Concrete House
Location
355 Dalry Road, Launching Place VIC 3139 - Property No 70086
Show Place Maps and StreetviewStatement of Significance
The concrete house in Dalry Road has high local significance as an experimental building constructed in reinforced concrete between 1936 and 1937 by William Pearce, district sawmiller, and his sons, George, and Jack Pearce who was a prominent local citizen. The house has significance for its associations with Pearce, who, with his sons owned a large sawmill in Dalry Road; a Tramway (the "Pearce" Tramway) to take the timber to Woori Yallock Station; and a hardware business and timber yard in Abbotsford. "Tut's" or "Tut's Tomb", as the concrete house was known, is owned currently by Steve McLagan, a carpenter and joiner, who is restoring it.
Description
An unusual concrete house in located in Dalry Road, Woori Yallock. It appears to comprise several pavilions, each rectangular in plan, connected by arched openings. The front section of the house, which is visible from the road, presents a contemporary Moorish appearance. The front porch has a Moorish arch to the front and sides and the flat roof extends as an eave. Several chimneys are visible and each has a flat capital similar to the eave detailing. The house has metal framed windows typical of the 1940s, however recent changes to the wall above the window head suggest that these windows may have been added later. Unfortunately it was not possible to enter the property at the time of our field visit, therefore a close inspection of the construction method did not occur. It is possible that the house was constructed using prefabricated concrete slabs, based on the method developed by the Fowler Brothers c1920s, used on their farm in Werribee and later used by several architects and then Housing Commission.(Context 1997: 444-447)
The house is sited within a farming property and is located next to bushland. A large mound has been created on the road reserve, presumably to protect the property from vehicles. However this made it very difficult to see the rear pavilion sections. It may be that the pavilions are arranged around an internal or semi-enclosed courtyard that is behind the front section of the dwelling.