by Cathy Jones
‘Mendoet’ 18 Wallis Avenue Strathfield is an interwar style cottage, built in 1929. It is located on the Josephsons’s Estate, a 1915 subdivision of part of the land granted to Joseph Newton by Crown Land grant in 1841. Lot 32 of the Josephsons’s Estate was acquired by Jesse Haynes from Thomas Francis Josephson and Sydney Josephson in 1915, measuring over 3 roods. The vacant land was transferred to Alfred Heine, an engineer in 1927. Heine transferred the land to Thomas Bowyer Lumb of Haberfield, a builder. Bowyer subdivided the land and part of Lot 32 “A’ was sold to Reginald Henry Donald White in May 1929.
White lodged an application to build a brick cottage of minimum five rooms at an estimated cost of £1000 in April 1929. The site had a 49 feet frontage and depth of 198 feet. The design of the house has variously been attributed to prolific architect Thomas Pollard Sampson, who designed a number of houses in Strathfield including ‘Kama’ 16 Llandilo Avenue and additions to Meriden Anglican School in Strathfield.
The house was named ‘Mendoet’ and was originally numbered 12 Wallis Avenue. It was later renumbered 18 Wallis Avenue Strathfield.
Reginald Henry Donald White (1904-1980) was a civil servant. He rose to the position of Assistant Director of the Department of Health and was awarded an Order of British Empire (OBE) in 1960. He lived at Wallis Avenue with his wife Marjorie, who he married in 1929 around the time he built this house.
White retained ownership until May 1940 when it was sold to Rupert Jenkins James of Strathfield. In October 1962, Olive James of Strathfield, widow became the registered owner of the property. In October 1963, ownership transferred to Oliver Garner of Strathfield, a clerk and Gladys Gardner, his wife as joint tenants.
References
NSW Land Titles, v.2597 f.222 and v.4286 f.234
Department of Valuer-General, Municipality of Strathfield, Valuation Lists 1929, 1933 and 1960
