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Top Federation Homes
Federation Homes of Fame
Ordered by Heritage & Value
Built in 1905 for the Downer family to the most meticulous standards of the time
Not many could afford this beautiful house (estimated worth $5 million).
Tarrangower 21 Victoria Ave, Unley Park SA
A grand early Federation Bungalow, heritage listed for its external form, materials and the period detailing of this 1917 Edwardian dwelling. The masonry and iron front fence is also included in the listing.
South Australia
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Victoria Avenue Unley Park
Victoria Avenue has a distinctive mix of house styles and building periods.
The several houses built in the very early 1900s outnumber those built at the end of the nineteenth century, generally in the 1890s.
Of the twentieth-century (and later) houses, the styles represented include Federation-Queen Anne, neo-Elizabethan, so-called Tudor, Australian bungalow, quasi-American colonial, and International Style.
- by Margaret Warming, March 2012 (Courtesy of the Unley Museum)
"We were shown the property by agent John Black (1970). It had been for sale for a long time. However, it was love at first sight for me".
OUTSIDE:
"At The front of the property, behind the fence, was a mixed thorn hedge. The heavy twin gates were at each side with a driveway extending down the side of the house. The driveway on the northern side extended past a Coach House at the back, down a wide lane to a double gale at Whistler Avenue (No 26). The back had a path leading from the coach house to the recessed back door...The tessellated floor tiles in the verandahs needed repair."
..."On the eastern side of the court were two magnificent cork elms. They were much admired until we discovered that their suckers invaded the court no matter what we tried. They are still there, (but) the tennis court looks OK but is never used. A lovely Meyer lemon tree was next to the garden shed. planted by Cousin Laura Growden."
INSIDE. "The Dining Room was a blue room ,with a lovely chandelier and blue carpet and wallpaper. Also a hanging call wire with a beautiful wooden knob. We kept the carpet, but had it lifted, cleaned and relaid. The doors and windows all had leadlighting. The fireplaces were magnificent: the wood grand and the workmanship the very best.
Each or the rooms had call buttons which had obviously not been used for years. Plenty of light (was) coming through the leadlight windows and doors. From the back door a very wide passage ran the length of the house (to) a beautiful open doorway with lead light at each side."
"After we finished our work in the house , The Growdens came to see and were amazed to see it so open: thev had never seen it open before. The back rooms we eventually made 2 suites of rooms each with bedroom, lounge room, study, walk in robes and large bathrooms, one with separate toilet.
Plumbing, electricity, painting and wallpapering was needed throughout the house."
"The front hallway was large, wood paneled, with a small shelf at head height. Above this was fine wall paper. At the back of the hall directly in front of the main door was a large recessed area suitable for a statue. The front Dining Room bad beautiful lights. matching wall lights and wood panelling and a large bay window in which the glass panes were curved to match the wood. Tile chandelier and wall lights were ornate and matching. We also lifted and cleaned this carpet as it had seen little use. I believe the next owners painted all the woodwork white (such a pity)."
"Eventually we had to replace a great amount of the tiled roof. We were fortunate to obtain (for a price) Welsh tiles, same as the existing roof, from the old Education Building as it was being dismantled. We had similar luck with tiles from Avers House when thev were altered.
We had 30 years of a really lovely life in Tarrawngower, as our three children grew, brought friends home to visit or stay. I remember the fun of raking up all the leaves from the trees at the front and the children jumping on the heaps; we were able to burn them in those days, but we had a friend who carted them all away. and spread them for his "chooks" to peck through .. Now, we have "downsized" to 17a Victoria Avenue in the year 2000."
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Dawley, 419 Glynburn Road, Leabrook
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Sold 28 Aug 2015 for $3,520,000.
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6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 parking spaces
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c.1905, Gracious Family Residence of some 15 Main Rooms on park like grounds with a swimming pool, plus a vacant allotment.
The beautiful Federation Queen Anne home has an external form and fabric of a substantial 1905 gentlemen's residence.
Key features include expansive terracotta tiled roof, projecting strapped gables, tiled verandah with paired column supports, semi-circular arched window element, central pitched dormer window, tall brick chimneys and brick walls.
Dawley is one of Adelaide's finest residential estates.
