An asymmetrical Edwardian house with a timber verandah frieze.

Note the bullnose-profile verandah roof (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

houses with a projecting front gable. Both types have low convex or

bullnose verandahs on turned posts with a decorative timber or cast

iron ‘lace’ frieze. They have low hipped roofs, red brick chimneys

with corbelling (projecting bricks) at the top, and bracketed timber

cornices. They have single-pane windows, some with sidelights, and

heavy four-panelled front doors, often with sidelights and a highlight.

There are two asymmetrical houses of 1909 on Ridley Street, which

are some of the earliest surviving concrete buildings in Victoria.

Later Edwardian and Federation houses, from the 1910s, were

similar in form and materials to the asymmetrical houses, described

above, with some exceptions. They often had half-timbering or

rough-cast render to the projecting gables, higher hipped roofs with

gablets at the peak, more elaborate timber fretwork and brackets,

sash or casement windows with highlights, and two-panelled doors

with an upper arched window. Federation houses often had a

diagonal axis, marked by a corner bay window and gable at the front

These specific guidelines form Part 6 of the

These Guidelines apply to heritage properties

within the McKay Housing Estate precincts – Durham Road, Sunshine

and King Edward Avenue, Albion. These properties are identified

as ‘contributory’ on the precinct maps below. The guidelines are

intended to encourage and support the conservation of the historic

character of the estates by providing additional information that

builds upon the General Guidelines provided in Part 1.

The following information about the significance of the two

precincts is drawn from the

2007. Please refer to that study for more

information about their historic development.

The McKay housing subdivisions were part of a suburb created by

Australia’s leading industrialist, H.V. McKay, and a milestone in the

development of the industrial suburb, under the influence of the

Garden City movement. Sunshine’s generous suburban estates

were atypical of working class housing of the early 20th century and

became a yardstick for planning and housing reformers, with H.V.

McKay being regarded as an expert on planned industrial housing.

The McKay estates mark a crucial phase in the development of

Sunshine, housing the resident work force which promoted further

industrial development.

The contributory houses in the precinct represent the type of dwelling

built either by or for company employees, foremen and managers.

Most of the houses were set back on their blocks with side drives,

rather than rear service lanes, giving an air of spaciousness and

permitting large gardens. They provide a representative sample of

homes that are generally typical of the period, with several distinctive

architectural designs, some of which can be ascribed to J. Raymond

Robinson, who might be considered the de facto company architect

for the McKay Sunshine Harvester Works.

There is a wide variety of house forms in the McKay Housing

Estates, reflecting the initial period of development from the turn of

the century through the 1930s. The houses tend to be single-storey

and double-fronted.

The earliest houses are late Victorian/Edwardian in form, built in the

first decade of the 20th century. There are two types: block-fronted

houses with a verandah across the façade, and asymmetrical

A block-fronted late Victorian house with a cast-iron frieze and

low convex verandah roof (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

BRIMBANK HERITAGE DESIGN GUIDELINES PART 6

HO23 & HO24 – McKay Housing Estates

of the house. The verandah roof was usually an extension of the

main roof, often on two sides of the house. Chimneys of the larger

houses had roughcast render details. A number of these houses

are quite grand, apparently built for company managers. Some of

the later houses of this period (c1920) have a lower hipped roof,

and narrow verandah roof extending across the façade, showing

influence from the California Bungalow style.

Arts & Crafts and California Bungalows, of the late ’teens and

1920s, usually have gabled roofs – either facing the street or parallel

to it. California Bungalows often have a smaller gable facing the

street which may be half-timbered, rendered or shingled. Their

front verandahs have low-pitched skillion or hipped roofs, and are

often carried across the entire façade. Verandah supports tend to

be heavy and range from single or paired timber posts often resting

on masonry (brick or render) piers, and tapered masonry piers, or

simple cast-concrete columns on top of a low masonry wall. The

ends of roof rafters tend to be visible. Some windows have box

frames that project from the wall of the house, others are grouped

in angled bays. Arts & Crafts bungalows, on the other hand, had

inventive timber verandah brackets. Doors of this era had a high-set

window above shallow panels or vertical boards, and sometimes a

sidelight. Chimneys are plain and narrow, some with bands of clinker

bricks or roughcast render at the top.

1930s houses tend to have hipped roofs. Verandahs have simple

but massive masonry supports. Windows often have geometric

leadlights in the upper sashes, and are grouped in twos and threes.

An Edwardian house. Note the continuous verandah roof

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

An Arts & Crafts Bungalow (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A California Bungalow built to a State Savings Bank design

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A California Bungalow with a Marseille tile roof and brick piers with concrete

columns supporting the verandah (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A 1930s weatherboard house with a stylish Art Deco rendered verandah

and entrance portico (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A Federation house with early picket fence. Note the corner window under

the verandah, creating a diagonal axis (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

BRIMBANK HERITAGE DESIGN GUIDELINES PART 6

HO23 & HO24 – McKay Housing Estates

Houses in this precinct generally had front and side fences, ranging

from 0.6 to 1.2 metres in height, creating a sense of enclosure

to front yards, but retaining visibility. Lower fences became more

fashionable as the decades passed.

