41 Maxwell Street, New Farm

Throughout the latter part of the 19th century, New Farm became a popular residential suburb and many large villa estates were created such as James Clarke’s Wybenia and Samuel Griffith’s Merthyr. This early pattern of development differed markedly from nearby Fortitude Valley and Spring Hill where workers’ cottages on small lots predominated. In 1865 McConnell sold over 17 acres, comprising ESA 17 plus part of ESA 16 to John Sargent Turner, from 1878 to 1900 a member of the Queensland Legislative Council. A second wave of subdivision occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as parts of the original villa estates were subdivided. The creation of Maxwell Street occurred late in this process and in three stages. George Raff’s widow Eliza Jane Raff (formerly Molle nee Lord) subdivided part of neighbouring ESA 18 in 1910, the resulting 26 residential allotments in the “Riverside Slopes” estate offered for sale on site on 16 September 1911. This created the first part of Maxwell Street from Merthyr Road to the end of Raff Lane. The street was named Molle Street on the 1911 Estate map, but by 1912 had been renamed Maxwell.

Elsie Dodwell, who had purchased ESA 15 and part of ESA 17 in 1916 then carried out subdivisions which extended Maxwell Street to Dodwell Lane in 1925. Alexander Vaughan Dodwell also bought 1½ acres here in 1923 and almost immediately subdivided it into building blocks which sold between 1925 and 1935. The final culde- sac blocks were subdivisions of ESA 15, completing the current Maxwell Street in 1932. Consistent with New Farm’s reputation as a desirable residential suburb which was close to town and well-serviced by the city’s tram network, Maxwell Street offered residents either riverfront properties on the western side of the street or elevated properties with city views on the eastern side. The houses, a number of them architect-designed, were built in a relatively short period of time from 1912 to 1946, the majority between 1928 and 1937.

It was a notable feature of the inter-War period of residential development in Brisbane that a diverse range of house styles were experimented with – each seeking to express a new, modern, post-World War 1 age. Together with the evolution of the domestic timber vernacular into the multi-gable Queensland Bungalow style, other (particularly masonry) styles emerged including Spanish Mission, Mediterranean, Mock Tudor (or Old English), Art Deco and the very modern Functionalist style. Maxwell Street, particularly at the northern end, contains a several examples of these styles.

The land on which this house stands was purchased by optometrist William Carlton-Smith in 1934. He almost immediately took a mortgage (presumably to build the house) and by 1936 he and his wife Evelyn were living in the house.

The Carlton-Smith family owned the property for 34 years. William died in 1963, and his widow sold the house five years later.

The dwelling has two dominant public faces. The first is Maxwell Street (southern) perspective where its terracotta tiled and multi-gabled roof dominate the approach to the dwelling. The complex roof form from this approach is the most impressive side and to an extent offsets would be a narrow roofline that follows the allotment’s dimensions. However it should be noted the original extent of the second story and the roof is not known at this stage.

The second perspective, from the Brisbane River shows the three storeys of the dwelling, following the fall of the allotment towards the river’s edge.

1. Brisbane City Council, Detail Plans (and supporting Surveyors’ Notebooks)

2. Brisbane City Council, Properties on the Web website including Building Records

3. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

4. Commonwealth Electoral Rolls 1936-1949

5. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of Title and Survey Plans Notes obtained from Robert Riddel Architects

6. Queensland Post Office Directories 1936-1939