This typological study has been undertaken in accordance with the

principles of the Burra Charter adopted by Australia ICOMOS

This document has been written and researched by

Sera-Jane Peters and David Wixted

August 2020

© heritage ALLIANCE 2020

,

August 2011, for

City of Darebin and Heritage Victoria. The study has been informed by the

and the following historic themes which were identified in the

of 2000. These have been expanded to develop the half-house

theme in more detail.

2. Peopling Victoria’s places and landscapes

2.4 Migrating and making a home

6. Building towns, cities and the garden State

6.7 Making homes for Victorians

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1.2 Sources

The

consultants drew extensively on published histories of St Albans, oral history of local residents and personal

photos published on local websites. Some oral histories were collected and transcribed by Lorna Cameron and

other

volunteers of the Tin Shed, St Albans Youth Community Centre, during a community project undertaken in

1985. Many of these oral histories have been published in sources including

and

For the 1985 project the volunteers had some

training

provided to them by professional historians. In 2004, many of these interviews were published in

, edited by Joseph Ribarow. These were published in the form of

the

original transcription, with clear question and answer responses. Some of these 1985 interviews have been

used in Ribarow’s recent 2018

, but the transcription has been edited and transcribed in

the first person. Later sources include interviews undertaken by Joseph Ribarow between 2000-2016. Photos in

this publication were collected either by Ribarow or Kon Haumann, from individuals contacted by them for

interviews.

[Personal Comm. Joseph Ribarow, 2019]

As

part of the half-houses project, Brimbank City Council undertook community engagement during Spring 2019.

This included a drop-in session at St Albans library, requests for information on Council’s Facebook and

webpages and

articles in local newspapers. The community responses included four online forms, one letter,

eight

Facebook messages, seven face-to-face responses at the St Albans library, three phone messages and two

hard

copy forms submitted at St Albans library. The comments and issues raised in the consultation were

compiled

and addressed by Council staff during the course of the study. Photos provided to Council were only

used when permission was sought directly from the respondents. The measured drawings and photos of 59

George

Street was done with the kind permission of Mr and Mrs J Attard.

A

note on terminology:

The

expression,

appears to have developed in more recent times to describe these small houses. The

terminology used in oral history varies from one person to another. Many of the owners of these houses used

interchangeable terms including bungalow, part-house, shack, sleep-out and the Council called them either

temporary or part-houses. The term half-houses has been used here as it was the term adopted by the

in 2000 and has been used by Council

when describing these housing forms in St Albans. As a descriptive term, it is probably the best way to describe

and name these houses as it provides clarity that we are referring to an unfinished construction that the term

bungalow does not. The word bungalow, is used most often in the oral histories, but this is because the local real

estate

agents were using this term to up-sell what was in effect an unfinished shack. Many people purchased a

‘bungalow and land’ from an agent, and this name then stuck. Outside of the post-war St Albans community

however, the

term bungalow has a very different meaning and it is not a correct description of the half-houses in

the

Australian context.

The word bungalow is derived from

, meaning a Bengali house. In the early days of the British Raj in India,

a

bungalow was understood to be a single-storey house with commodious verandahs, but by the end of the

nineteenth century the word was being loosely applied, especially in America, to many kinds of houses that

catered

for a relatively casual lifestyle and had easy access to the outdoors. The term was then loosely applied in

Australia to Federation period houses of masonry with large pitched, tile roof forms and verandahs. [Apperly,

1989:144]

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1.3 Study Team

The study team who prepared this report comprised:

Sera-Jane Peters

Heritage Planner and Historian

David Wixted

Architect

1.4 Copyright

Copyright is held by heritage ALLIANCE and Brimbank City Council August, 2020

1.5 Acknowledgements

The study team would like to thank the following people for contributing to the information presented in this report:

Joseph Ribarow

John and Joyce Attard

Alie Missen

Maureen Kavanagh

Sarma Tusek

Peter Bobek

John Ibic

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2.0 CONTEXTUAL HISTORY

2.1 Introduction

St Albans is a small suburb, 12 kilometres to the west of Melbourne, in the City of Brimbank. It is located within

the country of the Wurundjeri people of the Woiwurrung language group, who have lived in this country and cared

for it, for over 40,000 years.

St Albans is bisected by the Bendigo railway line, which was the impetus for the establishment of a township in

the 1880s. Until the 1940s, St Albans remained a sparsely populated farming community of a few hundred

people. The area was marginal farm land that had been subdivided into township allotments in the land boom of

the 1880s, by speculators who sold a few lots and then disappeared in the 1890s crash. These early subdivision

patterns and street names, were then resurrected in the next land boom of the 1950s and 60s.

The aerial photo below, from 1951, shows St Albans as a scattered farming community centred on the railway

station, with unpaved roads leading to larger farms further north. At the centre of the town is the railway station,

and the level crossing at Main Road, still called Main Road East and Main Road West. The town has a distinctive

circular township plan which lies on both sides of the railway. The aerial shows, to the east of the township, the

first development of un-serviced allotments with new houses, and goat tracks leading across paddocks. At the

start of the 1950s, sleepy St Albans was set to become the newest suburb of Melbourne, attracting thousands of

new migrants and growing from a population of a few hundred to 7,000 by 1958.

[https://www.historyofstalbans.com/history.html]

newspaper visited in 1956, they found 80 percent of the children were new migrants. In the fourth grade only 8

had been born in Australia, the reporters found children from Greece, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Malta, Russia,

Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Holland, Belgium, Scotland, England, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Ukraine and

Czechoslovakia. [

, Friday 27 July, 1956. P5]

2.2 Post-war housing crisis in Australia

In the mid-1940s, Australia faced a significant housing crisis, brought on by a slowed rate of supply of housing

during the 1930s depression and the Second World War. With an expected increase in migration and de

mobilisation of the armed forces in the post-war period, housing provision became a major social and political

issue. By 1942, housing was seen as one of the main pillars of post-war reconstruction and there was public

expectation that the Menzies government would step in and solve what appeared to be a looming crisis. In

response, the Commonwealth Housing Commission was appointed to investigate housing in Australia. Their final

report delivered in 1944, found that there would be an estimated shortfall of 300,000 homes in 1945. The

estimate of the number of homes to be built each year in order to service the current and future requirements of

returned servicemen and new migrants, was 40,000 houses per year. In addition to a critical shortfall in housing,

there was also 137,000 sub-standard dwellings currently being occupied by families and in 1947 it was found that

there was only 877 dwellings for every 1000 households. In spite of Government reports, papers, meetings and

conferences addressing the issue of the housing shortage, in 1945-46 the total number of houses constructed,

was only 25,000, well below the estimated 40,000 needed to meet demand. [Dingle1999:344]

The housing crisis in 1944 was one of availability rather than affordability, but by 1951 this had changed. The

shortfall in housing was due to a number of factors, the lack of building activity during the 1930s, material

shortages during the war and until 1955, labour shortages and a failure of government policy. There was also a

social change in the post-war period, that saw returning soldiers and migrant families preference new outer

suburban homes rather than rentals in the overcrowded inner city. The cost of building in the post-war period rose

at a rate of 10% per year. The average five room brick cottage cost

£

1200 in 1939 and the costs had risen to

over

£

3000 by 1951. [Boyd, 1968:115]

For many wage earners, the cost of buying a house had risen to four times their annual income and it

was an inferior product to that which was the average home pre-depression. The size of houses had to

be reduced, ornament and decoration was unavailable or exorbitant and the internal arrangement of

smaller and smaller rooms became reduced. Five rooms was reduced to four and features such as

separate dining or living rooms became a thing of the past. In 1939 the average house occupied 1500 sq

ft and in 1950 it was less than a 1000.

