46 Kingsholme Street, Teneriffe

Development of the locality

The first houses in Teneriffe were built in the 1850s and 1860s to take advantage of breezes and views. The largest of these properties was the Teneriffe property, a 119-acre land holding purchased by property speculator, and later Member of Parliament, James Gibbon on 1 June 1854. Gibbon’s naming of Teneriffe was a variation of Tenerife, the largest island in the Canary Islands archipelago. He built his residence on the highest point of the property, Teneriffe House, in 1865.

During the 1880s, the economic boom in Queensland saw an increase in residential development in the area. Attracted by its undulating topography, development commenced on the higher slopes with large hilltop villas, constructed by wealthier citizens. On the lower slopes, the land was drained for the development of workers’ cottages in addition to commercial enterprises along the river edge. By the 1880s, population increases led to the development of horse-drawn tram networks along major thoroughfares, such as Brunswick Street and Commercial Road, and terminated at ferry crossings at either end of Teneriffe. By 1911, the population of Teneriffe numbered 2,077.

The gradual rise of industrial activity at Teneriffe and the demise of the affluent nineteenth-century hilltop dress circle established above the Bulimba Reach, saw many of its villas converted to flats and hostels by the 1950s and 1960s. Brisbane City Council launched an urban renewal programme in the 1990s that resulted in the conversion of the majority of the former wool stores to apartment buildings. This led to a revitalisation of Teneriffe, with a change in its residential demographic, including regeneration of former workers cottages. In 2011, Teneriffe had a population of 4,699.

Early ownership of the place

James Gibbon purchased large tracts of Teneriffe from 1850. One of these parcels of land was allotment 53 purchased by Gibbon in 1854 for £193 10s. This area on the hill commanded views of both the city and the river, and was covered in forests containing a variety of eucalypts including ironbark, box, bloodwood, stringybark and gum interspersed with native pines such as hoop pines Araucaria cunnighamii and Kauri pine Agathis robusta. These trees were harvested and milled for use in the local building industry as the land was cleared for development. In 1874, Eyles Irwin Caulfield Browne purchased 13 acres, three roods and 30 perches of land in that was part of the Teneriffe Estate. This house, a ten-room brick villa, and its grounds were located along the ridge taking advantage of the river views and breezes.

In 1885, Thomas Bunter and Nathaniel Howes purchased land from the Browne estate, commencing subdivision straight away. This subdivision was packaged as Kingsholme Estate and offered for sale through Arthur Martin & Co. from 20 June 1885. Two onsite auctions were held on 20 June and 10 October, with the newly formed lots 294-298 forming a triangular section which gave lot 297-8 its distinctive triangular shape. This block of Kingsholme Street, between Crase and Hastings Streets, created a boundary to the remaining land of Kingsholme House. This remnant land remained undeveloped until the early twentieth century when Kingsholme House burnt down in 1909. Until that time, this preserved the views from houses along this section of Kingsholme Street across the Teneriffe Ridge to the Brisbane River.

Original development of site/building/fabric

David Kelso purchased lot 297 in 1886 and his uncle William Kelso purchased lot 298 in 1890. Scottish immigrants, the Kelso family, built the house at Kingsholme Street between 1886 and 1890. After David Kelso died in 1886, John Marshall Kelso lived at this address from 1888 until 1908.

The earliest form of the house was designed with a verandah wrapped around three sides. Although the house faced south-west to Kingsholme Street, with its entrance stairs and front door oriented to the street, the verandahs were oriented to the river. This orientation along the eastern side of the house to the river captured both views throughout the year, and cooling breezes in the summer months. This aspect was lost when surrounding allotments were subdivided and sold after Kingsholme House burned down in 1909.

In 1910, Pawnbroker Joseph Antonini married Annie Johnston and purchased the house on 28 perches at Kingsholme Street, Kingsholme. The following year Antonini died in Stanthorpe, leaving both the house and the business to his widow. Annie Antonini owned the house at Kingsholme for thirty-seven years but only lived in it herself between 1921 and 1933.

By 1927, alterations and additions had been made to the place. The critical change was the addition of a new verandah along the western side of the building. The rear verandah and part of the original eastern side were enclosed to make new interior rooms, including a new internal bathroom and dressing/sunroom for the rear bedroom. Blocks adjacent to 46 Kingsholme Street were improved with detached dwellings by the 1920s, which meant the loss of views to the river from the eastern side of the house.

The changes in the 1920s also included a purpose-built garage close to the street and a fernery at the rear of the house. Both these items reflect the changing nature of suburban living in the 1920s. The fernery, a common building in Brisbane gardens, evolved in response to sub-tropical gardening in Queensland, designed to keep plants cool in the heat of summer. An investment in a fernery indicates the importance of the garden setting for the house.

