2 Atthow Avenue, Ashgrove

Mervyn Rylance worked in London and Sydney before commencing his architectural practice in Brisbane in 1936. While well known for his Old English style of interwar houses, Rylance also designed homes influenced by the Modern movement, (eg. the Benson house in Markwell Street, Hamilton, 1936), and in the Mediterranean style (eg. Kent St., Ascot, 1938). An example of a Rylance-designed Old English home is the Wolfe house in Windermere Road, Hamilton, built in 1938.  Rylance is one of a number of architects who, from 1935, rejected stylism in favour of the philosophy of European Functionalism, producing Modern houses which differed markedly from earlier work by Queensland architects.

Atthow Avenue was originally part of the large estate owned by Supreme Court Justice Harding of St. John's Wood from the 1860s to the 1890s. Much of this land was subdivided for residential development by F.M. Anglim during the 1920s. At this time, Ashgrove was experiencing a building boom that commenced in 1924 with the development of the Glenlyon Gardens Estate by T.M.Burke and several other estates. The extension of the tramline to Ashgrove in 1924 and to the Ashgrove State School in 1935 encouraged residential development in areas such as Atthow Avenue, which were previously relatively isolated from the city. 

During this period, a variety of housing styles were built in the Ashgrove area, including new imported styles such as Californian Bungalow, Spanish Mission, and Tudor Revival, as well as houses that were closer to the traditional Queenslander in design and material. The residents' desire for the most progressive and fashionable styles of homes was in keeping with the suburb's status as an elite residential area with large allotments, curvilinear streets and planned parks and nature strips.

The first house to be built in Atthow Avenue was constructed during the mid-1930s. By the end of the 1930s, more than half a dozen homes had been built in the street. As the population of the area grew, major expansions took place at the Ashgrove State School to accommodate the growing number of pupils. The nearby Catholic Mater Dei Church opened in July 1937.

The house at 2 Atthow Avenue was built by L.B. de Grant, of Toowong, for an estimated price of £2 200. This was a substantial sum at a time when the average estimated cost of building a workers' dwelling was around  £450. Number two Atthow Avenue was considered to be a prime example of modern housing design and was featured in a monthly journal, Steering Wheel and Society & Home, in August 1939. The article described the house as having an "Elizabethan character" with an uninterrupted view of the city and surroundings hills. The house was constructed of brick and weatherboard with a tiled roof by Wunderlich Limited. The design of the house included a kitchen with pantry and built in cupboards, a spacious sun porch and a large "family community room". The bathroom featured a black and white terazzo floor. Today, the former home of the Jollys and their four children remains in private hands.

1. Brisbane City Council Archives, Brisbane City Council Building Register 1936-37

2. Courier-Mail, 19 July 1937

3. Fisher, Rod & Crozier, Brian. The Queensland House: A Roof Over Our Heads. (Brisbane: Queensland. 1994)

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

5. Post Office Directories.

6. Steering Wheel and Society & Home, August 1939

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

8. Workers' Dwelling Board Annual Report, 1939