Federation Arts and Crafts style

Examples of Federation Arts and Crafts housing style:

Advertised as “Haberfield’s Finest Federation Home” The Bunyas, 1-5 Rogers Avenue Haberfield, off Parramatta Road Officer House, Eaglemont Vic 2008 20 Ramsay Street Haberfield

Gallery of Federation Arts and Crafts Houses in Sydney

‘Rowardennan’ 5 Warrawee Avenue, Warrawee	‘St Ellero’ 5 Appian Way Burwood, NSW	‘Erica’ 21 Appian Way Burwood NSW	‘Mounterry’ 318 Burwood Rd Burwood
‘Westholme’ c1894 , 1 Water Street Wahroonga	‘Pibrac’, Pibrac Avenue Warrawee	‘Craignairn’, 37 Burns Road, Wahroonga	‘Malvern’, 41 Burns Road, Wahroonga

The Federation Arts and Craft style had its origins in England, where architects were reacting to the impersonal nature of the Industrial Revolution.

• Crafts and handiwork were emphasised to give architecture the “human touch”.
• Australian Federation Arts and Crafts buildings were generally small-scale to medium-scale and predominantly residential.

From Sydney Architecture:

• As its name implies this (Arts and Craft) style was concerned with the integration of art into everyday life through the medium of craftsmanship.
• There is a strong flavour of morality, with stress on the truthful use of materials and the honest expression of function.
• Arts and Crafts buildings are unpretentious and informal, evoking an atmosphere of comfortable familiarity.

Hollowforth, Neutral Bay, by Architect Edward Jeaffreson Jackson

Redleaf, 8 Redleaf Ave, Wahroonga NSW

William Morris

In nineteenth-century England… William Morris, (was the) father of the Arts and Crafts movement. Dismayed by the effects of the Industrial Revolution and inspired by Ruskin, Morris tried to put art into a broadly based social context through the reestablishment of handicraft methods reminiscent of a rural, pre-industrial age.

• The movement was born when British designers and architects reacted vehemently against the mass produced factory goods, in a mishmash of revived styles, shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. The result was a return to honest craftsmanship, meaningful design and a purity of line and form.
• Simple and practical oak furniture, brass, pewter, silver and copper metalwork with motifs inspired by nature, hand-blown glass and hand-thrown ceramics are the hallmarks of the time. These are pieces with soul, imbued with the individual aesthetic tastes and philosophical ideals of both the artists and the craftsmen.
• Arts and Crafts furniture and home accessories are some of the best value items of progressive design available.^[1]
• In the words of William Morris…
  

  Wright’s home in Oak Park, Illinois

  • “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”^[2]

English Arts and Crafts Architects

• C. F. A. Voysey and Philip Webb were important Arts and Crafts architects in England.
• Also Hugh Baillie Scott,.famous for his country houses

In the United States, Gustav Stickleypromoted the ‘Craftsman’ image in architecture, interior design and furniture.

• Chicago architect Frank Lloyd Wright started out with Arts and Crafts designs, particularly for his own house.

The Gables, in Spruson Street Cremorne, by BJ Waterhouse

Rowerdennan 1913, 5 Warrawee Avenue Warrawee by BJ Waterhouse

Australian Arts and Crafts Architects

• In Victoria the important Arts and Crafts Architects were Victorians Walter Butler, Harold Desbrowe-Annear, and Guyon Purchas. Later architects were Rodney Alsop, WAM Blackett and Phillip Hudson.
• In Sydney a different Arts and Crafts style was developed by Horbury Hunt,and George Sydney Jones. Later archtiects were Edward Jeaffreson Jackson, FG Castleden and BJ Waterhouse.
• Robin Dodds was the key figure in Queensland before he moved to Sydney.
• Kenneth Milne was the key figure in South Australia, and Eustace Cohen in Western Australia
  – from Pioneers of Modernism by Harriet Edquist.