Disillusioned and frustrated at every turn, hundreds of people turned to the task of building for

themselves. Books and correspondence courses and exhibitions taught amateurs how to do it. By 1951,

it was estimated that one in every three new houses was being built by its owner. [Boyd,1968:117-118]

With the rapid onset of migration in 1949, migrant hostels were set up to provide temporary accommodation for

displaced persons and assisted northern European and British migrants. In 1950, 153,685 migrants arrived in

Australia with promises of housing and jobs when they arrived. The migrant hostels were controlled by the

Commonwealth and in Melbourne the hostels were mostly Nissen and Quonset huts, prototype buildings, army

huts or converted wool stores built in the 1940s. Through the 1950s and 1960s they provided accommodation for

between 500 and 1500 residents at a time, with a maximum stay of twelve months. Located in industrial or outer

suburbs - Altona, Broadmeadows, Brooklyn, Fishermans Bend, Holmesglen, Maribyrnong, Nunawading and

Preston - their plainly furnished rooms, communal washing and eating facilities provided little privacy. With rent

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frequently amounting to 80% of a migrant's income, protests, including a number of rental 'strikes', were frequent.

[Victoria’s Post 1940s Migration Heritage, 2011:21]

The difficulties associated with accommodation standards and costs at the migrant hostels and the lack of other

rental options, propelled many migrants into the housing market within 12 months of their arrival. With little

opportunity to save money, reliant on word of mouth and co-operative assistance, and following the impulse to

congregate with people who shared culture and language, many migrants moved directly from hostels to blocks

of empty land in outer suburbs like St Albans.

2.3 New attitudes to housing

The historical context of the development of half-houses in St Albans was an era of post-war reconstruction, with

housing availability impacted by migration and demobilisation, material shortages and changing government

policy on housing. To address the crisis in building material availability, the Department of Post-War

Reconstruction was planning for the release of 45,000 men from the defence forces to work in the building

industry, in 1944. In December 1948, displaced persons were making up for the lack of workers in the building

industry with 13,000 being employed, in brick, tile, cement and timber industries. Many of these same industries

were located in Melbourne’s western suburbs and were the workplaces of many of St Albans’ half-house owners.

[Land of Opportunity: Australia’s post-war reconstruction; http://guides.naa.gov.au/land-of

opportunity/chapter15/index.aspx ]

The social context of the development of half-houses in St Albans, was a changing sense of the nuclear family

and the ways and means to house that unit in a single storey house on a private allotment. Behind the move to

private housing in the suburbs, was a government which actively encouraged private home ownership through a

multitude of social and economic policies. Prime Minister Robert Menzies summarised his government’s thinking

about home ownership in a speech which is now known as

speech of 22 May 1942.

The material home represents the concrete expression of the habits of frugality and saving “for a home

of our own”. Your advanced socialist may rave against private property even while he acquires it; but

one of the best instincts in us is that which induces us to have one little piece of earth with a house and

garden which is ours, to which we can withdraw, in which we can be amongst our friends, into which no

stranger can come against our will…National patriotism, in other words, inevitably springs from the

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instinct to defend and preserve our own homes.[https://menziesvirtualmuseum.org.au/transcripts/the

forgotten-people/59-chapter-1-the-forgotten-people/

]

It was the Menzies government, later in the 1950s and 1960s that provided commonwealth housing subsidies to

young married couples, and housing loans insurance to insure approved lenders against loss, by Government

guarantee. Menzies and the Liberal Party he led, held firm to the idea of private home ownership as virtuous and

a clear expression of moral rectitude. The fact that new migrants were not provided with adequate government

accommodation, that there was inadequate rental and public housing available, and that migrant hostels were so

unconducive to family life, drove migrants to become part of Menzie’s plan for a society of mortgaged patriots.

According to Professor Graeme Davison, in the 1960s, Melbourne came closer to realising the suburban dream

than at any other moment in its history. Davison states that the suburban way of life was something more than a

defensive reaction to the ills of industrialism or the terrors of war; it was the material expression of an expansive,

property-owning, family-centred, pleasure-loving democracy. [Davison, G. 2008 Suburbs and Suburbanisation, in

e-Melbourne the city past and present http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01440b.htm]

There were many reasons why newly arrived European migrants embraced this suburban dream in Melbourne’s

outer suburbs, with lack of housing choice and housing affordability being the primary push factors. There were

also very strong pull factors, like the need to be with people who had similar backgrounds and experiences, the

need to be settled after years of war and displacement, and the opportunity provided by a new community to

establish a fresh beginning. The increasing numbers of migrant home-owners settling in St Albans in the post-war

period then, was not unique, but was a product of government policy, historical circumstance and social choice.

What was unique in St Albans was the expression of this confluence of factors in a small, temporary, affordable

shelter they called bungalows. These temporary houses could be seen as just another means of providing

affordable housing at a time of crisis, but it was far more complex than this, as it had its own cultural, material and

geographic specificity.

2.4 Local government intervention

The need for quickly constructed housing on affordable suburban blocks, saw local government step into the

post-war housing crisis with a series of attempts to loosen regulation and free up supply. In St Albans, which was

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partially in the Shire of Braybrook and partially in the Shire of Keilor, opportunity was created through a

combination of relaxed building regulations, low land values, small farmers willing to sell their marginal farm land

and local real estate agents who could see an opportunity. Many migrants chose St Albans for the same reasons

as this resident;

He settled for St Albans as it was one of the only places in Melbourne where the Council would allow

migrants to partially build a house (bungalow) with the understanding that when they were financial

enough they would finish building the rest of the house. My husband bought a package deal which

consisted of land and a bungalow on it for £750. He bought it through a Mr John(sic) Eisner who was a

land agent for Horsefall Homes in Footscray. [St Albans Railway Centenary Committee, 1987:56]

Since at least 1946, the St Albans Progress Association were publishing letters in newspapers asking that people

consider erecting houses in St Albans, where ‘land is cheap and available.’ Many long term residents had been

waiting for the housing boom which had remained unrealised since the 1890s. In February 1946,

published an article about the Housing Minister requesting Councils to lift restrictions on temporary dwellings to

ease the housing crisis. [

4 July 1946 p.7] Then in November 1946, the

published

an article stating that: “Permission to erect a portion of a house would be given providing an undertaking were

given that the house would be completed when supplies of material are available.” [

29

November 1946, p.3] In 1947 Braybrook Council published its policy on temporary housing;

Following the carrying of a notice of motion by Cr. Barclay, The Braybrook Council will now give

consideration to applications for permission to erect dwellings as temporary houses and will view each

case on its merits. It was thought that the policy of asking applicants to build half their houses in

preference to living in a shed or garage was too harsh considering present conditions. So as to protect

the Council from the possibility of future slums certain conditions have been laid down. The stipulations

are that the applicant must erect a complete dwelling when conditions permit, drainage must be

satisfactory and land fenced and he must agree to vacate the temporary dwelling when a full house is

erected or accommodation is available elsewhere. A minimum standard for temporary dwellings is to be

fixed by the Shire Engineer and each case will be reviewed every 12 months. [Sunshine Advocate 14

March 1947, p.2]

In St Albans, similar regulations were enforced in a very ad hoc manner. Local St Albans historian Joseph

Ribarow has traced instances of Keilor Council relaxing their building regulations as far back as 1924. In 1938

there is the first documented instance of Council allowing an application for a home to be built progressively over

a 12 month period. After this there is numerous reports in newspapers of Keilor and Braybrook Council approving

and discussing temporary houses, part dwellings and small bungalows. [Ribarow 2018:2-3] In 1951 George

Eisner sent a letter to the Council, and the

reported that Mr Eisner explained to Council that

these pre-fabricated houses built by new Australians were intended for use on the completion of permanent

residences. [

, 15 June, 1951 p.2]

Some local residents have stated that the Shire Engineer colluded in the construction of the half-houses, by

giving building permit applicants a design for a half-house over the Shire counter. Unfortunately most of the Shire

files for this period appear to have disappeared and so this cannot be confirmed. [Personal Communication;

Council building surveyor, 2019.]

