by Cathy Jones 2025
‘Wirringulla’ 13 Firth Avenue Strathfield was built in 1931. It is a interwar style with brick finishes and a tiled roof. The house features a side porte cochere. It is located on the Joseph Newton 1841 Crown Grant, which later came under the ownership of Judge Josephson. These estates were subdivided c.1916 (Deposited Plan 8778) and marketed as Josephson’s Estate. Land on this estate took many years to be developed.
Lot 94 was transferred by the Strathfield Land Company Limited in November 1927 to John Joseph Carson/ The land was subject to a covenant which requires a minimum expenditure of £600 erected in brick or stone with slate or tile roof with a building setback of 30 feet. In December 1928, the property was transferred to Edwin Fisher Huffam. The land was still vacant at this time.
In April 1931, the property was transferred to William Graham Firth (1906-2008), a company director of P J Firth & Co, paper and box manufacturers. Firth was the son of John Robert Firth (1876-1970), Mayor and long serving Alderman of Strathfield Council. He married Edna Penman in 1931 and clearly intended that this house would be their family home.
Firth made a building application on June 1931 to build a brick cottage and garage of five rooms at an estimated value of £1200. The builder was D Gilburg of Meredith Street Homebush. The site was 66 feet frontage and 209 depth.
The house was named ‘Wirringulla’ and numbered 13 Firth Avenue. The street was numbered in 1966 but this house number was not changed.
The house was owned by Firth until 1966, when it was transferred to Khahil Investments (K Herro). An addition was made in 1971 and a pool installed in 1972.