 

Famous Australian Arts and Crafts homes

Outstanding examples are

1. Glyn, Kooyong road, Toorak, Victoria;
2. The Crossways, Martin Road, Centennial Park, New South Wales;
3. Erica, Appian Way, Burwood, New South Wales, and
4. Booloominbah, 60 Madgwick Drive, Armidale, NSW

 

1. Glyn 224 Kooyong Road, Toorak Victoria

Glyn was designed by architect Rodney Alsop in 1908 for the wealthy financier, pastoralist and politician Sir Edward Miller (1848-1932). The house was constructed in the Arts and Crafts idiom, with reinforced concrete walls, finished with a distinctive render with white quartz pebbles pushed into the surface, resting on a deep brick plinth. This render finish has subsequently been painted over. It was complemented by gables and steeply sloping roof slopes with all surfaces clad in terracotta shingles. The interior contains many distinctive features, particularly timber panelling, carved woodwork, stained glass and beaten metal ornamentation. The building was positioned at the top of a hill on a succession of terraces and towered above the extensive grounds as they sloped down to a gully on the south east side.

Glyn, Toorak, showing exposed rafter ends, tapering chimneys and massed windows typical of Federation Arts and Crafts Style

Glyn exhibits all the classic aspects of the Arts & Crafts movement emphasising picturesque massing, references to vernacular architecture and the exposure of building materials and textures.

The original fireplaces, light fittings, switch plates and joinery were rare examples of English Arts and Crafts influence in Australia, although some of these features have since been lost. Each room has a different decorative treatment. An interesting Australian touch is the eucalypt decorative scheme in the main hall, stair hall, entrance hall and upstairs gallery.

Glyn is also important early example of reinforced concrete being used in residential construction.

2. The Crossways, Centennial Park NSW

• See page Crossways – Centennial Park NSW

File:Crossways.JPG

The Crossways is a fine example of the international design ‘Arts and Crafts Movement style’ , a house of historical significance that was designed by Waterhouse and Lake and built in 1908.[12]

• The Crossways was built as part of the subdivision of 1904 that created the suburb, and was the home of physician/surgeon Dr Craig Gordon.
  

  external image how2_420x293.jpg

• It is one of the finest examples of the Federation Arts & Crafts style in Australia, and one of the finest works of architect B.J. Waterhouse of Waterhouse & Lake.
• It includes recognisable Arts and Crafts elements such as the roughcast walls and irregular windows, but its style is broad and there is even a castellated section of wall at the side.
• The seven-bedroom home is known as one of Sydney’s finest estates and is filled with luxurious details:
  • The floors in the drawing room, dining room, entrance hall and library are antique parquet taken from a French chateau.
  • The fireplaces are made of Sienna marble.
  • The drapes, curtain and carpets are French and English imports, and the La Cornue gas stove in the kitchen is the only one ever brought to Australia from France for residential use.
  • The chandeliers are from a home in England, and the bathrooms are clad in marble.
  • The private, half-acre property has a secret garden and a swimming pool shielded with high hedges.

3. Erica, Appian Way, (Hoskins Estate) Burwood, NSW

• See also page Appian Way, Burwood

 

File:SydneyBuilding0126.jpg

Erica, 21 the Appian Way, is the most unusual house in the estate. Also known as the Hoskins Estate, Appian Way was a model housing estate conceived by a wealthy industrialist, George J. Hoskins on 8 hectares of land that he purchased at the start of the 20th century.[2] Built between 1903 and 1911, the estate of 36 Federation houses was created with his designer and builder William Richards to present an appropriate setting opposite the Hoskins St Cloud mansion on Burwood Road.[3]

Erica has all external walls finished in roughcast render except for the shingles in the gable ends. The roof is slate, and the verandah roof is supported on tapered, sleekly rounded brick piers. An elongated tapering chimney springs from an extraordinary stepped parapet which slices asymmetircally across the smaller of the two gables facing the street. In the windows, small rectangular panes of convex glass are set in lead cames. Erica shows its Arts and Crafts flavour through the use of roughcast render, slate on the roof and Voysey-esque treatement of the chimneys. ^[3]

