Addresses

At 12 Exeter Street, West end, Queensland 4101

Type of place

Flat building, House

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Georgian

12 Exeter Street, West End

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This is an image of the local heritage place known as Residence

12 Exeter Street, West End

12 Exeter Street, West End Download Citation (pdf, 513.4 KB)

Addresses

At 12 Exeter Street, West end, Queensland 4101

Type of place

Flat building, House

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Georgian

This residence is a rare and uncommon example of a brick, two-storey terrace house. It demonstrates the evolution of West End’s history and cultural heritage. It was built in the late 1870s at a time when West End was rapidly changing from scattered residences into a suburb full of streets lined with houses. The original resident, bricklayer Thomas Jackson probably built this house. It was continuously occupied and owned by the Jackson family until 1941. It is aesthetically significant.

Lot plan

L46_RP11166

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Masonry

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic; (G) Social

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Lot plan

L46_RP11166

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Masonry

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic; (G) Social

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

History

The land on which this house stands was originally owned and subdivided by William Costin in the 1860s. Costin, a chemist, created 10 perch allotments fronting narrow streets. The economic downturn in the mid 1860s forced the sale of the lots. Thomas Jackson, a local bricklayer, purchased Lot 46 and built this house in 1878. 

It was one of the earliest suburban residential buildings in West End before the area began to change from a farming community in the 1870s. From that time it became recognised as an attractive setting for a home that would be within easy walking distance of town. Jackson’s house was gradually joined by others as the area began to develop. The introduction of horse drawn in 1881 was a turning point for West End attracting more people to the area. 

Following Jackson’s death in 1896, the property was transferred to a relative, John Jackson, who occupied the building until his death in 1914. Titles indicate that the house remained in the Jackson family until 1941 when it was sold to Robert Moore. As was the case with many inner-city dwellings at that time, the house was subdivided into flats and rented.

Description

This pair of houses on Exeter Street is unique because the same person built them in a seven-year period. Number 12 is the older and larger of the two. It has two tall chimneys above a long gable roof form with a separate verandah roof at first floor level. Some indication of the two separate entries that were part of the building’s recent history remains at each end of the verandah. The right entry is still in use while the left has been closed off with concrete imitating block work below a small section of cast iron, though like its counterpart, it still retains an arched cross-piece with a moulded keystone. 

The location of these entries is distinguished by concrete pillars that rise to plain stepped capitals linked over the entries. Another pair of such pillars occurs in the centre of the verandah. Cast iron lacework, possibly more suitable to the original verandah detailing is incorporated into the front of the building. This includes both balustrading and brackets at the column tops. The dominant feature of the verandah is, however, its lower concrete portion that is scribed to imitate blockwork. The corrugated iron verandah roof has a slight curve. At second floor level there are two timber windows shaded by shallow sun-hoods supported on props. The main roof has no eaves overhang.

Statement of significance

Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical

Criterion A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history

as it was built in the 1870s when West End began its urbanisation.

Rarity

Criterion B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage

as a two-storey 1870s brick terrace house.

Representative

Criterion D

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class or classes of cultural places

as a two-storey, nineteenth century terrace house.

Aesthetic

Criterion E

The place is important because of its aesthetic significance

as a brick two-storey terrace house.

Social

Criterion G

The place has a strong or special association with the life or work of a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons

as a house built and occupied by the Jackson family for 73 years.

References

  1. Brisbane City Council Water Supply & Sewerage Detail Plans

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

  3. Environmental Protection Agency

  4. JOL Estate Map Collection and photographic collection

  5. Lawson, Ronald Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society. St Lucia U of Q Press, 1973

  6. McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895

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

Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)

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Victorian 1860-1890
Georgian
Flat building
House
At 12 Exeter Street, West end, Queensland 4101
At 12 Exeter Street, West end, Queensland 4101 L46_RP11166
Historical, Rarity, Representative, Aesthetic, Social