and timber shingles. (Criterion E)

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House