4. Booloominbah, Armidale external image 5001279b4.jpg Booloominbah is of State heritage significance as one of the largest private country houses built in Australia during the 19th century and amongst the most avant-garde domestic Arts and Crafts style designs of the time. Designed as an interpretation of an English country house, Booloominbah sits in a relatively intact landscape. As such, it is exemplary of the work of architect John Horbury Hunt. As well as being large, it is also extravagant in decoration, in particular the use of stained glass. The fabric substantially demonstrates the wealth and influence of pastoralism in NSW in late 19th century. Its gift by Thomas R. Forster was the catalyst for the establishment of the New England University College, the first in Australia to be located outside of a capital city. external image 5001279b1.jpg The gift of such a substantial house demonstrates the historical circumstances of the White family’s involvement, the impetus from the local church and community groups, and the ‘new state’ movement in establishing Armidale as a major educational centre in NSW. (Clive Lucas Stapleton & Partners 1992) Landscape: Booloominbah sits in a landscape of an English country estate, including two drives, a gate and inner gate, a dam and a deer park below to its south. The main drive is flanked by a double avenue of English elm trees (Ulmus procera). The location of the second drive is marked by a section of remnant hedge. external image 5001279b7.jpg The deer park and house are surrounded by a collation of mature trees including ‘English’ (European) elm (Ulmus procera), poplars (Populus spp.) and many more. Gardens: Booloominbah is surrounded by three distinct gardens: the north, south and east. The northern garden is boarded by a hedge and is predominantly a lawn area. The garden is intersected by 1990s path. The gardens to the south and east are lawns interspersed with mature trees, including (to the south) a Bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii), Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) and Chir/Himalayan pine (Pinus roxburghii). A 1992 report indicates there was a rose garden located to the south of the house.

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Oldest Australian Arts and Crafts Buildings

• Fairwater, 560 New South Head Rd, Point Piper NSW designed 1882 by Architect John Horbury Hunt
• Booloominbah, 60 Madgwick Drive, Armidale, NSW designed 1884 by Architect John Horbury Hunt
• Pibrac, Pibrac Avenue, Warrawee designed 1888 by Architect John Horbury Hunt
• Highlands, 9 Highlands Avenue Warawee, designed 1891 – by Architect John Horbury Hunt
• Trevenna, the residence of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England built in1892
• Hollowforth, Neutral Bay, by Architect Edward Jeaffreson Jackson completed 1893
• Westholme c1894 – 1 Water Street Wahroonga
• The Eyrie, Eaglemont, VIC, Australia designed 1902 by Architect Harold Desbrowe Annear
• St Ellero Appian Way Burwood, Federation Arts and Crafts Home, 5 Appian Way Burwood built 1902-3

Australian Arts and Crafts Buildings

In Australia, Federation Arts and Crafts Buildings are domestic in scale and make free use of traditional (usually English) motifs to achieve an unassuming, homely, well-established character.

• Exposed rafters epitomise the Arts and Craft influence on Federation style

Babworth House built in 1915, Darling Point showing external rafters

• Designers aimed for informality in planning, massing, windows and landscaping.
  

  The Highlands, designed in 1891 heritage listed shingle style, 9 Highlands Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW, by famed architect John Horbury Hunt – see http://9highlandsavenue.com

• The roof is a dominant element, featuring gables (with barges or parapets) and/or hips of medium to steep pitch and prominent eaves.
• Usually rafter ends are exposed, or the rafters themselves are visible under the eaves.

Keynsham 29 Shellcove Road NEUTRAL BAY

‘Malvern’, Sydney Architect Howard Joseland’s home at 41 Burns Road, Wahroonga

• Tall, tapering chimneys, battered wall- buttresses and bay windows are characteristic elements of the style.
• Roof-top attic or ‘spy’ windows are massed together in twos or threes or sometimes even more.

