Addresses

At 44 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005

Type of place

Flat building

Period

Interwar 1919-1939

Style

Composite

Casa del Mar

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This is an image of the local heritage place known as Flats 'Casa del Mar'

Casa del Mar

Casa del Mar Download Citation (pdf, 87.8 KB)

Addresses

At 44 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005

Type of place

Flat building

Period

Interwar 1919-1939

Style

Composite

‘Casa del Mar’, built in 1934 and designed by architect George Rae, is on the Register of the National Estate. The block of flats was financed by property developer, Harry Crouch and located on the site of the ‘Ravenswood’ estate, a large property extending from Moray Street to Bowen Terrace.The new flats were built during the interwar building boom to cater to the growing demand in New Farm for rental accommodation that included a range of modern conveniences, close to public transport and the city as tenants embraced the concept of modernity. Many blocks of flats were built on residential estates that had been subdivided because of rising living costs. The complex was one of three 1930s blocks of flats that were constructed on the ‘Ravenswood’ estate which also included ‘Casa del Rio’ and ‘Ravenswood’. This striking three-storey, roughcast rendered building includes Juliet balconies, decorative brick quoins, central stairway with stained glass windows, portico entrance supported by two concrete ‘barley sugar’ columns, and a Dutch gable rising above the roofline. Along with the adjacent Casa Del Rio, the complex makes a valuable contribution to the visual appeal of Moray Street.

Lot plan

  • L3_SP146469;
  • L1_SP146469;
  • L2_SP146469;
  • L5_SP146469;
  • L6_SP146469;
  • L7_SP146469;
  • L4_SP146469

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Terracotta tile;
 Walls: Face brick

People/associations

George Rae (Architect)

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Lot plan

  • L3_SP146469;
  • L1_SP146469;
  • L2_SP146469;
  • L5_SP146469;
  • L6_SP146469;
  • L7_SP146469;
  • L4_SP146469

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Terracotta tile;
 Walls: Face brick

People/associations

George Rae (Architect)

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Statement of significance

Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical

Criterion A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history

as New Farm underwent a dramatic transformation in the interwar period, which saw a large number of flats being constructed on subdivided real estates.

Rarity

Criterion B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage

as one of a surviving number of interwar flats that make a valuable contribution to New Farm's built character, which is undergoing rapid change with increasing high-density development.

Representative

Criterion D

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class or classes of cultural places

as a good example of interwar flats featuring a composite of Mediterranean and Spanish Mission styles, stylistic elements of middle-class housing of the period.

Aesthetic

Criterion E

The place is important because of its aesthetic significance

as a distinctive block of flats with a decorative façade featuring contrasting use of materials and design detailing.

References

  1. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

  2. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

  3. Brisbane City Council, Sewerage Maps, Detail Plan No 161, 5 Aug 1937 [updated plan did not include blocks of flats at 32, 40, 44 Moray Street and 313 Bowen Terrace built in the early 1930s]

  4. risbane City Council, Surveyor’s Notebook, Moray St, 21 Nov 1924

  5. Brisbane City Council, New Farm and Teneriffe Hill Heritage and Character Study, Oct 1995.

  6. Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland Certificates of Title.

  7. Department of Environment and Resource Management, ‘Julius Street Flats’, Queensland Heritage Register entry

  8. ‘Casa del Mar’, Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Register of the National Estate. Queensland Post Office Directory, 1936

  9. Bennett, H, ‘New Farm from quality street to mixed assortment’, Brisbane Houses, Gardens, Suburbs and Congregations, Papers No 22 Brisbane History Group, 2010 pg 151-175

  10. Gardener, F, Field Survey Notes, 2002

  11. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940. (St. Lucia: U of Q Press, 1984)

  12. ABJQ, 10 March 1930, pg 38

  13. Brisbane Courier, 14 Oct 1930, pg 3

  14. Brisbane Courier, 28 July 1933, pg 3

  15. Apperly, Richard et al. A pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1989

  16. Kennedy, Michael Owen. Domestic Architecture in Queensland Between the Wars. Unpub Thesis. Master of Built Environment. 1989

Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)

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Interwar 1919-1939
Composite
Flat building
At 44 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005
At 44 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005
  • L3_SP146469;
  • L1_SP146469;
  • L2_SP146469;
  • L5_SP146469;
  • L6_SP146469;
  • L7_SP146469;
  • L4_SP146469
Historical, Rarity, Representative, Aesthetic