View Terrace

Statement of Significance

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Description

Assessed significance: State

Item type: Built

Current use: Offices

Former use: Residences, Housing

Group: Residential buildings (private)

Category: Terrace

Designer/Maker:

Builder/Maker:

Construction Years: 1893 - 1893

Physical Description: View Terrace is a restrained Victorian Italianate style terrace of two houses built in 1893 of stuccoed brick. It has keystones, mouldings and label stops to each depressed arch opening above the windows and doorways. Half fluted pilasters divide the fa?ade and define the recessed first floor balustraded balcony. The roof line is dominated by an elaborate parapet, the centre of which has the name View Terrace and the date 1892. It is below the current street line, but has a large forecourt. The original line of Gloucester Street is indicated in the paving. (National Trust: 1978) The forecourt extends to the north to an area overlooking Argyle Street shaded by a loquat tree, which was created with the building of the Argyle Bridge when Nos 22-24 Gloucester Street were demolished. The terrace forms part of a row of 19th spec built and early 20th century welfare housing at 26-72 Gloucester Street.Style: Victorian Italianate; Storeys: Two (Three to Cambridge Street); Roof Frame: Shingled

Property Description

Address

Historic Notes and Themes

Historical notes: In 1807, the date of Meehan's survey, this site lay to the west of gardens adjacent to the Hospital garden. It contained a well defined building alignment that represented the northern end of a long narrow block which commenced at Cribbs Lane (Cumberland Pl). Prior to 1812, Stafford Lett occupied the house and land to the north of the site. In 1812 Lett sold this portion of the site to John Kinchela for ?35. Kinchela died intestate and in 1839 his sister, Mary McCarthy, claimed and was granted title by the Commissioners of the Court of Claims. The southern portion of the site was granted unopposed to William Foster, a shipwright of Cumberland Street, in 1835.Harper's survey of 1822 reveals a building outline on the site which appears to occupy part of both allotments. However, a sewerage survey of c. 1860 reveals two distinct adjoining buildings of similar size (see Map 6). In 1845, Council rate assessors noted a two room stone building with shingled roof on the northern allotment and a building of similar description on the smaller southern allotment. Between 1849 and 1863, Council Assessors noted the owner, or landlord of the northern allotment as Thomas Douglas. Court of Claims records indicate that Mary McCarthy's sister's married surname was Douglas thus it is likely that the allotment remained within the family.From 1861 to 1882 George Lake Young, an upholsterer was the owner, and landlord, of the northern premises and George Walker, a waterman, the tenant. This format continued almost unbroken till 1871 when Mr. Young took up residence however, in 1868, Sands Directory records that Nos. 44-46 Gloucester Street was vacant. In 1882 it appears that this house was demolished and the land left vacant for some years.The southern allotment had various tenants, including Thomas Mort, a quarryman; Edward Hancock, a mariner; Vincent Mathews and Antoine Murray until 1879 when Daniel Brown, a fireman, took up residence and retained till c.1890 when this property was demolished.In 1893 William Hitchcock purchased the land and constructed a three storey rendered brick Victorian Italianate style terrace of five houses naming them 'View Terrace' (Nos.22-30). Leased to numerous people, No.22 also contained a shop occupied first by a watchmaker, a draper and then a series of confectioners. View Terrace was continuously tenanted for residential use until 1980. (SCRA 1986: CS/14)In 1911-1912 Cumberland Street was realigned and in doing so broke through the Gloucester Street alignment at Argyle Street. As a result No. 22 -24 Gloucester Street were demolished and the road level was raised by three metres. View Terrace, together with adjoining terraces Nos 32-44, many of which had been vacant and in bad condition for a number of years, were recommended for redevelopment in SCRA's planning review finalised in 1984. The retention and conservation of the whole Gloucester Street fa?ade was also recommended. A four level office development was carried out in 1985-86, incorporating the Gloucester Street fa?ade, and is known as 40 Gloucester Street. (SCRA Annual Reports 1984:12-13, 1985: 12-13 & 16 and 1986: 18-19) The northern side boundary wall of View Terrace was also retained in the development, and provides evidence that the terrace (Nos 22-24) previously continued to the north.