‘Westholme’ c1894 – 1 Water Street Wahroonga

Another view of ‘Westholme’ c1894 – 1 Water Street Wahroonga

• Roughcast stucco (more rarely pebbledash) was commonly used as an exterior wall finish, together with other materials having earthy, ‘natural’ colours and textures. I have heard of coal being mixed with cement to form roughcast!
  

  Matakana, 28 Lucinda Avenue, Wahroonga

• Interiors frequently display timber panelling and sturdy ceiling beams.
• Touches of Art Nouveau detail are common, both externally and internally. – Sydney Architecture:

Living room with timber trim, ceiling	Dining Room with Fretwork Arch
1 Water Street Wahroonga ‘Westholme’ c1894

Babworth House interior

 

Architect Peter Crone’s meticulously restored home, Chadwick House, in Eaglemont, designed by Harold Desbrowe-Annear in 1903. Photo: Neil Newitt

Desbrowe-Annear leaves a trail of wooden hearts. 55 Outlook Drive Eaglemont. Photo: 2003

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Federation Arts and Crafts Style

One of the key design and architecture styles of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Typical Federation features in Australia are:

• white, roughcast render
  

  Keynsham 29 Shellcove Road NEUTRAL BAY

• everything being exposed to explain the construction such as rafters, wooden pegs in beams, and bare stone and brick
  

  ‘St Ellero’ 5 Appian Way Burwood, New South Wales

• rough-cast (stone/cement stucco) or occasionaly, pebble dash
• visible rafters under the eaves
• stone dressed window and door openings
  

  ‘Mounterry’ 318 Liverpool Road Burwood NSW

• low rooflines, dominant roof

Certain tendencies stand out:

• asymmetric frontage
  

  A 1903 Desbrowe-Annear house, in Eaglemont Victoria

 

Tulkiyan is of State significance as an important, intact example of a fine Arts & Crafts suburban villa, designed by eminent Edwardian architect B.J. Waterhouse

 

• reformist neo-gothic influences,

Fairwater 560 New South Head Road, Double Bay, NSW by Architect John Horbury Hunt

• rustic and “cottagey” surfaces,
  
• repeating designs,
  

  ‘Erica’ 21 Appian Way Burwood NSW Australia

• vertical and elongated forms.
  

  Fairfax House, 32 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill

• Some products were deliberately left slightly unfinished, resulting in a certain rustic and robust effect,
  

  ‘Ailsa’ 33 Shellcove Road, Neutral Bay

• Showcases the beauty inherent in craft

Architect Peter Crone’s meticulously restored home, Chadwick House in Eaglemont, designed by Harold Desbrowe-Annear in 1903. Photo: Neil Newitt

• Cowper Rose, Cowper Street, Randwick Sydney

American Influences

• The East Coast Shingle Style promoted by architect Henry Hobson Richardson
• The Craftsman magazine published by furniture maker Gustav Stickley, promoting small houses, gardens and furniture
• Californian designers Greene and Greene and Louis Easton, especially Gamble House
• Chicago architect Frank Lloyd Wright

 

Wright’s home in Oak Park, Illinois

The Gamble House, Pasadena, California, by Greene and Greene

Stickley Craftsman House: Shingled House Exterior view from the front.

Mosman Heritage Federation Arts and Crafts

 

 

 

3,5,7 David Street Mosman NSW, Streetview

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1. ^ http://www.designgallery.co.uk/blog/guides/the-arts-and-crafts-movement/
2. ^ **http://www.arts-and-crafts-style.com/arts-and-crafts-furniture.html
3. ^ Richard Apperly, A Controlled Near-Chaos, Chapter 3, page 43 of Towards the Dawn, edited b Trevor Howells and Michael Nicholson