The pattern of development in St Albans can be seen through aerial photographs which show that large numbers

of half-houses were constructed in small subdivisions, which had been bought and then developed by local real

estate agents like George Eisner. Eisner had purchased blocks of land from local farmers, sometimes already

subdivided on title, and then proceeded to sell each allotment with a half house on-site. It is clear from aerial

photographs and oral testimony that there was little service provision to these properties, no fencing and even no

roads. Keilor Council continued to approve these developments until at least 1968 whilst they obviously struggled

to provide services in a timely manner. For some early residents it was 5 years before they had roads made in

front of their houses.

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St Albans was possibly a bit slower to develop post-war housing compared to other suburbs, as in 1951 there is

only a few half houses evident on aerial photographs, and houses are randomly scattered across the landscape

with goat tracks between them. In 1954, the aerial photograph shows the landscape regularly divided, roads have

been marked out and regular blocks of land have marched across open paddocks to encircle small farms. The

number of half-houses which can be seen is estimated at about 50% of total housing. On the 1962 aerial photo St

Albans has regular streets, all blocks are occupied and half-houses are evident on only about 20% of all blocks.

In 1968, newer areas are developed to the north and these have new half-houses which were not evident in the

1950s. Historic aerial photographs clearly show how half houses continued to be built in St Albans from 1951 until at

least 1968. The development of half-houses occurred in one of two ways, the houses were either erected by a

real estate agent on his own land and then sold as a house and land package, or land was purchased vacant and

the owner erected a half-house. Either way, the construction of half-houses was something which the Keilor

Council acquiesced in by relaxing regulations and giving new home owners a period of grace in which to

complete the building. This is clearly not unique to St Albans, as there were other suburbs such as Braybrook,

Ardeer and Sunshine where half-houses and temporary housing was also built and was a matter of Council

policy.

3.0 THEMATIC HISTORY

This section relates to the

and relates more directly to the heritage of

the half-houses and their place in the history of St Albans and Brimbank. The following themes have relevance to

the history of half-houses:

2. Peopling Victoria’s places and landscapes:

2.5. Migrating and making a home

6. Building towns, cities and the garden state:

6.7. Making homes for Victorians

This section also refers to relevant sections of the City of Brimbank

, written by Olwen Ford and Gary Vines in 2000.

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3.1 Migrating and making a home

This theme deals not only with physical migration and the process of obtaining a house, but also with the

psychological and social aspects of migration, as remembered by migrants themselves. The Brimbank

Environmental History has a very brief summary of this theme:

In the post-war migration period vast numbers of migrants arrived from Britain and Europe and were

temporarily housed very close to the Brimbank area, notably at the migrant hostels in Maribyrnong and

Brooklyn. The proximity to relatively cheap land, and to jobs in the region’s industries, encouraged many

to settle in the Sunshine-St Albans area, which expanded enormously in the 1950s-60s.

Many migrants of the 1950s built their own houses, beginning often with a half-house or bungalow and

transporting building materials on a bicycle or wheelbarrow. Local government regulations (especially

those of Keilor Council) were sufficiently flexible to permit the construction of half houses. A few ‘half

houses’ survive in St Albans and Ardeer. [Ford & Vines, 2000:29]

For the purposes of this report, a great deal of the first-hand information on half-houses has come from oral

histories collected by the community and published in numerous sources. These oral histories document the

process of migration and the making of a house, but also reveals the social and psychological factors inherent in

finding a home. Memories of the half-houses are caught up in these migration narratives and woven into personal

stories of home making and settlement in Australia.

This experience of post-war migration and making a home in Australia, is a historical theme common to many of

Melbourne’s peri-urban suburbs. In 1995, Barbara and Graeme Davison wrote a paper called ‘Suburban

Pioneers’ which looked at oral histories from post-war eastern suburbs Melbournians. Their data was gathered for

the purpose of recording people’s post-war housing experiences, and they found that there was a shared

narrative theme of pioneering. The authors compare the stories that the Post-War generation tell about their outer

suburban homes, to the historical narrative of the C19th British pioneer; celebrating courage, enterprise,

perseverance and taming the environment. The oral histories they collected had a familiar narrative arc of arrival

in an empty landscape, clearing, subduing and battling against the elements, the struggle to make a place that

was ‘domesticated’ and comfortably European. [Davison, 1995:42]

The self-made, self-image of endurance is collectively an important founding myth of the migrant family in St

Albans. Michael Virant and Peter Nowatschenko remember the adversity that their parents endured and the

energy of their fathers:

My earliest memories of our new home at 12 Thomas Street St Albans were of unmade roads with open

smelly gutters and surrounded by empty paddocks full of snakes and other vermin. The bungalow was

freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. Fortunately, my father and several of his new work mates

(who were also IRO displaced persons) banded together and formed a small co-operative whereby they

extended their respective bungalows one at a time which made life a bit more comfortable. My mother

hated St Albans and suffered badly from homesickness and the deprivation of the most basic facilities

she had grown accustomed to back home in Germany. I recall that there was no electricity or running

water in Thomas Street when we first arrived. [Ribarow 2018:66]

My dad built the first house himself; it was a simple shack. All he had was the material from the packing

cases of motor cars, so that’s what he used, and lined it with tar impregnated material over the outside

to make it waterproof. We lived in there until he could build the house itself…I think my father took about

three years to build the house. He worked night shift so that he could work on the house during the

daytime. [Ribarow, 2018:34]

Some migrants found the conditions they were expected to live in too much to bear, such as this letter writer to

, in 1953: Sir- I live in St Albans, together with thousands of other migrants of different nationalities. There are

families with three and four children living in huts measuring 20 ft x 10 ft and 30 ft x 10 ft. Sewerage,

made roads and in places electricity do not exist. This is a shocking state of affairs which could lead to

an epidemic. In no other civilised country would human beings be expected to live under such dirty,

unhygienic, overcrowded conditions. If Australia is not in a position to provide the basic facilities without

which it is impossible for civilised human beings to exist, then mass migration is irresponsible and

dangerous to the whole nation. A.S. (St Albans) [

, Tuesday 19 May 1953 p.2]

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3.2 Making homes for Victorians

This theme talks more directly to the issues around the provision and construction of shelter and a home. The

Environmental History of Brimbank summarised this history in St Albans:

The still open paddocks offered relatively cheap land for young people and for newly arrived migrants.

