111 Beaudesert Road, Moorooka

The completion of the South Coast Line, from South Brisbane to Beenleigh, in 1885 opened up the southern areas of Brisbane to those wishing to live outside Brisbane city, but with an easy commute to town. The platform at Moorooka station was completed in 1886 but in 1891/1892, the station was moved approximately 100 meters to the North along Ipswich Road, and a passenger waiting shed was built.

In the 1920s, the suburb was selected for soldier settlement although the area remained relatively undeveloped until the 1950s, when a sharp increase in the population encouraged subdivision of many of the large blocks of land still owned by Brisbane’s wealthy elite. Shops started to be constructed along Beaudesert Road and Mayfield Road from 1925, and an American servicemans camp was located on Mayfield Road, NE of the school, during World War II.

Beaudesert Road became the commercial centre of Moorooka, with the suburb developing around this central location. Prior to World War I, Moorooka was still a largely rural area, dotted with residential development. From the interwar period industry made use of the existing train line and the land close to the railway between Moorooka and Coopers Plains became heavily industrialised, while residential development occurred largely from Ipswich Road to Toohey Forest (to the East). The train station during the first half of the twentieth century was utilised by local industry and the military to ship goods – while a tram station was built in 1937 along Beaudesert Road to service the new estates, which had developed along Beaudesert Road from the 1880s.

Census data

Moorooka - 1911 - Population: 350

Moorooka - 1921 - Population: 791

Moorooka (including Rocklea and Salisbury) - 1947 - Population: 8364

Moorooka (including Rocklea and Salisbury) - 1954 - Population: 12,163

Moorooka (including Rocklea and Salisbury) - 1971 - Population: 17,246

Moorooka - 1976 - Population: 9639

Moorooka - 2001 - Population: 8609

Moorooka - 2006 - Population: 9194

Moorooka - 2011 - Population: 9984

The subject property was originally part of a large estate (Portion 157B) of over 20 acres belonging to Charles Bushell.

The property transferred to several people before the first subdivision took place in 1888. Subdivision 1 of Portion 157B (over 1 acre in size) transferred to Arthur Preston in May 1888. He took out a mortgage in 1903 but the land remained unimproved. It then passed to Paul Logan in 1914, who also took out a mortgage, but did not improve the land. Logan subdivided the property further in 1937, at the same time Brisbane City Council resumed land along Beaudesert Road in preparation for laying the tram extension to Moorooka.

The land the subject property sits on was acquired by Brisbane City Council in March 1939, who subdivided the land further. Subdivision 2 was transferred to Robert and Elsie McDonald in December1940, sized 27.7 perches.

In the early 1940s, there was a real estate boom in suburbs like St Lucia, Holland Park and Moorooka, with increased sales and building works noted in the March 1941 Architectural & Building Journal of Queensland (A&B Journal). Prior to 1940, Durack Street was a lane – the McDonalds deliberately bought a corner block and appear to have constructed the house in relation to the layout of the block.

Robert McDonald was a clerk, and Elsie performed house duties. They lodged a building application in April 1941, at a house cost £1150, a considerable expense for such a modest house, given the cost of other properties at the same time. The house was featured in The Telegraph as “An Attractive Home on Broad Plan” and the article praises its design stating that “Occupying a corner site, sufficiently elevated to enjoy the advantage of prevailing summer breezes, the broad frontage lent itself to this method of planning and at the same time gave the home a good margin of breathing space on a comparatively shallow allotment”.

There is no architect recorded, however architect Michael Kennedy in his nomination states that the property may have been designed by Douglas Roberts, an interwar domestic architect based in Brisbane who designed houses in the interwar Mediterranean style. The A&B Journal tender records show Roberts as having a brick residence at Moorooka on his books in May 1941. However, Roberts who had been ill for some time died on 24 July 1941 and no further tender details are recorded in the A&B Journals.

While Elsie died in 1967, Robert McDonald continued to own the property until 1995 when it was transferred to members of his family.

The subject property is located on a prominent corner site on the western side of a high traffic road across from a suburban shopping centre. The surrounding area has a mixed character with commercial and industrial areas along the main roads and residential between. The Beaudesert Road boundary is lined with a small brick fence with hedges planted behind. Hedges also line the southern boundary. A concrete path provides pedestrian access to the property from the south east corner and a concrete driveway leads to the car parking at the western side of the yard.

The subject building has a multi gable roof with three gable ends facing Durack Street and a smaller gable at the southern end of the building facing Beaudesert Road. The gable roof is clad in glazed terracotta tiles. The rear of the dwelling has a skillion roof clad in corrugated iron.

The external walls have a rendered finish with face brick below ground floor level and patches. Windows are mostly casement with four clear panes per leaf and face brick sills. The east elevation features two bay windows, one square set in the gable end and one faceted at the northern end. A tripartite double hung window is noted in the square set bay. The entry porch at the southern end of the building has an arched entry way with face brick details. The gable end facing Beaudesert Road features a basket weave brick feature at the top and face brick brackets to the eaves. The gable above the entry way has a parapet with face brick brackets.

On the southern elevation there is a large window at the centre and another window at the corner of the building. The southern side of the entry porch has a glass block feature and is enclosed with a porphyry stone wall and large fixed window. A later extension to the rear of the building is evident from this elevation, it features external walls clad in weatherboard painted to match the render of the masonry walls.

External walls at the rear of the building are clad in weatherboard and the subfloor is enclosed with horizontal timber battens painted to match the face brick. Louvred sun shades cover all windows on the western and northern façade. Weatherboard cladding with a vent is noted in the upper portion of the northern gable end.

The interior of the subject building has not been inspected.

The subject building is in excellent condition and has had some additions and alteration. These include the addition to the rear of the building, enclosing of the entry porch on the southern side, addition of an access ramp and addition of sun shading devices.