Key uses/events on the site

46 Kingsholme Street, Teneriffe has continuously been a domestic residence since it was built between 1886 and 1890. With only seven owners since the house was built, the house represents a stable form of use, which protected the fabric of the house, with only minor changes between its construction and 2016/17 renovation. Owners have primarily occupied the place. However, during the Antonini occupation (1910-47), 46 Kingsholme Street was a rental property during two periods. First, between 1908 and 1921 and then again between 1934 and 1947. This pattern of use was not atypical for the Teneriffe area.

Other key periods of development and subsequent uses

In 1947, Antonini sold the property to Erwin George Bundy, who owned the house for 35 years. Bundy was a clerk in the Queensland government, who lived in the house with his wife Mary and son Charles. The Bundys sold the property in 1982, and the house has remained in private ownership (at the time this citation was written).

By 2014, plans were drawn up by Troppo Architects to include alterations and a substantial extension to the house. These included a pavilion building linked with a covered walkway, reconfigured internal spaces in the original house and the addition of a lap pool and spa. The original house had several internal walls, doors windows and decorative treatments such as a 1920s internal archway removed during this renovation. The addition is separate from the original structure, with a covered bridge connecting the two structures.

Construction commenced in mid-2016 and was completed in 2017.

Extra supporting historical information and associations

The first two families who owned the property demonstrate the way that topography matched the social stratification of the suburb, with middle-class workers residing in Kingsholme Street in the mid-section between the low-lying working-class areas and the high areas that accommodated wealthy residents.

John Marshall Kelso, his brother William and likely his mother and sister lived in the house for two decades. William, 14 years old in 1886, was a scholarship student at Brisbane Grammar School when the family moved into the house. John Kelso was a compositor who was apprenticed at the newspaper Evangelical Standard and Christian World’s Office in William Street. He joined the Government Printing Office in 1898, where he worked until his retirement.  Printing was an important industry in Brisbane in the late nineteenth century providing jobs for semi-skilled workers for the production of newspapers, government gazettes, legislation, circulars, and other printed materials. As a compositor, John Kelso arranged and spaced the type in preparation for in the print run. As the boom of the 1880s turned into an economic depression in the 1890s, printing was one of those industries that were largely unaffected. William Kelso began his professional life as a clerk in the early 1890s and went on to become the Secretary Manager of the City and Suburban Building Society for 18 years. This financial stability enabled the Kelso family to ride out the depression at Kingsholme Street.

Both John and his brother William were active in Brisbane social circles. John was a superintendent of amateur sports events for the Royal National Association and volunteered for patriotic functions in both world wars. John was also a member of the Druid Society throughout his life. William was President of the Brisbane Musical Union and was the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Nundah (1923-1932). After 21 years of ownership, their uncle, William Kelso sold the property in 1910, after John married Maud Bannon in 1908 and moved to LaTrobe Terrace in Paddington.

The second family who owned the house also demonstrate this social stratification, albeit in a completely different area of commerce. After her husband died, Annie Antonini remained living with the Antonini family at Melbourne Street, South Brisbane for a time, before moving to the shop at 275 Brunswick Street. Antonini successfully carried on the pawnbroking business at this site. Pawnbroking though lucrative, placed Antonini at the interface between respectability as a small business owner and interactions with police and petty criminals looking to pledge stolen goods. In 1920, she was one of nine pawnbrokers in the Brisbane area; one of only two females. Presumably, this success enabled Antonini to undertake the alterations to the house at Kingsholme Street, Teneriffe.

The urban/rural context

Teneriffe is an inner suburb of Brisbane. The original commercial and industrial hub along the river has transitioned into a primarily high-density residential area, actively engaging with the riverfront with boardwalk access and café/restaurant precincts. Commercial entities remain to the inner north of the suburb, with the remainder maintaining many of the original nineteenth and early twentieth-century homes.

The subject area has a residential character with one to two-storey houses of early styles with later infill. Kingsholme Street is a wide street with two divided sections. The divided road in front of the south-eastern corner of the block has a short bluestone retaining wall, topped with mature dark pink bougainvillea and a simple iron rail. This part of the road is a dead-end, providing car access to 48 Kingsholme Street.

The topography of the area moves from the low-lying residential areas from James Street rising to a ridge that then meets an escarpment that plummets to the river level area where the former Wool Stores are located. 46 Kingsholme Street is located on the south-western side of this ridge on a sloping block elevated above the road in line with the highest contour of the surrounding area.