Migrants arrived from Europe and government hostels with virtually nothing…Many migrants built their

own houses, starting with a half-house or bungalow. A very few are left today. Fr. Reis later

remembered: ‘Everyone lived in bungalows. There were no numbers and no fences. It seemed to be an

area of identical and anonymous houses. ‘Tony Mochon recalled: ‘The place was all hammering and

banging at the week-end. You went to bed Saturday night and when you woke up Sunday morning,

someone had built a shack next door to you.’

People planted vegetables in their front gardens, as well as in the back in those early days. They planted

fruit trees, deciduous trees or conifers. Grape vines and prickly pear appeared in back yards. Some of

these can still be seen along Kororoit Creek. Eventually most of the half-houses became three

bedroomed weatherboard or brick veneer houses with attractive gardens. [Ford & Vines, 2000: 77]

Braybrook and Keilor councils, were important participants in the process of making or providing homes in St

Albans. Without the acquiescence of the councils, half-houses could never have happened. The councils were

very conscious of their role in this and the council minutes clearly show that councillors knew they were walking a

fine line between becoming active participants in creating ‘slum’ conditions, whilst responding to the housing

crisis, and the pressure of developers. A great worry of the councils was that they were building sub-standard

housing which would ‘bring down the area’. The Chief Medical Officer for Sunshine Council was particularly alert

to housing issues in his suburb and made numerous reports and representations to the council about housing

conditions in the 1940s and 50s. In 1945, he was reporting on the different types of housing including the

Commonwealth War Housing Trust and the Victorian Housing Commission, as well as temporary and part

houses. The medical officer detailed concerns in his assessment of the houses built by government, and privately

built temporary and semi-permanent houses. He summarised his report into housing conditions; “The temporary

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and semi-permanent homes are a definite menace to the health of the community… My objection to this is that all

these houses are wrong in essentials, and could never be made into decent homes for decent people. I do not

consider the exigencies of war justify the building of the “Dudley Flat” (ie;slum) type of dwelling in this shire.”

[

, Fri 13 April, 1945, p.2]

Regardless of the medical officer’s opinion, the erection of half-houses continued apace and approvals for the

erection of half-houses in Keilor Shire continued until at least 1968. The prescient Sunshine council medical

officer suspected that many of the temporary structures would become semi-permanent and then be patched up

to become permanent, which is exactly what has happened in St Albans. Many St Albans residents have stories

like these families:

From George Eisner our family ordered a three-roomed bungalow for 500 pounds, available on 100

pound deposit. It took about two years to pay it off…They were happy to have their own land, cook their

own food, and hear no noise from the neighbours. They lived for five years in the bungalow before

selling it and moving to a bigger home in Henry Street. [Ribarow, 2018:28]

After a few months living in Richmond we moved to St Albans and lived under the most arduous

conditions. We left Greece from a suburb of Athens that had electricity, running water, even a stove and

a fridge. We came to St Albans…oh what a hell hole!The part house had two rooms and he created a

little shed at the back that was the kitchen…These experiences are unforgettable! [Ribarow, 2018:29]

One Estonian fellow had a block of land on the corner of the street and he bought two boxes from

Volkswagen. He put them up there and he mentioned that he had a place of abode…The people from

the Immigration Department came down one day…and those two chaps were laughing their heads off.

Anyhow they let the children come down. Well why not if they wanted to live there and were able to do

so? He wasn’t the only one. He was one of a few who was using the VW boxes as accommodation and

why the hell not when some Australians used to live in tents. [Ribarow,2018:14]

The development of half-houses in St Albans, and the relaxation of building regulations to allow for temporary

structures, has had a long-term impact on the typology of the suburb’s housing stock. Many half-houses have

been adapted to become skillion sleep-outs or kitchen/laundries attached to the rear of later weatherboard and

brick houses, or have been incorporated into the house design. The suburb has a unique assemblage of houses

with rear, side and front sections which display the dimensions of previously free-standing timber framed half

houses. These are of quite unique designs incorporating low skillion, gable or butterfly roofs which reflect half

house dimensions. The number of very small timber framed buildings, of unique owner-builder design, in St

Albans could possibly be one reason why the place is still so attractive to new migrants and those seeking

affordable housing.

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3.3 St Albans Half-Houses

The development of half-houses in St Albans grew from a confluence of national factors discussed above, and

local factors which included local councils allowing temporary and part-housing to be built. The confluence of

factors which led to the development of half-houses in St Albans, were made more particular with the presence of

a number of local real estate agents who had developed a house and land package system. Agents would

advertise land in St Albans with what they termed small houses, part houses and bungalows, already built on the

block, or available for an additional cost. (The description ‘half-houses’ isn’t used in contemporary advertising.) As

we have seen, this was not unique to St Albans, and was happening in Sunshine, Braybrook, Footscray and other

parts of the western suburbs. The exceptional aspect was the sheer number of half-houses constructed in St

Albans, in such a concentrated period of time, and the collected history of these houses which brings the story of

these small houses alive.

3.3.1 Financing a home

One of the most pressing issues for migrants was getting access to finance and credit in order to purchase land

and a roof over their heads. The question of how to pay for a home for their families was difficult for new migrants

who had limited English, no credit or work history, and most with no savings or assets. Some arrived already in

debt to the Australian Government and had their wages garnished at migrant hostels and workplaces. Some

migrants reported that they had to relinquish 80% of their salary in the Government run hostels and then were

expected to be able to house their families within 12 months of arrival. These financial pressures on new migrants

made many of them desperate for a housing solution and willing to accept almost anything which afforded them

some independence.

The financial difficulties faced by migrants was a compelling reason for the council’s decision to allow temporary

and part-housing. This did not stop the council from occasionally prosecuting migrants who built illegally, such as

Leo Dobes, who arrived in 1950 with his pregnant wife:

I was earning £7/10/- per week, but I was getting quite often overtime on Saturdays and Sundays. Then I

was searching for somebody who would be willing to advance the deposit to build a bungalow. The

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bungalow cost £50 to £70. It was 10 x 12 feet, cement sheet outside, no inside lining, and that was all. I

had a lot of problem to persuade Custom Credit to lend me the money on a bungalow that will be built on

land that I haven’t paid off yet. Somehow it all happened fine…At the same time I drew a plan of a home

which I intended to build and put a little bungalow on the property to use as temporary accommodation,

but unfortunately the local council for some reason wanted to stop building the bungalows. [Ribarow,

2018:13]

Local real estate agents provided a ready source of finance and a promise of a quick solution to the problem of

housing a family. George Eisner, himself a migrant from Czechoslovakia, advertised that he could provide small

houses on deposits of £110, £140 or £160 balance on weekly payments. “Each small house is ready to move into

within two weeks and being constructed as a solid part of a permanent house. Can be extended any time to full

sized modern villa. 800 similar houses already completed and occupied by nearly 4000 people is our best

recommendation.” [

, Saturday June 26, 1954, page 36]

R.J.A Thornton Estate Agent, Balwyn and later of St Albans was advertising house and land packages, in the

. Land title searches on blocks around Thomas and Shirley streets indicate that he purchased,

subdivided and developed 58 lots in West St Albans in 1957. These were gradually purchased and transferred to

new owners between 1957 and 1970. Aerial photos show that approximately 90% of these blocks had half

houses constructed on them by 1968. (See case study 2)

George Eisner had started as a real estate agent with Horsfall Homes in Footscray, and had been one of the

early developers of half-houses. Another agent was J.A Setek of Main Road St Albans, who advertised houses

and part-houses for sale on land in St Albans. Other St Albans real estate agents selling part houses include H.C

Knowles, Townsend, John Stevens and F.J Scheurer.