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Built in 1905 for the Downer family to the most meticulous standards of the time in the then new and modern 'Art Nouveau influenced Tudor (ie Federation) style' it occupied a whole suburban block in the open land and paddocks of Leabrook.
Read more:
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417-419 Glynburn Road Leabrook, SA 5068 - Property Details
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419 Glynburn Road LEABROOK - SA Heritage
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Yurilla Hall, 20 Victoria Ave, Unley Park
NOT "An 1899 two storey Italianate mansion constructed of sandstone with elaborately rendered door and window surrounds and a hipped roof clad in Marseilles tiles."
The house features a square tower." (The neighbouring house is in Queen Anne style.)
Although it is generally assumed to be an Italianate Victorian-era building dating from 1899, the fifteen-room house built in Victoria Avenue for Charles Richard Morris (1863-1918), or for his wife, Emma, by James [?] Gellar, builder, was designed in 1911 (in the Federation era).
From "Unley Park, South Australia: selected twentieth century and later domestic architecture"
It is noted in the Unley Council Building Notices for 1900-1911, and the date on the architects' drawings is June 1911, so Yurilla is actually in Federation Queen Anne style, not Italianate, since the roofing is clearly visible beyond the castellated balcony.
It was designed by Edward Davies and Philip R. Claridge and was built probably over 1911-1912 on the northern side of Dr Peter Crank's land subdivision for a Mr C. R. Morris, of Walter and Morris, timber and hardware merchants, who was mayor of Port Adelaide in the 1890s.
The listing mistake concerns the property now at 24 Victoria Avenue:
"In 1897 or 1898 the dental surgeon, Dr Peter Crank, bought five and three quarter acres from Simon Harvey on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Cross Road, and built a twelve room house (24 Victoria Avenue)."
- (Refer to the map at left, which is included in the gallery below left)
It is believed that C.R. Morris named the house Yurilla.
William Milne (grand-father of the architect F. Kenneth Milne), named his Mt Lofty house, built in about 1885, 'Eurilla' after finding from the Surveyor-General that the Indigenous name for the Mount was 'Yureilla, pronounced Yurilla.
'In naming his property Milne did not feel bound to adopt the spelling as given [but] adhered to the correct sound'.
Yurilla (later Hall) probably followed this intelligence to reflect the views afforded of the Adelaide Hills from the tower and balconies of the Victoria Avenue site. The senior architect of the house was the Welsh-born Edward Davies (1852-1927).
Emma Morris died in 1934. In 1935 George Badman (1886-1953), a stone quarry operator well-known in turf circles, bought Yurilla; and in 1954, John W. Richards, owned it for a short time. After several changes of ownership Yurilla Hall was purchased by well-known Legislative Council politician Murray Hill in 1954.
Portions of the rear were sold and built upon in 1955 and 1966.
In 1978 Yurilla Hall Pty. Ltd. became the new owners, and in 1986 C. and D. Angelopolous became the owners.
It has recently been renovated by the current owners.
Read more:
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Dwelling 'Yurilla Hall' - SA State Heritage Register
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Unley Park, South Australia: selected twentieth century and later domestic architecture - by Bridget Jolly 2012
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Springfield House, 2 Elmglade Road, Springfield SA
Springfield House is a large house set in a beautiful garden. The front portion of seven rooms was built by Charles Newenham, in 1842. Additions by Alfred Hardy in the 1870's, and the upper storey including the Tudor 'facelift' by Frank Rymill c. 1900. (See Chinner & Oborn, p. 56 & Norman p. 156).
The suburb of Springfield was created from the sale and subdivision of Springfield House in 1928 by private developers. The stately home, "Springfield" once considered as a substitute government house between 1924 and 1926 is almost completely hidden by private residences, architecturally designed no doubt.
Significant as one of Adelaide's Federation mansions, with an historical association with some of Adelaide's prominent families.
The house itself is of interest as one that incorporates buildings supposedly dating from the 1840s.
Within the house some fine quality timbers are used displaying excellent craftsmanship. There is some remaining evidence of the William Morris products that once were used in the house.
The home that gave its name to one of Adelaide’s most prestigious and expensive suburbs has hosted some of South Australia’s most prominent Adelaide families.
"They have danced in its ballroom and listened to famous musicians such as violinist Isaac Stern and the Budapest String Quartet in the drawing room."
