60 Beresford Road Strathfield

by Cathy Jones

60 Beresford Road Strathfield is a Post-War International style house built in 1955.  This is a rare example of this style in the Strathfield area.

The land on which 60 Beresford Road is located is part of the land granted to Thomas Rose in 1793.  By 1904, the registered land owner was chemist Washington Handley Soul.  Soul’s land was bounded by Albert Road at north and Beresford Rd at south and occupied by Soul’s home ‘Agincourt’

The estate of Washington Soul transferred land to dignitaries of the Anglican Church, including Lot 1 (60 Beresford Road) and in August 1947 it was transferred to the Church Missionary Society Trust, a British Anglican mission.  The 1947 aerial photo of this land indicates that a property was located on the rear boundary behind the former ‘Agincourt’.  It is likely this was the Coach House attached to the ‘Agincourt’ property when owned by Washington Soul. The outbuilding is still present in aerial photos and real estate photos in 2023. 

In April 1955, Lot 1 (DP20594) was purchased by Karl Berjak from the Church Missionary Society Trust Ltd.  This lot measured 50 foot frontage by 200 foot depth.  Berjak lodged a development application in November 1955 to build a new dwelling and amendments to an outbuilding.  The estimated value of the works was £6500 and the works were described as six rooms, offices and garages in brick.  The application did not identify the builder or architect.  However, the report to Health and Building Committee on 1 November 1955 identified E. Fretze as the architect. 

Emil Fretze, Architect, RAIA (1925-2003) was noted for his architectural designs as senior and later chief architect for the Commonwealth Bank post World War II. He trained as an architect in Graf, Austria and migrated to Australia after WWII and secured a position in the Commonwealth Bank’s Premises Department in 1950. He was admitted as an associate to the RAIA in 1954. He rose to the position of Senior Architect in 1959 and was officially appointed as Chief Architect in 1978 after having acted in the role for some time. 

Commonwealth Bank branches that can be directly attributed to Fretze include Brookvale, Cammeray, Cardiff, Castlecrag, Dapto, Ettalong Beach, Jannali, Kirrawee, Matraville, Oatley, Ramsgate, Sans Souci, Strathfield (1961), Toukley and Woy Woy.

Fretze was apparently a friend of Karl Berjac and his wife and with contributions from the Berjacs, Fretze undertook a rare foray into domestic architecture.  The house is an important example of the domestic work of architect Emil Fretze.  His own home was built in 1958 and is located at 15 Vernon Street Cammeray (https://www.bresicwhitney.com.au/buy/15-vernon-street-cammeray-34377)

60 Beresford Road is included in the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) list of significant architecture of the Twentieth Century in NSW.

References

‘Admissions to the Institute’, Architecture: an Australasian review of architecture and the allied arts and sciences, Vol. 42 No. 2 (Apr-Jun 1954), p117

NSW Land Register Certificate of Title v.1514 f.169

NSW Land Register Certificate of Title v.6972 f.31

Strathfield Council (1955, 1 November), Minutes Health and Building Committee

Strathfield Council (1955), Building Application Register