23 Herbert Street, Toowong

This particular property was purchased by Eric and Mable Wood in March, 1935. A loan was taken out by the Woods from the State Advances Corporation (SAC) in October, 1935.

The Workers’ Dwelling Act (QLD) 1909 (WDA) was introduced by Government to provide finance to persons with low incomes enabling them to purchase a home. The WDA underwent a number of changes over the following years until 1920 when the responsibility for state housing passed onto the new State Advances Corporation.

Prior to the mid-1930s there had been reluctance by the SAC to construct dwellings in other than the traditional Queensland style. By the time 23 Herbert Street was built more choice was available. The revised The State Advances Act and Other Acts Relief Amendment Act (Qld) of 1934 increased the maximum income of applicants from £416 to £750 and inaugurated a maximum advance of up to £1,250 for brick or concrete dwellings. The revisions also extended the length of time the mortgage was to be repaid; from twenty to thirty years. The expansion of the system allowed brick houses to be constructed in a variety of styles and made them available to wider section of the population. This in turn had the benefit, in the shadow of the depression, of stimulating the state economy through increased house construction. These changes made better quality houses like 23 Herbert Street more affordable. 

There was a significant movement away from the traditional Queensland style of house during the interwar period, a movement which had at its heart a debate over functionalism propelled by overseas influences and trends. This was described in 1932 by the President of the Federal Institute of Architects, Lange L Powell:

Queensland is evolving a definite architecture type of its own...the most suitable type...was...one of the Mediterranean schools, Spanish or Italian. These favoured balconies and recesses, with porches...

This particular house is a combination of Spanish Mission and Mediterranean style and although undoubtedly this design was derived from the State Advances Corporation’s patterns, it is representative of this movement. The SAC did not in fact construct many of this style of dwelling. A number of factors account for this including expense and the realisation that this style was beginning to fall out of fashion.

1. Australian Division of War Service Homes. War Service Homes Jubilee 1919-1969

2. Commonwealth Dept of Housing, ACT.1969

3. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plan No: 2502

4. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.

5. Environmental Protection Agency

6. JOL Estate Map Collection and photographic collection

7. Kennedy, Michael Owen, Domestic Architecture in Queensland Between the Wars, (UNSW. Master of Built Environment graduate report, January 1989)

8. Queensland Post Office Directories

9. Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994