Jimmy Knowles, son of H.C Knowles remembers George Eisner being the one who ‘kicked off St Albans’.

George wasn’t an agent at the start but he was a very shrewd businessman and land dealer. At that time

land was very cheap because you could probably buy land at about £25 or £30 a block. He would pay

options on every second or third block and build it up, which of course increased the value of the ones in

between. He was pretty shrewd. [Ribarow 2018:60].

The profit margin on these house and land packages must have been considerable. In the early 1950s some of

the terms related by owners are that they would pay a £100 deposit and then pay £5 a week with 5% interest.

This was for a cement sheet half-house with electricity and water connected. Betty and Phil moved to St Albans in

1953. They bought a block of land in Power Street for £160, available on £30 deposit.

From George Eisner our family ordered a three-room bungalow for £500, available on £100 deposit. It

took about two years to pay it off at £5 per week. [Ribarow, 2018:27]

Without interest, Betty and Phil had paid £780 for their land and half-house, which in 1953 was still incredibly

cheap, and this was obviously a large part of the appeal of St Albans.

Peter Bobek remembers that his German parents bought a half-house from George Eisner in 1952. He felt that

many people had been ‘ripped off’ buying houses because of their poor command of English. Their 3 room half

house at 23 Glendenning Street was occupied by them for a few years until they built their new weatherboard and

tile villa in front of it. The old half-house was still attached to the rear when they sold it a few years ago. [P.Bobek

pers.com. 2019]

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after 1950, indicate a range of different sized half

houses which were available for purchase or commission, at 12 x 10, 12 x 8, 20 x 10 and 16 x 8 feet. However,

very few of the extant half-houses are as small as these measurements indicate, and none that have been

identified have been square in plan. The highly intact, 59 George Street for example, measures approximately 36

x 12 feet.(11.18m x 3.54m) It is probable that the very small examples were quickly extended or altered by

owners, and that larger examples being more practical, were more likely to be retained in their original form.

Some local real estate agents contracted builders to construct multiple, identical half-houses on every lot in a

subdivision. This was the method adopted by agents such as Thornton in Shirley and Thomas Street and Eisner,

at multiple sites across St Albans. Theo van der Voort remembers his dad, Gordon van der Voort getting a job as

a carpenter with Frank Horsfall of Horsfall homes, building bungalows in St Albans. The first two bungalows he

built were for his family and his work partner, in 1952. [Ribarow, 2018: 14]

St Albans half-houses were repetitive in dimensions, locations within the allotment, materiality and design. The

similarity of the half-house design (no matter who constructed it), lay in the simple rectangular plan and limited

range of materials. Almost all half-houses were timber framed, skillion roofed, and clad in either weatherboards or

asbestos-cement sheet, and sometimes both were used on different facades. They were constructed with one

long façade that had no eaves. This was the façade that was meant to be extended and incorporated into the

interior of a larger house, and often had no windows. Half-houses were generally rectangular in plan and linear in

the arrangement of rooms inside.(See the measured drawings in section 3.3) Some were large enough to have

three rooms plus a small bathroom and some were two rooms with external bathroom. All had external toilets

when first built as the suburb was not sewered until the 1960s.

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The exceptions to the general skillion design of half-houses were the odd examples of owner-builders with more

construction or design skills than most, and who could figure out how to make a more complex roof form such as

74 Vincent Avenue. Others, like Sylvia Bluemel’s father, constructed a house with a projecting front gable and

pergola, “to make it as German-like as possible.” [Ribarow, 2018:36] In St Albans West there are a number of

houses with a very similar design, which were possibly made by a single builder, with a recessed central doorway

under a skillion roof, however these were probably unusual

There is a combination of factors which led to the ‘standard’ or recognisable design of the St Albans skillion half

house like 59 George Street, illustrated in section 3.3:



the limited range of affordable building materials that were available in the post-war period;



the need for the house design to be flexible enough to be altered, extended and relocated;



building regulations which specified minimum sizes and standards of construction;



the limited skills of local owner-builders and tradesmen;



the speed of construction;



the use of the same plan by a number of different builders and owner-builders.

For agents like Eisner, who claims to have pre-fabricated 800 half-houses, the skillion design was an ideal unit

that provided a minimum of shelter and comfort whilst providing the most economic use of materials. There was

no wasted timber in roof trusses and eaves, no verandahs or decorative details, no chimney or fireplace, only one

run of gutter, and sometimes not even an internal lining on walls. Although Eisner claims to have pre-fabricated

these buildings it is unlikely that he did so and a contemporary real estate agent, when asked, said he believed

the houses were all constructed by local builders, on-site. [J.Knowles personal comm. September 2019]

3.3.3 Owner-builders

The term owner-builder is usually used to describe someone who buys vacant land and then proceeds to build

their own house upon it, but in St Albans this description is less clear-cut. Most half-house owners report that they

undertook a large part of the renovation, improvement and fit-out of half -houses themselves, from the day they

took ownership. This was not at all unusual in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s when almost 30% of all domestic

building was carried out by owner-builders. [Boyd, 1951.p.171]

Extrapolated from title searches, it is estimated that almost 80% of St Albans migrants were purchasing land and

a half-house from a real estate agent. However most of these half-houses were actually incomplete shells that

required the owners to do the internal fit-out themselves. So although they were purchasing land and a ‘house’,

they were also effectively acting as owner-builders. Many were contracting the real estate agents to provide them

with something we would call a house at lock-up stage, rather than a finished construction. The oral histories

indicate that a majority of migrants were acting as owner-builders, possibly more than 80%.

That the St Albans half-house has such a ubiquitous design is not adequately explained in the published oral

histories. Most European migrants would have been unused to timber frame construction methods and many had

‘never held a hammer’ until the day they bought their land. It is presumed that the common design language was

acquired through a combination of factors, including the sharing of knowledge among community members and

the certainty that the design constructed in large numbers by local real estate agents, was a size and design that

would be approved by council and easy to construct.

Dace Zvaigzne remembers her clever father designing and building their half-house himself. Their design is more

unusual than other half houses, with a tiled roof and a decorative front porch, eaves and large windows. “He did

nearly all the work himself but there were times when a working bee was organized with some other Latvians.

This was especially so with putting up wall frames and the roof because that was a difficult job for one man.”

[Ribarow, 2018:46]

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By 1951, one in three houses in Australia were being built by owner-builders. St Albans therefore, was probably

typical of other outer-suburbs in Australia at the time. The spread of little wooden houses across Australia’s new

suburbs was helped along by the publishing of owner-builder self-help manuals. Those available in Victoria had

titles like

, 1955;

1946, from the Homes

Builders Advisory Service;

, 1955 from the

;

, from the Small Homes Service of the RAIA and

;

,

1952; and

, 1957 by the

. These publications gave advice

about financing, plumbing, electricals and some even provided blueprints of house plans for submission to

Council. Many of the plans shown in the Ribarow book could have come from these manuals, including the

Zvaigzne house design shown in Figure 13.

Free advice was probably also gleaned from local timber yards and building suppliers like the Stevens family in St

Albans, who provided a range of materials sourced from local manufacturers. Many migrants co-operated

together to build each other’s houses and with time, some of the men, like Wladimir Czernik, would have

developed a lot of half-house construction experience that they could pass onto others.