Typical fences seen in Sunshine from the turn of the century to about

1915 (for Victorian and Edwardian houses) are timber picket fences

with pointed or shaped pickets and square or pointed timber posts.

Typical fences of the late ’teens and 1920s (for Arts & Crafts and

California Bungalows) are woven wire with simple square or curved

posts, of about 1.2 m, as well as cyclone chain-link with timber rails,

and plain picket fences (square pickets), 0.6 to 1.2 metres high.

Houses with brick walls or verandah details sometimes had a low

wall of red and/or clinker brick and roughcast render.

Typical fences of the 1930s include woven wire fences with plain

timber posts, and cyclone chain link with timber and/or metal pipe

posts and rails.

An original brick and roughcast fence which matches the California Bungalow

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

Original fences should be retained and repaired where possible.

New fences at the front and side of front yards should use traditional

materials and heights (not over 1.2 m) appropriate to the age and

style of the house, wherever possible. For illustration of fence types

please see the General Guidelines.

The late Victorian and Edwardian-type houses had weatherboard

walls. Roofs were clad in corrugated iron, using shorter sheets than

are used today. Cornice brackets, verandah posts and verandah

frieze and brackets were timber. Chimneys were corbelled red brick.

Original materials should be retained and repaired, where necessary,

instead of replaced. Replacement (if necessitated by poor condition)

or restoration of original joinery elements, such as windows and

doors, should be identical to the original in form and material.

Later Edwardian and Federation houses used similar material to

those listed above, with several additions. Narrow weatherboards

often alternated with bands of boards notched to look like shingles.

Half-timbering details in gables were made of roughcast render

or pressed metal imitating render. Window hoods were timber, or

sometimes pressed metal, and had ripple iron roofs (a very narrow

corrugated sheet). Window highlights often contained floral leadlights.

Red brick chimneys often had roughcast bands at the top.

Detail of a sash window with sidelights

of a late Victorian house

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A corbelled red brick chimney

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A corner bay window and gablet, and decorative rendered chimney

of a Federation house (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A projecting gabled bay

with half-timbering and a

triple bank of sash windows

with leadlight highlights on an

Edwardian House

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

BRIMBANK HERITAGE DESIGN GUIDELINES PART 6

HO23 & HO24 – McKay Housing Estates

Arts & Crafts and California Bungalows generally had weatherboard

cladding (with a square or curved edge), with details in roughcast

render. Some gables were half-timbered, often with metal sheets

imitating roughcast or fibro-cement sheets with narrow timber cover

straps. Others had stained timber shingles, roughcast render or

combinations thereof. Masonry verandah supports – red and clinker

brick, render and concrete piers and columns – would all have

been left unpainted originally. Roofs were clad in corrugated iron or

terracotta Marseille tiles.

The beautifully detailed verandah of a small Arts & Crafts Bungalow

(Brimbank City Council, 2009)

Houses of the 1930s were more likely to have red and clinker brick

walls. Those clad in weatherboards (with a curved edge) often had

heavy brick or rendered verandah supports, giving the impression of

a masonry house. Most roofs were now clad in terracotta Marseille

tiles. Windows were still timber, often with leadlights. Masonry

verandah supports would have been left unpainted. Chimneys were

plain brick or rendered.

The most common type of gutter for pre-1920 houses (Victorian,

Edwardian, Federation and Arts & Crafts Bungalow) was the ogee

profile supported on a timber scotia moulding, a style which provides

decorative interest. Houses dating from 1920 (California Bungalows,

1930s houses) onwards would have had quadrant-profile gutters. All

had round metal downpipes originally.

Original roofing materials, particularly terracotta tiles should be

retained and repaired if possible. If replacement of original roofing

is necessary, it should be in kind. For replacement of deteriorated

corrugated iron, galvanised iron is the preferred replacement,

though Colorbond in traditional colours is also acceptable (Indian

Red, weathered grey and, for 1920s houses, forest green).

Half-timbered front gables and rough-cast rendered chimneys

of a California Bungalow (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

A timber house of the 1930s with a tiled hipped roof and square

brick verandah supports (Brimbank City Council, 2009)

Original stained timber shingles, face brick and unpainted rendered

surfaces should not be painted over, newly rendered or re-rendered.

Rendered elements (both smooth and textured) should be repainted

using a matt or slightly textured paint in grey, off-white or stone colours,

to emulate the original unpainted finish. For typical paint schemes for

houses of these eras, please see the General Guidelines.

Replacement gutters should be of the appropriate profile for the age

of the house. All gutters and downpipes should be metal.

Houses in this precinct, built prior to the late 1920s,

originally did not have driveways or garages.

Original garages of the late 1920s and 1930s were

usually small, gable-fronted buildings situated

behind the house, and constructed with similar

materials. Driveways of this period were of natural

(untinted concrete), often in separate tracks.

New car parking structures (carports and garages)

should be as unobtrusive as possible, preferably

situated behind the house.

The original garage of a California Bungalow, which matches

it in style (Brimbank City Council, 2009)