Historical significance: The historical significance of the View Terrace is demonstrated by:? The evidence in the place of the significant human activity of continually adapting the physical environment to suit cultural needs, as evident in the varying ground levels of the site that have been hewn out of the natural rock face, cascading from the heights of Gloucester Street down to the Gloucester and Cumberland street forecourts, and then down to the View Court and the Little Cambridge Steps, and finally down to Cambridge Street. This adaptation is reinforced in the built forms of both the former terraces and the current building which also step down the underlying rocky ledges and display considerable human ingenuity and adaptability in design and building on such near-vertical sites.? The associations of the place with the significant historical phase, limited to the mid-1980s, in the evolution of conservation practices now known as facadism. This approach was practiced by the Authority on a limited range of sites for a limited period, and reflects an understanding of heritage significance based solely or largely on the presentation of aesthetically-pleasing built surfaces for public enjoyment, without understanding the historical forces that shaped and are represented by those surfaces.? The associations of the place with the significant historical phase, during the 1970s, of pre- and post-war refugee artists strongly influencing the work and approaches of locally-born artists, through the medium of the Cambridge Street warehouse sculptor's gallery where works were both created and exhibited in an avant-garde environment outside the control of established galleries and artists.? The maintaining of a significant historical process in the place of providing rental accommodation, mostly for residential purposes and more recently for commercial purposes.The sequence of structures, from the early nineteenth century cottages to the later Victorian terraces to the late twentieth century offices, have all maintained this activity of providing accommodation in return for payment. The resumption of the private properties by the Crown in 1902 transferred this role from several private landlords to a single public landlord, but the continuity of low-level disputes over maintenance of buildings, relations between tenants, and of the capacity of landlords to remove tenants and demolish structures is consistent across time.The item meets this criterion at the STATE level.

Historical association: The associational significance of View Terrace is demonstrated by:? The association of the place with the significant person of the architect Phillip Cox AO. Cox was an early practitioner in the field of conservation architecture, and between 1962 and 1993 he received at least 16 prestigious awards, including two Wilkinson Awards, three Sulman medals, a Royal Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1984, and appointment to the Order of Australia as an Officer in 1988 for services to architecture. Cox designed the new structure that replaced the terraces in 1985 and to which the terrace facades are attached. The design responds sympathetically to both the site and the massing of the former terraces. This was at the height of his recognition by his peers, and was probably his last major work in The Rocks. Cox does not list the work among his 'selected projects', and on that basis it is assessed as being a locally-significant association rather than State significant.76? The association of the place with the significant person of the arts administrator Dennis Wolanski OAM. Wolanski was a Polish refugee and Warsaw Ghetto survivor, and a sculptor in post-war Sydney. He was also an able arts administrator, and in 1973 donated the funds to establish the Wolanksi Library and Archives in the then-new Sydney Opera House. He was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia in 1988 for service to the arts. Wolanski was vice president of the Society of Sculptors & Associates who occupied the Cambridge Street warehouse between 1972 and 1984, and was the main spokesperson for the Society and principle negotiator with SCRA over tenancy arrangements and maintenance of the building, responsible for increasing the gallery functions by including the craft gallery, and sought to extend the gallery into 1 Cambridge Street. As Wolanski's best known associations are with the Opera House, his association with site, although lengthy, is assessed as being of local rather than State significance.? The association of the place with a significant group of persons, in this instance publicans. A range of nineteenth century local publicans in The Rocks, including Stafford Lett, Andrew Coss, Thomas Douglass, John Sims and Eleanor Rochester, have been either owners and/or residents in the cottages and terrace houses. Hotels and their publicans and innkeepers have been a significant local commercial presence in The Rocks, especially in relation to maritime trades and occupations, and the place is located within close walking distance of a number of local hotels.? The association of the place with a significant group of persons, in this case the multi-generational Wybrow (or Whybrow)77 family at 32-36 Gloucester Street. The Wybrow's are a significant group in that, as a family over several generations, they owned and occupied the site between c1822 and c1906, and constructed the three-dwelling terrace in 1881 to house three families related through their maternal lineage. This is a representative association evident at other sites in The Rocks that allowed related women to maintain close and mutually supportive domestic relationships while their menfolk, especially those engaged in maritime occupations, were often absent for extended periods of time.The item meets this criterion at the LOCAL level.

