Federation architecture refers to the architectural style of Australian homes built around the decades before and after 1900 AD. This site is a backup to Federation-House.wikispaces.com, which closed down in 2018. The new Federation-House.com site links to these blogs, but many old links to the Wikispaces site are unfortunately still present.
“The Rosebery Estate was established in 1912 by Richard Stanton who had earlier success with the garden suburb of Haberfield..
Rosebery is designated as a “Special Precinct” in South Sydney Urban Design DCP 1997.
“Prices orignally ranged from £725 – £900 per housing lot, and the Town Planning Company provided finance at 6.5%.
The houses on the estate were described as ‘artistic and modern villas’ with four, five or six rooms to suit the owner.
There are 3 key periods for the development of Rosebery and each period generally relates to a particular architectural style:”
Federation Period 1914 – 1918
“Some of the homes from this period were constructed as model homes for the estate and are similar (but less grand) than those constructed in Haberfield by Richard Stanton around the same time.
The houses are generally single storey Federation bungalows constructed of tuck pointed face brickwork with roughcast rendered detailing,
timber casement and/or double hung windows, timber doors and steep pitched terra cotta tile roof with dominant gable and chimney,
asymmetrical planning, recessed front verandahs with timber posts and fretwork detailing.”
“The houses are generally single storey bungalows constructed of face brickwork with rendered detailing,
timber casement and/or double hung windows, timber doors and glazed terra cotta tile roofs with dominant gable and chimneys
and front verandahs with heavy masonry columns.”
The pictured Bungalow, recommended for Heritage Listing because:
“the overall building form, with predominant roof plane, deep sandstone veranda (unusual for the area) and projecting gable end with bay window, are fine architectural examples of the period…. The projecting gable is characterised by a bay window covered with a flat metal roof and timber framed windows with sandstone base to contrast the face brickwork.” – Source
Post War Period
380 Gardeners Road, Heritage value reduced by altered chimneys, verandah detail, height of hedge…
“Although there are few houses in Rosebery actually constructed during this period, many of the existing houses were altered during this time by post war migrants initially from Italy and Greece and then later in the 1970’s from the Middle East.
Typical changes made included rendering of face brickwork, replacement of original timber windows with aluminium, removal of decorative timberwork and gables, replacement of verandah posts with precast concrete columns.”
Rosebery has in fact a large number of Federation houses constructed in the Bungalow style of the Inter-war period, and these are the subject of this photo essay:
Interwar Federation Bungalow, less Californian than Federation, since no gable over the verandah.
Side by side: Federation and Californian Bungalow pair, right house has gabled verandah.
Updated, but still pretty!
Classic Federation style, gable over verandah, symmetry is unusual. More Bungalow than Federation as a result.
Almost original Federation Bungalow, complete with bay windows and chimney
Classic Federation Bungalow style, even has a bay window, but chimneys removed.
Dalmeny Avenue Heritage Star, is it more Californian than Federation Bungalow?
“Located on the corner of Dalmeny and Tweedmouth Avenues this free-standing bungalow has been designed to address both street frontages with the entrance at the corner leading to a corner veranda.
Located on a wider block than others found in the street, this Inter-War California bungalow is set within a simple garden setting of manicured lawns, hedges and established Frangipani.
The tessellated tile path is flanked by low level hedging while the recent brick fence gently curves around the boundary of the site. The brick fence is met by a high timber fence along Tweedmouth Avenue that obscures most of the new additions and finishes at the beginning of the gabled double garage.
The home is characterised by a visually prominent roof form with simple timber painted bargeboards and matching street facing gables addressing both frontages.
The roof extends over the veranda and has been recently replaced (see hailstorm) with glazed terra cotta tiles creating uniformity between the original house and recent additions. A brick chimney with tall decorative glazed terra cotta pot is located to one side and the deep set veranda is supported on sandstone piers that are grouped at the corner.
The projecting gable is characterised by a bay window covered with a flat metal roof and timber framed windows with sandstone base to contrast the face brickwork.
The windows are stylised geometric glazing using soft tones of red, blue and yellow glass accents. The upper portion of the gable is timber framed with painted shingling.
The timber framed entrance door and French door with original knob that lead onto the veranda have the same glass pattern as the windows. The original style and character has been continued through to the new addition of the house.
Although the building has undergone additions to the rear, the overall building form, with predominant roof plane, deep sandstone veranda (unusual for the area) and projecting gable end with bay window, are fine architectural examples of the period.
Architectural elements and detailing to the front and side elevations also remain including the timber framed windows with geometric leadlight, shingle gable ends and decorative terrace cotta chimney pot.
Federation Home 