“At one stage there was a grand piano that was signed by Daniel Barenboim, a world-renowned pianist, when he visited (he is now general music director of La Scala in Milan and Berlin State Opera),” the current owner of this 33-room state heritage-listed Federation home says.
Under their loving hand, the grand rooms have been painstakingly restored.
The first of them was built by a former state sheriff and auditor-general Charles Burton Newenham after he bought 40 acres of land and named it Springfield in the 1840s.
In May 1929 the property was advertised for sale and described as "one of Adelaide's stateliest homes, in beautiful grounds, several acres in extent."
Directly to the west of the house was a large teardrop shaped area of lawn. In the south-western corner, fronting Oakdene Road was a large copse planted with elms, native pines, oaks and other species. To the south, facing Glenwood Road was the shrubbery garden and its associated walks.
Francis Villeneuve Smith of Adelaide, a King's Counsel and his wife May Winifred Villeneuve Smith bought it in June 1929. The Villeneuve Smiths altered the property internally.
South Australian Homes and Gardens issue of June 1932 shows two photographs of the interior of the house, one of a cocktail bar, the other of the dining room.
Mrs Villeneuve Smith converted a pantry into a cocktail bar, decorating with an Eastern flavour using black, orange and gold lacquer embellishments.
But it was Frank and Annie Rymill who called in designers to add a Tudor-style second storey and began to regularly host Adelaide society for “bridge parties and balls with cucumber sandwiches and cups of tea”.
The couple mixed with other leading Adelaide families such as the Ayers and the Barr Smiths from nearby Torrens Park House – and they were all decorating their prestigious homes with the wallpapers and fabrics that were the height of fashion.
“All these big homes were decorating with William Morris fabrics they were bringing over from England,” the home’s owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, says. “Prior to the restoration of Springfield House, we employed the services of a heritage architect who scraped back the layers of wallpaper like a surgeon. We found the famous Willow pattern in the drawing room.”
- Dream big and mind your manors, August 21, 2015 Belinda Willis SA Weekend
As a tribute to the time, the house now has a William Morris suite decorated with the famous English textile designer’s wallpaper, fabrics, tapestries and carpet.
Within 'Springfield House', fine quality timbers have been used, particularly in the entrance hall area and for the staircase, displaying quality craftsmanship.
The house also contains some remaining William Morris tiles used in the fireplaces in the ground and first floor rooms. The house was once full of Morris wallpapers but these have been removed. (MITCHAM HERITAGE SURVEY)
Read more:
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Dream big and mind your manors - August 21, 2015 Belinda Willis SA Weekend
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Dwelling 'Springfield House' - SA State Heritage Register
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Settled for over $5.1 million, making it the most expensive SA residential sale for 2014
Victoria Avenue in Unley Park is widely considered Adelaide’s most sought after real estate hub.
Victoria Avenue in Unley Park is widely considered Adelaide’s most sought after real estate hub.
Settled for over $5.1 million, making it the most expensive SA residential sale for 2014
Wilpena, 4 Victoria Ave, Unley Park SA
This Federation Queen Anne villa on 4622 square metres last sold at $2.95 million in 2004 and now this stunning 1912 stone mansion on a two-title block, has settled for over $5.1 million in 2014, making it the most expensive SA residential sale for the year.
Harcourts Brock Williams agent Michael Brock, who sold the property, said it was a landmark property for the area.
“It’s an iconic property and the purchasers wanted to buy something that had estate-like grounds in one of South Australia’s most premier addresses.
“It sides onto a creek and has a tennis court, swimming pool and is a beautifully restored Queen Anne villa.”
The mansion features a detached guesthouse or games room, a tennis court and swimming pool and includes a 1600sq m vacant lot.
The garden abutts the Brownhill Creek and is of high landscape value.
The four-bedroom stone home has been renovated throughout but still boasts original character features including high ceilings, leadlight, open fireplaces, bay windows, chandeliers and polished Jarrah floors.
The chef’s kitchen has stainless steel Smeg appliances, a butler’s pantry, stone bench tops and a sommelier cellar.
The home has a formal sitting room, a family room and the separate stone building with bathroom and kitchen has a 16sqm living area and a double garage.
Vendor Greg said his home is the second largest landholding on Victoria Ave.