Building the home started with two small structures: one was the laundry, bathroom and kitchen, while

the separate bungalow contained two small bedrooms. Gradually the rest of the weatherboard house

was added on. Dad did most of the work himself. This is where the friendships established in the hostels

proved their worth as several families helped each other in the tasks of building, the men taking turns to

works on each other’s houses. [Ribarow, 2018:45]

These factors- availability of materials and advice, and construction skills, all contributed to the similarity of the

half-house design as constructed by different builders, speculators and owners, and the limited palette of

materials that we find in them to this day.

3.3.4 Half-house evolution

The majority of half-houses identified during this study are now altered or extended from their original design.

Many have been relocated and some are almost unrecognisable. This evolution began almost from the day that

owners took possession of them. More so for those who had constructed or bought a very small two-roomed half

house.

Most of the earliest half-houses, from c.1949 to c.1961, were clad in weatherboard or asbestos-cement sheet and

had corrugated iron or asbestos-cement ‘Super Six’ skillion roofs. Some later half-houses, from the mid 1950s,

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had tile roofs and some had brick extensions added. Many half-houses evolved from a partly owner-built timber

framed half-house to a brick veneer and tile villa, partly built by professional builders.

Most half-houses identified during the course of this study, were attached to the rear of a larger weatherboard or

brick villas. Some people just gradually extended the half-house with more timber framing as money became

available adding a second skillion to create a single gable roof, such as examples in Shirley Street.

A typical evolution is demonstrated by the story of the Magri family of Milawa Avenue, St Albans. The Magris

occupied their half-house for at least 23 years before they built a new brick veneer house to the front of the half

house The new brick house with timber half-house at the rear was then extended two or more times to

accommodate the growing family. Today the property has a brick and tile house at the front, a half-house section

in the middle, and newer skillion extensions at the rear. Without the family coming forward to explain the evolution

of their home, this would not have been recognisable from aerial images. [M.Magri, pers.com. 2019]

Many owners in Milawa Avenue which had half-houses on both sides of the street by 1954, simply built a new

brick villa in front of the half-house and used the half-house for a rear sleepout. The process of adapting these

buildings took many years and typically went through many stages. Kon Haumann remembers his family’s first

house:

The house was in Alfrieda Street. Originally there were two blocks of land, with a bungalow on the

corner with an empty block next to it. The family home was built on that, and it took a number of years as

we had to finance it ourselves. It was not easy to get finance from the banks in those days. On getting

married in February 1964, my wife and I moved into the bungalow. In June 1964 we decided to build a

new brick veneer house. The bungalow was moved to the back of the block and the new house built in

front. It was finished in October in time for our first daughter, Caroline, who was born at the end of

December 1964. [Ribarow, 2004:189-90]

Some half-house designs were different as oral history and family photos attest, and these are much harder to

recognise now, as half-houses. These differences might be attributable to the cultural origins of the owner-builder

or to a particular sense of design of the individual owner or just, as described above, to a greater level of skill of

the owner-builder. At this distance, it is very hard to attribute any cultural specificity to the buildings which have

been altered and adjusted by new owners over the years. Sylvia Bluemel arrived in St Albans in 1954 and

remembers her father building them a tiny little house;

The little house was beautiful. It wasn’t the basic bungalow that you saw around the district. My father

built the house in that shape with the angled roof at the front because he tried to make it look as

German-like as possible. [Ribarow 2018:36]

Other half-houses were of the standard design, but the builders adapted building traditions from their homelands:

When we came to Cowper Street the house was probably two rooms and that was built by my father and

other people. My parents slept in one room and we kids slept in the other. Then another room was built

so the boys and girls would have separate bedrooms. Then more was added and it became a full house.

I think the whole house took less than a year to build. When the frame was up the first thing they did was

put a branch of a tree up on the top of the roof. That was a tradition. I could never find out why, but that

was a tradition of the Europeans. [Ribarow, 2018:38]

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By 1968, 13 Shirley Street was rebuilt as a weatherboard and tile house and there is now, no sign of the old half

house that was there.

The Virant family in Thomas Street eventually extended their half-house using professional builders, who arrived

at work on their bikes carrying their building tools. It took a year to extend the house with two bedrooms a kitchen

and a lounge, whilst the old bungalow, which was rotated from a north-south alignment to east-west, became a

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bathroom and laundry at the rear. The house has now been clad in fake brick sheeting and the iron roof has been

replaced with tiles. The front windows have been replaced with aluminium windows, but the old half -house can still

be seen at the back. [Ribarow,2018:66]

3.4.2 Case Study 2: Alfrieda Street Half-Houses

Alexander Dickson, Labourer of St Albans was the owner of five acres being lots 81 to 90 between Fox, Theodore,

Conrad and Alfrieda streets, in 1906. The land then had numerous owners, all locals, until 1944 when the land was

sold to John Hasan of Spencer Street, West Melbourne, Labourer. The 1954 aerial photo shows no development

on the land excepting a pre-existing farmhouse.

Then in 1955 the property was purchased by Horsfall Homes, Pty Ltd of 743 Barkley Street, West Footscray. This

is the same Horsfall Homes where George Eisner worked. They resubdivided the property into 34 lots. Lot A798766

on Alfrieda Street became number 127 and was purchased from Horsfall Homes by Gradus Bikkel in 1959. 127

Alfrieda Street was purchased by Mr and Mrs C. Kypreos who lived next door at 125, who extended the original

half-house in accordance with plans submitted to Keilor Council in 1982. These plans show the original half-house

used as a two room ‘sun porch’ at the rear of the weatherboard house. It measured 3140mm x 10680mm and

appears to be in the same position as the 1968 aerial shows it. From the contemporary aerial, the half house is still

visible as the rectangular section at the rear of the house with different roof material.

121 Fox Street was sold by Horsfall Homes to Wilhelm Scheurer, Motor Mechanic, and Traute Scheurer, Married

Woman, of Fox Street St Albans in 1959. They had three mortgages on the property, to Gerhard Jacoby, George

Eisner and the Southern Cross Assurance Company. These were discharged in early 1961 and another mortgage

taken out in late 1961 to George Eisner again, which was dischared in 1968.

The 1956 aerial photo shows an incredible change from the previous year when the block had been subdivided by

Horsfall Homes. Every one of the 30 lots, excepting one at the south west corner which has a pre-existing farm

house on it, is occupied by a half-house.

The 1968 aerial still shows the farm house and some of its large trees but the block is now completely subdivided.

Each lot has fencing, the streets are now asphalted and some show the beginnings of gardens. Along Conrad

Street are 8 half houses in a row and then on Alfrieda Street numbers 127 and 125 are both half houses. 121 Fox

Street appears to be a partly built house which has enlarged the original half-house from 1956.

This area today has quite a concentration of half-houses in varying states. Some are clearly visible as additions to

extended weatherboard houses and some are still visible atttached to the rear of brick and tile houses.

59 George Street is a house built on the east side of a large block of land of some 16m x 50m (52 feet x 164

feet). Toward the rear of the block are metal garage sheds which won’t be described here. The land is flat and

mostly covered by grass with occasional sub-surface basalt boulders present. A timber paling fence surrounds

the property and there is an old internal fence of split palings and posts some 24m into the property. On the south

of the paling fence is what appears to be a vegetable garden but may be the outline of a former septic tank.

