By Cathy Jones (2021)
’Eloeura’ 36 Broughton Rd Homebush is located on section 7 of the Village of Homebush Estate, an 1878 subdivision of the part of the Underwood Estate. The house is described in the 1986 Heritage Study by Fox & Associates[1]:
“A single storey weatherboard house built around the turn of the century. A slate hip roof has terra cotta ridge cresting and capping. An asymmetrical façade has a bay window with a gable roof and a return verandah. The verandah features a corrugated iron bull nosed roof, decorative timber balustrade and curved timber brackets. The garden is well maintained. This weatherboard house is of local significance for its architectural character. It helps to illustrate the diverse range of housing from early this century in Strathfield”[2].
Weatherboard houses were not common in the Strathfield area, however Council’s Residential Proclamation in 1920 prohibited the building of wooden houses. The few that survive from this period are rare.
This house was built in 1913 for its owner James Lampard. Construction of the house was approved in September 1913 for a wooden cottage of 4+ rooms with an iron roof at the estimated value of £350[3]. The builder was R E Cooper, Cavendish Street, Stanmore[4]. Lampard named the house ‘Wraysbury’[5]. By 1920, ownership of the house transferred to Mrs Honorah Morse and the house was renamed ‘Albertson’[6][7]
Morse owned the house until c.1945 when ownership transferred to James Rafferty, railway employee[8]. The house continued to be owned by Rafferty until the 1960s.
The house was numbered 32 Broughton Road but was renumbered in 1957. The house is currently known as ‘Eloeura’.
References
Department of Valuer-General, Valuation List, Municipality of Strathfield 1924, 1939, 1942, 1945, 1948, 1957, 1960
Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory
Strathfield Council Building Register Vol 1
Strathfield Council Valuation List 1914-1916, 1920-1922
Footnotes
[1] Fox & Associates (1986) Strathfield Heritage Study
[2] The description refers to a slate roof, but the building register in 1913 states the main roof is iron.
[3] Strathfield Building Register Vol.1 September 3 1913
[4] Strathfield Building Register Vol.1 September 3 1913
[5] Strathfield Building Register Vol.1 September 3 1913
[6] Strathfield Council Valuation List 1920-1922
[7] Sands Sydney Directory
[8] Department of Valuer-General, Valuation List, Municpality of Strathfield 1945