The surrounding streets are generally narrow and steep while wider streets and a more consistent rectilinear grid are noted to the lower hillside areas. This area within Teneriffe is walking distance to the dining and café precincts along Macquarie Street and recreation walkways along the Brisbane River.

Grounds and setting of place

Located on a triangular block on the southwestern side of Teneriffe Hill, the residence is elevated above the Kingsholme Street frontage. The residence has a southwestern orientation to the street, with expansive views to the city. The site slopes from the high point in the northern rear corner down to the road. The square-shaped building has a recent addition of an annexe in the western corner of the block that is of similar scale and form, connected with a covered bridge. The house and annexe have a moderate setback that is uniform for both structures. The house and annexe sit high on the block and capitalise on the elevated views of the district, Story Bridge and central business district views to the south-west.

A substantial masonry retaining wall and fence runs along the Kingsholme Street boundary and has three components. The area in front of the original house has evenly spaced piers with horizontal timber batten infill. The detailing of these battens is replicated in the pedestrian and vehicle access gates located at the north-western corner of the block. From here, the rendered masonry retaining wall continues, without piers or batten infill, along with the remainder of the front boundary. This southern portion of the retaining wall in front of the addition is divided into two treatments. The central portion in front of the pool has an open stone garden bed to the top. Stepping in from the boundary line at this upper level in an additional masonry retaining wall with tile finish, for the pool over. The remaining section of the fence has horizontal timber battening above the rendered masonry retaining wall, with a further rendered masonry wall stepping in from the boundary, with glass balustrading to the high-level open terrace adjoining the pool. Four pencil pines are planted in the footpath area, evenly placed along the front of the block.

A concrete driveway leads from the road up to the under croft of the house, where there is space for two cars. The pedestrian entrance, adjacent to the car entrance leads along a concrete path across the front of the house to meet the main stairwell to the house. The area between the front fence and the house is a lawn with a clump of bamboo to the south of the entrance stairwell. An out of ground lap pool and spa, with a horizon edge, is located on a raised area between the annexe and the fence at the eastern end of the block. This pool has a concrete block wall that faces the street, set in a random bond. The water from the pool falls over this edge. Beneath this area is a bluestone retaining wall and a rendered concrete wall of the same colour as the main boundary fence. The front setback includes a stretch of lawn between the driveway and the pool.

A timber fence delineates the northern boundary with murraya Murraya paniculata and a mature mango Mangifera indica. The eastern rear fence is similarly lined with murraya, with a single date palm Pheonix dactylifera, nested behind the addition, on the fence boundary. A large mature hoop pine Araucaria cunninghamii is located at the rear of the original structure and is visible to the street, adding significantly to the aesthetic of the site. The tree has an atypical lateral branch form with excessive weight in its upper portion.

The back yard consists of a brick-paved area of approximately two metres width, aligning with the footprint of the house, a concrete edged garden bed to the north and the remaining small expanse of lawn.

The back yard consists of a brick-paved area of approximately two metres width, in line with the form of the house. A raised area formed to the back corner of the block has a concrete edged garden bed and a small expanse of lawn.

Exterior of main building/structure

46 Kingsholme Street is a large family residence that consists of two structures joined with a short, covered bridge. The earlier building is the original timber and tin residence that is a moderate-sized single storey, substantially elevated above street level. The annexe is also a timber and tin pavilion-style building, sympathetically constructed to complement the original building whilst using modern design to meet contemporary needs.

The original residence is a highset timber building with a wrap-around verandah. It has a short ridge roof core with additional hipped roof extension to the rear, with a separate skillion roof to the verandah. Eaves are narrow; there is iron cresting to the main ridge and acroteria to external roof corners. A lower tapered roof to the rear appears to be a later addition which connects the southern side verandah into the rear hipped extension. Skylights, not visible from the street beyond the line of the main roof ridge, have recently been installed. The front façade is symmetrical, with a decorative frontispiece to the verandah entrance accentuated with paired posts and a triangular battened gable pediment over the landing. There is also arched decorative detailing between the central posts of the entrance treatment and turned finial above. The stairs are asymmetrical running to the northern side of the site, to meet the pathway from the pedestrian entrance. The verandahs have a three-rail alternate stump, narrow slatted balustrading, tapered chamfered posts, with astragal, capitals and timber brackets. The front walls are single skin vertical jointed timber with exposed framing, and two timber-framed step through double-hung sash windows, evenly set either side of the entrance. The main entrance has a timber-framed four-panel door with multi-coloured (rose, green and amber), decorative glass panelled sidelights and fanlight. The verandah roof is unlined.