Aesthetic significance: The aesthetic significance of View Terrace is demonstrated by:? Being inspiration for creative achievement, whereby the site and its vicinity have been the subject of colonial watercolourists such as George Roberts (1830s), Samuel Elyard (1867), G Henderson (1878), numerous official photographers in the early twentieth century as well as the renowned Harold Cazneaux, and mid-twentieth century sketchers such as Alan Sutherland (1965), Unk White (1966), Ashley Cooper (1970) and Cedric Emmanuel (1971). The Cambridge Street (back) facades and forms inspired a range of artists in the early twentieth century to produce depictions of the streetscape as representative of a romantic urban plein air idiom, and the site was notably represented in the 1902 'Old Sydney' exhibition by artists such as Julian Ashton and Fred Leist.? Being associated with creative achievement and innovation between 1972 and 1984 when the Cambridge Street warehouse was occupied by sculpture and craft galleries where works were created, performed and sold at the time Cambridge Street North briefly flourished as an 'arts quarter'. A number of well-known artists exhibited at the gallery, and mixed in the intellectual and artistic milieu associated with the gallery and Sydney's 1970s avante garde arts scene.? Showing creative and technical innovation in the massing, form and finishes of the 1985 building that retains forms and mass reminiscent of the demolished terrace buildings in stepping down the steep cliff face and uses exterior finishes that evoke those of late-nineteenth century urban buildings.? Showing creative and technical innovation in the early use of reinforced concrete in 1912 in the retaining walls remaining on the street side of the Cumberland Street forecourt, in the steps and balustrading of View Court and in No 1 Cambridge Street.? Having landmark qualities in the retained terrace facades as a group that maintain a distinctive reference to past residential uses and strongly contribute to the aesthetic character of the streetscape of Gloucester Street. The facades display strong visual relationships with adjacent terraces, especially Bakers Terrace and Jobbins Terrace, which enhance the presentation of its landmark qualities.? Exemplifying a particular taste or style through the use of a Victorian Italianate style on the facades of numbers 26-30 and 38-40. The stylistic characteristics remain intact, with attention to detailing and proportions. The application of this style to terrace housing is uncommon, as is the originally symmetrical composition of the facades (the demolition of numbers 22-24 in 1912 now obscures the originally symmetrical fa?ade of View Terrace). The asymmetry usually associated with this style is absent from the facades as they continued to be built in the same repetitive form of earlier terrace housing, thus making the style more of an 'add-on' fa?ade, and thus an uncommon variation on the style in The Rocks. Rather than stylistic purity, the use of an Italianate style on the facades reflects the tastes and pretensions of the owners and the type of tenants they sought to attract to their investment properties.? Having landmark qualities in the use of a federation Free Classical style for 1 Cambridge Street in 1912 that provided a human-scaled 'gateway' character to the entrance to Cambridge Street and continued the self-confident expression of the style in the (then) new Argyle Bridge in a way that reflected the underlying landform and complemented the topographically-responsive form and Italianate style of View Terrace.? Exemplifying a particular taste or style through the use of a late twentieth century Post-modernist style, confined to the exterior of the 1985 building. It respects the original massing and forms of the 1880s terrace buildings as an 'infill' structure within an existing urban environment. It references Victorian-era detailing such as an astylar base with ashlar coursing, decorated parapets with classical motifs, the use of perforated metal screens and grills, timber window and door joinery, timber louvres and the linear rhythms and proportions of the fenestration. The 1985 Cox-designed structure is a good example of the use of this style for an infill structure in a heritage precinct such as The Rocks.The item meets this criterion at the LOCAL level.

