Nirvana

On 18 November 1924, auctioneers announced the sale of the Rosary Hill Estate, which comprised sixteen magnificent building sites. The name of the estate reflects the former use of the site by a Catholic Order convent. The lot on which the flats were built was purchased by Lily Bull, described as wife of Arthur George Bull.

It would appear that development of the site commenced soon after the sale of a number of the lots. In July 1925, an Alderman for the South Brisbane Council, within which area the development lay, complained of the ‘disgraceful’ state of the Rosary Hill Estate. The place was in a shocking condition with houses already being built on it without drainage and water channelling. 

This was the period in which the multi-unit dwelling began to emerge as an alternative to the traditional Brisbane house and yard. Prior to this in larger Australian cities such as Sydney and Melbourne this style of ‘modern’ living, in blocks of flats, had become a stylish alternative to living in the traditional house. 

In the 1920s and 1930s, to cater for the housing shortage as well as to generate income, many home owners in the inner-city suburbs converted houses into tenements, where tenants would share bathrooms, toilets and kitchens. This led to community concerns of overcrowding and increased hygiene problems. A fashionable and more sophisticated alternative to this form of accommodation was the purpose built block of self-contained flats. Marketed mainly at single people and childless couples the earliest self-contained flats in Brisbane were generally conveniently situated close to trams, trains and shopping facilities in inner-city suburbs such as Spring Hill, New Farm and Fortitude Valley. 

The Brisbane City Council, in 1930, defined the flat as “a fully self-contained dwelling, with private kitchen, bathroom and water closet”. The flat was designed to be an independently functioning dwelling. Although seen as a sophisticated lifestyle, flat living was fairly uncommon in Brisbane in this period, with only 8.4% of Brisbane residents living in flats. This low percentage may be due to the economic constraints of the time as well as the perceived novelty of this style of living. Most interwar flats in Brisbane were architecturally designed and constructed from good quality brick and timber. 

The flats were constructed over the period 1925-26, with a new flat in the block being advertised for renting in November 1926. From contemporary descriptions, internally each  flat comprised “four rooms, and a long verandah enclosed” containing “2 bedrooms, dining and breakfast rooms, arched, kitchen, gas stove, bathroom, enamel bath, basin and geyser, laundry gas copper”. The flats were built for letting, and have remained in single ownership since constructed.  

From an examination of comparative information on inter-war flats in Brisbane, it is considered the building is a rare, early and very intact example of its type. The timber frame and weatherboarding finish is comparatively rare for two-storey flats, with the vast majority of timber framed flats post-dating 1926 including fibro sheeting. This was due to concerns about the combustibility of all timber construction for multi-occupancy buildings.

It is symmetrical in design with a central half-timbered infill gable resting on projecting joists, which projects slightly forward and above a hipped roof. There are separate lean-to roofs on projecting brackets to the side elevations. 

To the ground floor there are two projecting gabled entrance porches, with decorative board balustrade and paired posts, infilled with louvered glazing above. Stair access is from the side. There is a pair of slightly projecting rectangular bays with corrugated iron roofs and three casement windows, supported on four projecting chamfered floor joists. There is a row of casement windows running along the side elevations, enclosing a verandah. 

The first floor has a pair of matching projecting bays of the same design as the ground floor. There is a matching pair of four casement windows to the front elevation above the projecting porches, enclosing a verandah. The side elevations at first floor are asymmetrical with the door and staircase to the west side being set further back than the east side, which has the door and staircase (accessed from the rear) more centrally placed. There are rows of casement windows extending two-thirds of the elevation enclosing a verandah.  There is a simple vertical timber valance between the concrete stumps.

Many of the internal interwar features remain.

Externally, the building appears to be very original in terms of its form, materials and detailing, although it does appear the timber hand rails have been replaced. The front wall is also relatively recent, and original garage block has been removed. The building externally appears to be in good repair.

1. Queensland Certificates of Title

2. The Brisbane Courier, 10 February 1919, p 9; Daily Standard, 11 February 1919, p 2

3. The Brisbane Courier, 2 August 1924, p 13 The Ursuline Order built a new convent in Corinda which was opened in December 1924

4. The Brisbane Courier, 18 November 1924, p 20

5. The Brisbane Courier, 2 December 1924, p 9

6. The Brisbane Courier, 17 March 1925, p 16 and Brisbane Courier, 25 March 1925, p 10

7. The Brisbane Courier, 14 July 1925 p 4

8. The Telegraph, 28 July 1925 p 16

9. The Telegraph, 17 November 1925 p 15

10. The Brisbane Courier, 9 November 1926, p 3

11. The Brisbane Courier, 8 January 1927, p 24; and Brisbane Courier, 13 December 1926, p 8

12. The Courier Mail, 29 October 1938, p 12