The eastern verandah has two sets of black aluminium framed bi-fold doors. The western side of the building has the verandah enclosed with weatherboards and two banks of single pane casement windows. A timber-framed door, with single glass panel, provides access to this enclosure from the front verandah. The main level is elevated on both concrete and brick stumps, with a modern timber batten valance between stumps to the front elevation. The front portion of the subfloor is open with provision for car parking. An area under the house to the rear, has been enclosed with red brick. The Troppo Architects plans show this area to be storage and laundry. The red brick matches that used in paving works at the rear of the house.

The 2016/17 annexe is also a timber building of similar scale to the original in mass and orientation. It has a square hipped metal roof to the main section, with lower hipped roof to the east that visually accommodates the date palm and a lower hipped roof to the north/rear of the main section. The roof overhangs the outdoor and dining space creating a pavilion-style structure with a bank of nine clearstory timber louvre windows. This area is supported with plain timber posts that provide a double-height over a deck with two banks of aluminium framed bi-fold doors. Along the eastern half of the structure, two soft black screens drop from the edge of the building to the pool edge. Glass panels line the bridge between the original house and the addition and follow along the edge of the pool to create a regulation safety fence. The front of this addition is paved with brick and includes a semi-circular outdoor living space with a curved treatment at the eastern end of the pool. This curvature creates in-built seating that encircles a round inset arrangement with a metallic fire-pit.

Interior of main building/structure

The interior of 46 Kingsholme Street Teneriffe has not been inspected. Publicly available photography and imagery, including floorplans and proposed development applications, have been reviewed.  The interiors include a central entrance hall, with a generous open plan lounge kitchen, dining and area along the eastern half of the building. A powder room is located in the north-eastern corner, with access from the verandah. The western side of the building contains two bedrooms, with ensuite bathrooms and robes tucked into the enclosed verandah spaces. Interiors features include wide timber floorboards, vertical jointed timber walls, pressed metal ceilings, decorative skirtings and trims, timber archways, several filigree and battened breezeways.

The addition includes two bedrooms, a laundry/bathroom, dining area and second kitchen opening directly onto an indoor/outdoor area and open deck adjacent to the new lap pool and fire pit area.

Ancillary buildings/structures

The site has not been inspected. The publicly available photography and imagery indicate that there are no ancillary buildings on the site.

Views and vistas

The house and addition sit high on the block and capitalise on the district, Story Bridge and central business district views. The house and the addition are sited to make the most of this view. The houses on the other side of the street area are substantially lower on the slope, ensuring that views are uninterrupted to the south-west. The house is prominent from the street. It is exposed and opens with clear visibility due to minimal screening from street planting combined with the elevated site.

Significant features

Features of cultural heritage significance are:

All surviving original fabric and the overall form, size and symmetry of the original building, the prominent location of the house on a sloping block in an elevated part of the suburb and the associated views from the property. Specific elements include, but not limited to:

•    The original form of the house

•    Front entry, stairwell and decorative elements over the landing

•    All elements of the verandah in the original building

•    All elements of the roof original building

•    All extant internal elements from the original and 1920s 

•    The mature hoop pine Araucaria cunninghamii

•    Setbacks from the fence line and street

•    Views and vistas to surrounding districts, Storey Bridge, and central business district.

Non-significant features

Features not of cultural heritage significance are:

•    2016/17 annexe

•    Pool and associated fencing

•    Outdoor areas associated with the pool

•    Changes to the undercroft of the original house 

Curtilage

The significance of the place relates to the subdivision boundaries of the site at the time when the lot size of 28 perches was settled in 1910. The curtilage extends over the existing lot boundaries of the place - Lot 2 RP9165.

1. ‘Teneriffe’, Queensland Places, Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland, accessed online 10 December 2018.

2. ‘New Farm’, Queensland Places, Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland, accessed online 10 December 2018

3. Certificate of Title 79896, 28 March 1885, Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines & Energy.

4. Vicki Bridgstock. Tides of Teneriffe [New Farm (QLD): New Farm & Districts Historical Society, 2009], pp. 4-20.

5. Queensland Heritage Register (QHR) Place ID 600268, Teneriffe House, Department of Environment and Science, accessed online 10 December 2018.

6. Brisbane City Council's Local Heritage Places online (LHPO) Heritage Information Ayelsford, Brisbane City Council.

7. Queensland Heritage Register (QHR) Place ID 600266, Roseville, Department of Environment and Science, accessed online 10 December 2018

8. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificate of Titles

9. Musgrave, Elizabeth and Kaylee Wilson, New Farm and Teneriffe Hill Heritage and Character Study, Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, Oct 1995 

10. Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle, The Character of Residential Areas, Brisbane, A Study for the Brisbane City Council, 1994

11. Arthur Martin & Co. Auctioneers, Kingsholme Estate Map, June 20, 1885