Residence, ‘Tresbill’, part of the Wellesley Street Group‘Dunbarton’, 1893

Name of Item

Other Names

2 Wellesley StreetAddress

Summer HillLocality 2130Postcode

BuildingItem Type

Group Name

The Wellesley Street houses are evaluated as a Group as well as individually. TheGroup is significant for its relationship to the early Quarantine Ground and itssubdivision, with which the street is roughly contemporary. It is also significantfor the considerable variety in the dates of construction of the individual buildingsand consequently for their interesting range of architectural styles. As well, thehistorical data associated with each is significant. This house represents the original character of the Group, as a simple version ofthe Victorian Italianate style and for its positive contribution to the streetscape.

Statement of Significance

10/55Reference N°

Land Title

Owner/s

Condition as observedfrom street —

Minor alteration —

Major alteration —

The house originallyhad a slate roof.

Modifications —

Sympathetic

Unsympathetic

Unsympathetic

Sympathetic

Intact

3/3/2010Survey DateRISurveyed by

Ashfield Heritage Study Inventory Sheets 2010

Summary of Significance Rare Associative Representative

Historic

Aesthetic

Social

Scientific

Other

10/55Reference N°

ResidentialCurrent Use

Ashfield Local Environmental Plan 1985, Schedule 7Heritage Listing

The land in this area was granted to Joseph Foveaux in 1794. It was ultimately incorporated intoRobert Campbell’s Canterbury Park Estate and was still owned by Sophia Campbell when thepresent Wellesley Street became the south boundary of a quarantine station. These allotments on thesouth side of Wellesley Street are generally slightly wider than those created when the quarantineground was subdivided. Wellesley Street, named after the famous Duke of Wellington, was named in 1878. No houseswere built here until 1882, when the Ashfield Rate Book for that year shows John Barrie as theowner of the pair of semi-detached houses at Nos 36-38. This house was first occupied in 1884, when the owner was recorded as C C Mihell. In 1885 itwas sold to Andrew Stewart, stationer, who occupied the property until he sold it to John Harry. By1908 it was owned by Thomas Watson but occupied by others until in 1920, when the owner wasHenrietta Major. The property changed hands several times becoming a dual occupancy, until 1961when, still as two flats, John Percy Campbell became owner. In that year its improved valuation wasrecorded as £5,000.(1)

Historical Notes

The 17 separate buildings in this Wellesley Street Group were part of what was called the QuarantineGround Conservation Area in the 1991-92 Ashfield Heritage Study. In the event, however, Councildid not so incorporate them in the Conservation Area but scheduled them separately as individualheritage items. This is one of those 17 buildings in the Group so scheduled. It is a single-storeyed cottage: a simple version of the Victorian Italianate style of architecture.From its asymmetrical facade a gable wing projects towards the street, and from it a facetted,parapetted flat-roofed bay projects further. The roof of the house, originally slate, is corrugatedmetal and the verandah protects the entrance door, which has sidelights. The front garden is simple, with some mature planting, and the front fence is timber pickets.

Physical Description

(1) Information about owners and valuations are to be found in the Archives of Ashfield Council. Details of occupancies are recorded in Sands Directories.

Information Sources

Subdivision and consolidationThemes : Local

Towns, suburbs and villages

Themes : State

Ashfield Heritage Study Inventory Sheets 2010