V. Stone Store (former)

Sandgate, including the suburb of Shorncliffe, is located 17 kilometres from central Brisbane. The first land sales in the Sandgate area occurred during the 1850s and much of the early development centred on the area now known as Shorncliffe. On 29 April 1880, Sandgate was declared a constituted municipality. During the 1880s, the area around Pier Avenue and Yundah Street became the town’s communal and civic centre. The first Town Hall, constructed in 1882, the Court House, and the first two police stations were located in this area. 

From the 1880s onwards, Sandgate became increasingly popular as a residential and seaside resort town. The opening of the train line to Brisbane in 1882 (extended to Shorncliffe in 1897) and the construction of the Sandgate Pier boosted the development of Sandgate. The train line to Sandgate was the first line built solely for passengers in the Brisbane area. The train line provided a quick and efficient service for the growing number of residents commuting to Brisbane, and holidaymakers and day-trippers. Numerous attractions catering for visitors were also developed around this time. For example, separate bathing areas, dressing sheds, a caretaker’s cottage, office and licensed area were built close to the already established Sandgate Pier. In the 1930s, an enclosed area protected by railway lines, a shark net and stone wall was constructed as a shark-proof swimming enclosure lit at night. Additionally, Flinders Parade (then known as Brighton Esplanade), between First Avenue and Gladstone Street (now Twelfth Avenue), was dotted with cafes, refreshment rooms, flats and boarding houses. Attractions on the foreshores included sand-garden competitions, donkey, goat and gig rides, canoe hire and a miniature railway. 

In 1910, a fire destroyed the original Sandgate Town Hall. Subsequently, a new Town Hall opened on Deagon Street (now Brighton Road) in 1912. This opening of the new Town Hall, alongside the relocation of Sandgate Rail Station to its current site in 1911, marked a shift in the location of Sandgate’s town centre away from the Shorncliffe area to the vicinity of the present-day Rainbow Street, Brighton Road and Bowser Parade. This area proved to be more accessible for residents of neighbouring Deagon and Brighton. 

The 1920s saw another period of prosperity for Sandgate. In 1925, Sandgate became a founding ward of the newly created Greater Brisbane City Council. While Shorncliffe continued to be a popular destination, the Sandgate and Brighton foreshores also drew crowds of holidaymakers. However, the building of the Hornibrook Highway Bridge in 1935 brought mixed blessings for Sandgate. This was because while the highway brought more passing trade to the area, it also enabled visitors to travel further north, typically by public transport, to the Redcliffe Peninsula for holidays rather than vacationing in Sandgate as had traditionally been the case. After the Second World War, increased car ownership also led to a further decline in the area's popularity as people were able to travel further beyond Brisbane’s city limits for a holiday. Car ownership also brought the expansion of Brighton, Deagon and Nashville as outer suburbs became more attractive. 

The development of Rainbow Street, Sandgate

The development of Rainbow Street dates to the 1880s when numerous commercial premises housing tradespeople were established. Trades and services included plumbing, painting, building and blacksmithing, and a tailor, draper, and coffee stall. By 1893, there was a phonograph parlour opposite the Post Office, while by the turn of the 20th Century C. Shepherds had opened an aerated waters factory on Rainbow Street. In 1891, St Margaret’s Anglican Church was opened on Rainbow Street. The church was later converted to a rectory, and a new Spanish Mission-style church opened on the same site in 1927. On the site of St Margaret’s, there is a monument to Robert Atkin, a member of the Queensland legislative assembly, which was erected in 1872. In 1874, Sandgate State School was established on its current site on Rainbow Street. Later developments on Rainbow Street included the relocation of Sandgate railway station to its current location in 1911. 

The intersection of Rainbow and Board Streets represents the non-urban character of Sandgate that existed before the Second World War. This wide intersection is bordered by a park, several examples of early houses of varying scale and a rare pre-Second World War petrol station. By 1936, the Hornibrook Highway Bus Service had opened a bus depot and office on the corner of Rainbow Street and Knox Street. This bus service provided a service from Sandgate Central railway station across the Hornibrook Highway bridge to the Redcliffe peninsula.

The construction of V. Stone Store (former) at 227 Rainbow Street

The former V. Stone Store is located towards the Shorncliffe end of Rainbow Street at the intersection with Palm Avenue. Built by 1919, the store was constructed on land initially purchased in 1883 by Anne Billet (subdivisions one, two, 39 and 40 of lot four of section 14), which can be traced back to William Loudon’s larger land purchase in 1883. By 1916, the land had been transferred to William and Selina Bunkum, who sold the land to Victor Stone in 1918.

The existing store replaced an earlier commercial building that burnt down in 1918. By 1916, the Post Office Directory described Bunkum as running a ‘store’ on the right-hand side of Palm Avenue from Eagle Terrace on the corner with Rainbow Street. When Stone purchased the land in 1918, he also took over running the store. Stone was described as operating a general store and boot shop. However, on 20 June 1918, just three months after purchasing the land and store, the building was ‘totally destroyed.’  As The Brisbane Courier recorded:

The blaze, which commenced about 9 o’clock, was witnessed by a crowd of some 200 persons, but in the absence of any appliances nothing could be done to cope with the flames.