Social significance: The social significance of View Terrace is demonstrated by:? Its importance for associations with an identifiable group, in this case the lower middle class families of The Rocks and in particular their familial networks of inter-generational inheritance. Property ownership in the nineteenth century and heritable tenancies across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and up to the early 1980s are significant in explaining the patterns of occupancy in the terraces and the social connections between the inhabitants of the terraces. These familial associations are also important for demonstrating the aspirations of the terrace owners and tenants to social respectability during the nineteenth century, aspirations reflected in the scale and style of the Italianate facades.? Its importance for associations with an identifiable group, in this case social reformers of the early twentieth century who, from positions within the NSW Government and public service, sought to improve social conditions through, among other things, controlling rents through the Fair Rents Acts of 1915 and 1926 (which extended to small shops) that made long term renting affordable and secure, and allowed many tenants to stay at the same residence for years; through various urban renewal programs that aimed to reduce diseases and illness and provide hygienic and comfortable homes and streets; and through widespread resumption of private properties in order to actively reshape the urban environment of The Rocks in pursuit of a broader public good. These social objectives are reflected in the changing alignments and heights of Gloucester Street, evident in the forecourts, and the fragmentary 'fin wall' and View Court that survive from the demolished shop and residence at 22-24 Gloucester Street, and in the surviving tenancy records associated with the place for the early to mid-twentieth century.? Its potential to be important to a community's sense of place, in this case residents of The Rocks and Millers Point and their descendants who participated in the resident action and social movements of the 1970s known as the Green Bans, and their supporters in the Builders Labourers Federation. They were able to influence urban renewal proposals of the day in ways that lead to the retention of terrace housing in The Rocks and, even when only the fa?ades of the terraces were retained, resident advocacy ensured the streetscape contribution of the fa?ades would be appreciated and their role as a monument to the former residents of the terraces could continue to be interpreted to descendants and the general public.The item meets this criterion at a LOCAL level.

Research significance: The research significance of View Terrace is demonstrated by:? Its potential to yield archaeological information, although now limited, relating to nineteenth century construction practices and built responses to the rocky ledges of Bunkers Hill that remain evident in the stone wall beneath the View Terrace fa?ade and the potential archaeological resources beneath the surface of the forecourts and around 1 Cambridge Street.? Its importance as a reference site for further research into the evolution of terrace housing forms and styles, especially from English or British predecessor forms, in a New South Wales and Australian environment, reflected especially in the bald-face, or Type 3, terrace type.? Its importance as a reference site for further research into historical strategies and practices for retaining urban properties within family lineages of lower middle class families, often of convict descent, even when deprived of property ownership. Such practices are more commonly associated with wealthy rural landholder dynasties, but this site (and others in The Rocks) has the potential through further research to challenge such assumptions, especially in regions of New South Wales and Australia that are associated with convict settlement.The item meets this criterion on a STATE level.

Rare assessment: The rarity of View Terraceis demonstrated by:? Providing evidence of a defunct process, or at least rarely practiced process, in this case the processes or practices of facadism, in The Rocks. Facadism was, and remains, a highly contentious practice. The site is one of only three such examples, and the only one in the form of a set of late nineteenth century domestic terrace facades attached to a late twentieth century Cox-designed commercial building.The item meets this criterion on LOCAL level.

Representative assessment: The representativeness of View Terrace is demonstrated by:? Having attributes typical of a particular custom, that of building domestic housing in The Rocks in terraced rows, although now only evident in the facades and the massing of the attached structure.? Having the principle characteristics of an important class or group, in this case 'second wave' terrace housing built in The Rocks in the 1880s and 1890s, which now form the largest group (44%) of all surviving terrace housing in The Rocks, albeit now providing a rare sub-group of facades-only, of which it is the only example.? Having the principle characteristics of an important class or group, in this case bald-fronted terraces built in The Rocks, which now constitute one of the nine recognised categories of terrace-types in The Rocks, mainly built between the 1830s and 1890s. Chronologically they are at the most-recently built end of this spectrum, and as noted above, only their facades survive.? The representativeness of the site is reduced by the limited survival of original fabric, essentially only the facades, that limits their context in any meaningful way to the local area.The item meets this criterion on LOCAL level.

Intact assessment: Archaeology mostly disturbed

Physical condition: Archaeology Assessment Condition: Mostly disturbed. Assessment Basis: Recently restored. Terraced into hill slope. Cellars.

Listings

References

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	SCA	1986	Building Data Sheets CS/14
Written	Higginbotham, Kass & Walker	1991	The Rocks and Millers Point Archaeological Management Plan
Management Plan	Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority	2007	Gloucester Street Terrace Facades, Conservation Management Strategies April 2007
Management Plan (HC Endorsed)	Strategic Planning and Heritage - Place Management	2017	Conservation Management Plan - Gloucester Street 26-44 - View Terrace - 2017

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