"It's a lovely home to live in and it faces north so it's beautiful and cool and, surrounded by the gardens, it's like living in an oasis," he says. "I love the picture window in the dining room looking out over the garden, it's just a picture-perfect outlook."
The home has luxury features throughout including high ceilings, log-burning fireplaces, a turret bay and freshly polished jarrah floors and a wine cellar.
Read more:
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The Myrtles, Medindie trophy mansion sells to Chinese buyer - Jonathan Chancellor TITLE TATTLE 4 JUNE 2014
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Victoria Avenue mansion breaks Adelaide real estate sale price record for 2014 REAL ESTATE EDITOR TOM BOWDEN, The Advertiser June 20, 2014
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Grand 1920s villa in prestige avenue at 4 Victoria Ave, Unley Park - The Advertiser Real EstateNOVEMBER 22, 2013
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43 Austral Terrace Malvern, SA 5061
"Grand Triple-Fronted Gentleman's Bungalow C.1919.
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Solicitor Reena Costello listed her 1919 triple-fronted bungalow in Adelaide's Malvern for $3.5 million.
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It's not often that you walk into a home and are blown away by its stateliness and lavish sense of space and immense scale.
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Sold 20 August 2017 for $3.65 million
The four bedroom three bathroom home on 2290 square metres features formal living and dining rooms, a conservatory, family meals area and a Miele kitchen with twin pantries as well as entertaining areas, a pool and a tennis court.
Read more:
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TITLE TATTLE | 30 MARCH 2017
Solicitor Reena Costello lists 1919 Adelaide bungalow
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7 Brougham Place North Adelaide, SA
This house, and its neighbour Taylor House, are important survivors of the redevelopment of Brougham and Palmer places which occurred around the turn of the century. They make a considerable contribution to the special character of the Brougham Place ridge.
The site was purchased by Charles Henry and Helen Augusta Goode in 1901. Plans for the building were approved by Council in November 1907. The house effectively commemorates the mercantile success of Goode and his company Goode Durrant and Co.
The house is an important example of federation period architecture.
The architect has not been traced, but it is well detailed internally and externally, displaying a disciplined eclecticism in its combination of picturesque and classically derived elements.
The fireplaces and over-mantles are particularly significant in this regard.
The relatively high integrity of the house is also seen in the survival of internal finishes - in particular, the imported walnut fire surrounds and the leaded stained-glass.
The stair hall and internal planning in general are well-conceived and illustrate the interest of the period in the asymmetrical plan form.
Features include leadlight windows, jarrah timber flooring and sweeping circular staircase. With 13 main rooms including 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a third toilet/powder room, sitting room, billiard room, formal dining room, drawing room, kitchen adjoining the family room and casual meals area.
Read more:
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Sale notice and photographs - Sold on 25 Sep 2013 for $3,450,000 - Video tour
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5-7 Brougham Place NORTH ADELAIDE Dwelling built for Charles H Goode - SA State Heritage
Unley Park Suburb
“Unley Park has always been regarded as one of the top suburbs in Adelaide.”
Victoria Avenue in Unley Park is widely considered Adelaide’s most sought after real estate hub.
Unley Park is now the state’s most expensive suburb with a median house sale price of $2,132,500.
“Unley Park is a beautiful suburb which has been really popular with locals and expats from Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom looking to return to Adelaide,” Ms Cameron said.
“But there’s just not enough houses for everyone so people are looking in neighbouring suburbs, such as Medindie … which has the same style of character houses and large yards.
TOP FIVE SALES IN UNLEY PARK In 2018
1. 16 Northgate St, Unley Park
Sale price: $5.2 million
Settlement date: April 26, 2018
2. 21 Whistler Ave, Unley Park
Sale price: $5.1 million
Settlement date: May 16, 2018
3. 66 Northgate St, Unley Park
Sale price: $2.99 million
Settlement date: May 7, 2018
4. 26 Whistler Ave, Unley Park
Sale price: $2.975 million
Settlement date: April 27, 2018
5. 4 Thornber St, Unley Park
Sale price: $2.75 million
Settlement date: April 9, 2018
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6 Acacia Street Medindie SA
A substantial character-laden Federation mansion surrounded by established English gardens on a large land holding of some 1700 square metres approximately.