This was not the only fire to affect commercial buildings in this area of Sandgate. Just two years later, in 1920, another fire destroyed the Spot Cash Stores, also located on the intersection of Rainbow Street and Palm Avenue. This store was on the left-hand side of Palm Avenue from Eagle Terrace between Agnes Street and Rainbow Street. As with the original store at 227 Rainbow Street, this fire also attracted a large crowd of spectators, with the Queensland Times recording that the building ‘burnt fiercely, and formed a dramatic spectacle for fully 1000 holiday makers.’ 

One cause of these fires was the lack of ‘permanent water supply’ in Sandgate and the absence of a local fire brigade. A report detailing a further shop fire in the ‘vicinity of Swan and Yundah streets’ in 1921 suggested that the effect of these issues was ‘very much in evidence.’  Eventually, in 1923, permission was granted to form a permanent Fire Brigade in Sandgate.  

After the original store burnt down, and even though it was insured, Stone took out a mortgage in November 1918 that was used to help build the current building. One motivation for building a new store was undoubtedly the effect that the growth in Sandgate’s population had on local businesses. Between 1911 and 1921, Sandgate and Shorncliffe’s population increased from 3,051 residents to 6,273. This increase in population meant there was an apparent need to cater to the needs of this expanding population. As such, by 1919, the new store, a substantial two-storey development, was in operation. However, while Stone initially ran the store, by 1921, it was being operated by Friend Dwyer Yerbury with the 1921 edition of the Post Office Directory describing the building as the 'Friend Yerbury, store.’ A 1921 photograph showed that the building was called the ‘Palm Avenue Grocery & F.D. Yerbury Provision Merchant.’  This photograph shows that the ground floor, with its posted awning, was reserved for retail, while the upper level, with a verandah and railing, was intended as accommodation. 

Following a ‘fatal fall’ on Edward Street in central Brisbane, Yerbury died, aged 72, of a cerebral haemorrhage.  The lease was eventually transferred to W. McCullogh after the death of Yerbury on 25 August 1922. The Post Office Directory recorded that W. McCullough operated the store from 1924 until at least the 1930s. Stone slowly sold off his subdivisions, and in 1946, he transferred ownership of the residual site (resubdivision one of subdivision one and two of allotment four) and store to Mary Walton. 

 

The former V. Stone Store at 227 Rainbow Street has frontages to Rainbow Street and Palm Avenue, and is an intact example of a large-scale, two-storey corner store located away from Sandgate’s commercial centre. The built form and composition of the building include a large short-ridge roof, a sheet-metal awning over the footpath, a now enclosed verandah on the upper level, and glazed shopfronts on the ground floor. Notable elements include the original posts and decorative brackets around the enclosed verandah, exposed stud timber framing on the ground floor, the original location of doors and shopfronts, coloured fanlights above doors and original shopfront glazing arrangement. The prominent corner position makes this building highly visible from both Rainbow Parade and Palm Avenue. 

General description

The former V. Stone Store is a two-storey commercial building with a metal-sheeted short-ridge roof with no eaves, and a metal-sheeted awning over the footpath along both street frontages. An L-shaped verandah wraps along the main street frontages at the upper storey. External walls of the upper level use a combination of fibre cement sheet and metal sheeting. On the ground floor, external walls are exposed stud timber framing with inset fibre cement sheeting and glazed shop frontages. 

The verandah has been enclosed with fibre cement sheeting and casement window arrangements between original timber posts, and sheet metal now conceals balustrades. As the timber posts survive in their original locations, the verandah bays remain legible with six bays along both street frontages. In addition, some of the original decorative post brackets remain intact. 

On the ground floor, original timber posts support the sheet-metal awning above; however, the decorative post brackets no longer exist. Here, entries remain in their original locations, and the timber-framed, glazed shopfronts retain their original arrangement. The exterior doors, two on Rainbow Street and one on Palm Avenue, are timber-framed with coloured glass fanlights above. The glazing arrangements consist of a low-height windowsill, four panes separated by thin timber transoms and mullions, and six panes of coloured glazing above. The coloured glazing is at the same level as the top lights of the doors. 

The interior of the building was not inspected. 

The building contributes significantly to its surrounding residential setting. The building is located on a corner site away from Sandgate’s major commercial centre, and in a predominantly residential area. Historically, the building has catered to the local residential population and holidaymakers.

The building is located on a large lot and is aligned with the Rainbow Street and Palm Avenue corner. 

There are significant views to the place from Rainbow Street and Palm Avenue. 

Significant elements

Significant elements include:

• Original form and composition, including: 
  • Corner position, with façades facing Rainbow Street and Palm Avenue
  • Short-run, sheet-metal roof
  • Enclosed verandah, including post locations with six-bay arrangement
  • Sheet-metal awning over footpath, including post locations
  • Location of original doors
  • Location of original glazed shopfronts.

• Exterior design details including:
  • Decorative post brackets 
  • Glazed top lights above doors
  • Original shopfront glazing arrangement including sill heights and pane arrangement.

• Setting of the place, including:
  • The surrounding residential setting
  • Location on a corner site
  • Setback from the street.

• Views to and from the place

Non-significant elements

Non-significant elements include:

• Fibre cement sheeting
• Casement windows enclosing verandah
• Sheet metal concealing balustrade
• Non-original external fixtures including light fittings.