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The internal arrangement of the house is a rectangular floor plan as a series of enfilade rooms starting with a

bedroom at the northern end, then a similar sized lounge and then kitchen-dining of slightly larger size. At the

south end is a bathroom and laundry with a width less than half of any of the adjacent rooms. The house contains

no corridors. The toilet is outside to the south in a small “dunny’ shed of 1.6m x 1m with access via a narrow

concrete path leading from the only external door.

The whole house is set some 300mm off the ground on timber stumps with a timber floor covered by vinyl sheet

or carpet. There are no ant caps and the perimeter is closed in with horizontal battens. The wall construction is a

timber stud frame. The roof is a timber framed low angle skillion with a “super-six” asbestos-cement cladding and

asbestos-cement fascias although these are over-flashed with metal where broken. The west external wall is

asbestos-cement in 3 ft wide sheets with cover strips. The house had weatherboarded northern, eastern and

southern walls with timber casement windows but this has been replaced on the north and south by a

compressed cement textured board where-as the east side original bull nosed timber weatherboards remain.

Some windows (eg north and south ends) have been changed from timber side opening casements to metal sash

windows.

Internal lining (walls and ceilings) are in

board a patented product made from compressed sugar-cane

trash and mostly taken up after World War II as a simple lining material. Skirtings and architraves to doors and

windows are all in timber. The western façade has a small skillion porch clad with asbestos -cement sheet and

protects the only exterior door which is not original to the house.

The only fixtures are the kitchen sink the bathroom sink and the steel bathtub. Other items (stove, hot-water unit)

are all easily disconnected and removable. Overall the building is akin to a barracks structure with low-cost linings

and exterior wall cladding. Something made for temporary occupancy by a small number of people.

). This

taxonomy is useful when describing or comparing the half-houses with other residential buildings in the Victorian

Heritage Database. The database has numerous fields, categories and themes by which heritage places are

sorted and categorised. For the purposes of this report they fit into;

Group

Residential Buildings (private) –

Sub

category

Residence

The half-houses, being small, temporary and built at a specific time and place, do not easily fit the categories of

places devised by Heritage Victoria. The sub-category – Residence is the only category in which the half-houses

fit, and even then, they are unique in that sub-category.

There is a sub-category- Bungalow, but it is clear from the other places in this category (mostly Federation and

Inter-War houses) that the half-houses do not fit into it. This is another reason that the half-houses should not be

termed bungalows as it hampers the ability to properly compare the half-houses against other similar housing

types in Victoria.

The other way of defining the half-houses and achieving some comparative data on them as a sub-type, is via

architectural style. The half-houses whilst mostly owner built, lacking the design input of an architect or even a

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builder in most cases, could be defined as

Mid-Twentieth Century c.1940-1960 Austerity

which is a style that

reflected a lack of building materials and labour in the years following World War II. However given the existing

places in this style category, tile roofed, weatherboard houses of 4 or more rooms, they do not fit here either.

As the half-houses were renovated and extended and some were attached to the rear of new buildings, their style

changed to become a part of a new building, many of which would fit into the Mid-Twentieth Century c.1940-1960

Austerity. As stand alone half-houses however, they do not. The closest we can come to a possible description of

the style of the half-houses is - Mid-Twentieth Century c.1945-1970 Temporary migrant housing.

In order to come to some understanding of how unusual or unique the half-houses of St Albans are, a quick

comparison of similar groups, styles and sub-categories in the Victorian Heritage Database shows that there are

two other similar housing types which were used in the post-war period in Brimbank. These include;

A single

in 25 Adelaide Street, Sunshine, which is included in the HO24 McKay Housing

Estate- King Edward Avenue, and some early 1950s concrete houses within the ICI Housing Estate Precinct,

Sunshine (not in the Heritage Overlay). There are no temporary, part-house types in the database in Brimbank or

any other municipality.

6.3 Variations within the type

From fieldwork and aerial survey, there would appear to be three primary forms of the St Albans half-house,

which are described below as Group 1, 2 and 3 and have a number of common characteristics:



Group 1

are half-houses located on their original allotment, free-standing, timber framed, skillion

roofed(excepting 74 Vincent Ave which has a hipped roof), with cement sheet wall cladding, two or

three rooms arranged in a linear manner and in use as a primary dwelling. The form and fabric reflect

their original purpose as a temporary part-dwelling.



Group 2

are free-standing, timber framed, skillion roofed, dome are reclad with newer materials, such

as corrugated iron. Some have been shifted to a different position on the block, and in use as a

secondary dwelling or outbuilding. The form and fabric reflect their original purpose as a temporary

part-dwelling, which has been repurposed.



Group 3

are no longer free-standing but have been built into a newer house, reclad with newer

materials, weatherboard or cement sheet, may have newer roof at different, or extended pitch and

new window openings and are used as part of a primary dwelling. The form reflects the original intent

and purpose, that the structure become part of a larger dwelling.

Group 1 half-houses, of which there were only 8 identified in the course of this study, includes the largely intact

examples of 12 Shirley Street and 59 George Street, where the half-house retains the majority of its original wall

and roof material, is located in its original position on the allotment and has one cement sheet clad façade with

minimal openings and no eaves. The most important element of this group of half-houses, is that the original

intent of the building, to be a temporary or part-dwelling, can still be interpreted in the design and fabric of the

structure.

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This group also includes the anomalous example of 74 Vincent Avenue, which is a hipped roof form of the half

house in its original position and retaining most of its original cladding materials. This is included in Group 1

because it was built as a half-house and its form still reflects its temporary or unfinished nature.

Group 2 half-houses, of which there were 39 identified during the course of this study, are identified as secondary

dwellings or outbuildings, on an allotment with a primary dwelling which is separate. An example of this is 83

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Oberon Avenue, which is located to the rear of a main dwelling and appears to be used for storage. This example

has been reclad with metal sheet, but it retains most of the form, dimensions and recognisable characteristics of a

half-house, that has been re-purposed.

6.4 Integrity and rarity

As the half-house was meant to be adapted and extended and was often constructed in a way that allowed it to

be relocated, the structure is by nature, an adaptable form. The issue of the integrity of the half-houses is

however still important as it can provide information on representative examples of the type.

Table 1, indicates the number of each Group located during this study and the integrity and rarity of each Group.

Integrity and rarity are terms which describe and qualify the fabric of a place. Intactness refers to the degree to

which a place or object retains its significant fabric. Intactness should not be confused with condition – a place

may be highly intact but the fabric may be in a very fragile condition.

Integrity refers to the degree to which the heritage values of the place or object are still evident and can be

understood and appreciated. If considerable change to a place or object has occurred the significant values may

not be readily identifiable and the place or object may have low-level integrity. With half-houses, changes in the

wall or roof cladding do not necessarily reduce integrity, but the insertion of new windows and doors might.

At the time of assessment in Spring 2019, we have identified three different levels of half-house integrity; high,

medium and low. Integrity of fabric is NOT the same as the rarity of occurrence and although there appears to be

some synchronicity between rarity and integrity, it is not a causal relationship. For the rare places with high

integrity, this relationship is a direct one, but when discussing Medium and Low integrity examples, assigning

levels of rarity is less clear cut. (The rarity of the half-houses in St Albans is assessed as the rarity in St Albans,

not the rarity of half-houses as a place type in Melbourne or Victoria.)

Groups 1 and 2 can have very high integrity, even though Group 2 might have a newer house crowding it on the

same block. Some of these Group 2 half-houses are still located in the same spot they were built and have intact

original fabric.