Two titles - Two street frontages, large wine cellar, swimming pool.
Up to six large bedrooms, four bathrooms, including substantial guest suite or teenagers retreat with kitchen and boasting a stunning raised balcony terrace with views toward the parklands and city skyline.
Formal living and entertaining areas include superb formal sitting room, grand formal dining room and full size billiard room.
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This grand residence also offers a stylishly presented more casual living and entertaining area to the western wing comprising beautifully equipped modern kitchen and casual meals area which overlooks and opens to a private central alfresco entertaining area.
There is also an adjacent more modern spacious family room which is perfect for the growing family.
Read more:
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Sale Notice and photographs - Sold for $3,000,000 in Jan 2008; also Sold: Nov 2007
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6 Acacia Street MEDINDIE Walkerville Council - SA Heritage (Contributory)
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Former Trefresa,16 Victoria Avenue, Unley Park SA
Heritage Status: Local Heritage Place #3949
For external form, materials and detailing of the c1920 Inter-War Bungalow dwelling and front fence.
History and Description:
George Glen Legoe held his property with the Cornish name, Trefresa, in Victoria Avenue probably from 1902 or 1903. J. Lynch held the land in 1901, and possibly erected a residence.
If Legoe was prevented by the Great War from developing his house earlier, in January 1919 he engaged Woods, Bagot, Jory, and Laybourne Smith to measure it and prepare sketch plans for additions and alterations.
These were approved by Legoe in February, the specification was drawn, and the tender was advertised in the Advertiser in April 1919. The tender accepted from A.R. Green of £5,229.14.0 was a not inconsiderable sum and suggests extensive work. Legoe died in July 1951.
When number 16 Victoria Avenue, noted as the estate of Mrs Glen Legoe, was auctioned in October 1938, it was described as
'English in design ... adapted to our climate by spacious verandahs and balcony'. There was ample space for a full-size north-south tennis court.
Among its several rooms, the house had a combined living and billiard room (30 feet x 20 feet), a 'magnificent' ballroom, and three bathrooms.
It had an Ideal coke boiler hot water service, and garage for several cars, stables, man's room, and complete 'domestic offices' and quarters.
The property was bought in 1939 by Sunningdale Ltd, which transferred it to Clive Langdon Bonython in June 1941.
The architect Eric McMichael (1884-1945) had let tenders for residences at Unley Park in 1920 and in 1923, and he lived at 16 Victoria Avenue from 1939 until probably 1941.
In midautumn 1941, the house, with fourteen rooms and over two acres of land, described as the 'town house of Mr. E. H. McMichael', was offered at auction.
McMichael had extensively modernised the 'domestic offices' in 1939, including providing a new kitchen, a fourth bathroom, and other improvements.
This is a substantial Inter War masonry dwelling features stucco walls and a verandah incorporated under the main roof.
The house retains a complex steeply pitched tiled roof with hips and gables, curved ridges and projecting gables to the north and south, distinctive dormer windows separated by a very high masonry rendered chimney, heavy timber framed windows with colonial style glazing.
The broad return verandah has heavy circular masonry columns (now ivy covered).
The property also features a masonry fence with random bluestone and rendered capping surmounted by cast iron railing.
Statement of Heritage Value:
This house is an important example of the type of substantial residences constructed in Unley Park during the 1920s-1930s, and reflects the design, details and building materials commonly in use at that time.
Read more:
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Unley Park, South Australia: selected twentieth century and later domestic architecture - by Bridget Jolly 2012
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The Meade, 66 Northgate Street, Unley Park SA
"Truly one of Adelaide's finest residential masterpieces, this c.1928 standout triple fronted stone residence presents a rare and irresistible opportunity on one of the most prestigious streets, "millionaire's row" in Unley Park.
Showcasing an elegant blend of contemporary features and classic character in a superb, highly sought-after locale, just moments from King William and Unley Roads.
Elegance and grandeur combine with lofty ceiling heights, grand formal rooms, stunning statement features and a breathtaking north-facing rear that will leave entertainers in awe.
Read more:
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Adelaide welcomes first $2m suburb - LYDIA KELLNER The Advertiser OCTOBER 22, 2018
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Sale notice and photographs - 66 Northgate Street, Unley Park SA, sold for $2.99 million on 11 Apr 2018.