Group 3 half-houses have been extended or added to a newer brick and tile or weatherboard house as originally

planned. These are now only partially discernible in the built fabric, such as 22, 24 and 26 Shirley Street. Very

few Group 3 half-houses have high intactness or integrity as the extension of them into another house has

necessarily destroyed part of the original fabric and design.

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Table 1: Half-house rarity and integrity

Group Examples

identified

Integrity Rarity Definition

Examples

1 8

High

Rare In original location, free

standing and used as primary

dwelling.

12 Shirley St, 108 George

Street, 59 George Street,

22 Charles Street, 16

Washington Street

2 39

Medium/High Infrequent On original allotment but

used as secondary dwelling

or out-building.

83 Oberon Avenue, 19

Ruth Street, 55 Kate

Street, 86 Vincent Avenue

3 79

Low

Common Adapted, renovated, built into

another primary dwelling.

13 Thomas Street, 127

Alfrieda Street, 5, 7, 9

McArthur Avenue

6.5 Mapping and modelling

The following map has been compiled using a combination of desktop aerial image survey, community

information, fieldwork and desktop Google Streetview. The map shows the occurrence of the three types of half

houses across St Albans. Appendix A provides a table of these, sorted by group and address.

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8.0 SUMMARY

The half-houses of St Albans are a fascinating snapshot of the post-war development of St Albans and the multi

cultural and vibrant community that it became. The half-house phenomenon is not unique to St Albans, but

occurs in other areas of the western suburbs as well; Footscray, Braybrook, Sunshine and Albion and possibly

other places such as Deer Park, Tottenham and Maribyrnong. The large number of half-houses identified during

the writing of this report, over 100, indicates the concentration of this housing form in St Albans, in three

identifiable Groups.



Group 1

are half-houses located on their original allotment, free-standing, timber framed, skillion

roofed(excepting 74 Vincent Ave which has a hipped roof), with cement sheet wall cladding, two or

three rooms arranged in a linear manner and in use as a primary dwelling. The form and fabric reflect

their original purpose as a temporary part-dwelling.



Group 2

are free-standing, timber framed, skillion roofed, dome are reclad with newer materials, such

as corrugated iron. Some have been shifted to a different position on the block, and in use as a

secondary dwelling or outbuilding. The form and fabric reflect their original purpose as a temporary

part-dwelling, which has been repurposed.



Group 3

are no longer free-standing but have been built into a newer house, reclad with newer

materials, weatherboard or cement sheet, may have newer roof at different, or extended pitch and

new window openings and are used as part of a primary dwelling. The form reflects the original intent

and purpose, that the structure become part of a larger dwelling.

These three Groups and each half-house identified during this study has been mapped and a list is provided in

Appendix A.

The St Albans community has a great sentimental attachment to the stories of the half-houses and the migrant

history they reveal. This is evident in the oral histories of the suburb, published sources, collections of photos

found on the internet, and the enthusiasm with which many people embraced this study. Many people believe that

the half-houses have made the St Albans community distinct, and in some ways this is true and should be seen

as a chance to educate the community about this important story. It is clear that the half-houses provide an

excellent opportunity for a celebration of the story of migration in the City and the continuing role of migrants in

forming the unique community of St Albans today.

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9.0 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

9.1 Primary Sources

Sunshine Advocate

The Age

The Argus

Aerial Photos from Landata

Burra Charter, Australia ICOMOS

9.2 Secondary Sources

Books

Context Pty Ltd, 2011 Victoria’s Post-1940s Migration Heritage, a study for Heritage Victoria and Darebin Council.

Archer, John 1985,

, Collins, Australia

Boyd, Robin 1968,

, Penguin, Melbourne

Ribarow, Joseph ed. 2012,

, Community Research and

Management Services, Ascot Vale

Ribarow, Joseph 2018,

, Community Research and Management Services, Ascot Vale

Ribarow, Joseph ed. 2004,

, St Albans Community Youth Club

St Albans Railway Centenary Committee,

St Albans History Society 1991,

Haumann, Kon and Ribarow, Joseph 2016,

, Community Research

& Management Services, Ascot Vale

Maynard, Jeff 2014,

.

Davison, Dingle and O’Hanlon, 1995,

, Monash

Publications in History, Monash University.

Apperly, R, Irving, R, Reynolds, P, 1989,

Angus &

Robertson

Articles and Conference Papers

Bunning, Ifould, McKerihan, Lukar, 1947 The Housing Problem in Australia: Papers Read at the Winter Forum of

the Australian Institute of Political Science, Wollongong, June 20-22, 1947.

Dingle, Tony 1999 Self-help Housing and Co-operation in Post-War Australia,

14:3, 341-354

Dufty-Jones, Rae 2018, A historical geography of housing crisis in Australia,

, 49:1, 5-23.

Pullan, Nicola 2018, An Alternative Solution; Self-provisioned Dwellings on Sydney’s Suburban Fringe 1945-

1960,

Watson, Sophie & McGillivray, Alec, 1995 “Planning in a multicultural Environment: A challenge for the 90s.” in

Troy, Patrick,

, Cambridge

Websites

St Albans High School Site http://stalbanshighschool.org/old-st-albans/

Brimbank Library Local & Family History Gallery https://www.brimbanklibraries.vic.gov.au/index.php/local-family

history-gallery

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Joseph Ribarow site History of St Albans https://www.historyofstalbans.com/

The Forgotten People Speech, transcript, 1942 https://menziesvirtualmuseum.org.au/transcripts/the-forgotten

people/59-chapter-1-the-forgotten-people/

Land of Opportunity: Australia’s post-war reconstruction; http://guides.naa.gov.au/land-of

opportunity/chapter15/index.aspx

Davison, G. 2008 Suburbs and Suburbanisation, in e-Melbourne the city past and present

http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01440b.htm

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Appendix A

Table 2 List of half-houses by type, identified in fieldwork and aerial image survey, as at September 2019.

Group 1 half-house, high

integrity

Group 2 half-house,

medium/high integrity

Group 3 half-house, low

integrity

22 Charles Street

8 Arthur Street

160 Alfrieda Street

96 Conrad Street

10 Arthur Street

46 Andrea Street

59 George Street

69 Avondale Avenue

12 Andrew Road

108 George Street

188 Biggs Street

14 Andrew Road

12 Shirley Street

33 Charles Street

28 Andrew Road

74 Vincent Avenue

-

29 Andrew Road

16 Washington Street

30 Conrad Street

30 Andrew Road

37 Lester Avenue

63 Conrad Street

34 Andrew Road

68 Conrad Street

6 Avondale Avenue

70 Conrad Street

13 Avondale Avenue

72 Conrad Street

15 Avondale Avenue

77 Conrad Street

23 Avondale Avenue

81 Conrad Street

48 Clarke Avenue

83 Conrad Street

59 Conrad Street

85 Conrad Street

61 Conrad Street

87 Conrad Street

62 Conrad Street

1 Craiglee Avenue

107 Conrad Street

3 Craiglee Avenue

74 East Esplanade

24 Erica Avenue

80 East Esplanade

2 Helen Street

5 Eisner Street

84 Helen Street

15 Eisner Street

74 Henry Street

21 Eisner Street

78 Henry Street

26 Erica Avenue

70 Ivanhoe Avenue

28 Erica Avenue

55 Kate Street

32 Erica Avenue

4 Lester Avenue

34 Erica Avenue

-

30 Errington Road

196 Main Road East

139 Fox Street

222 Main Road East

147 Fox Street

242 Main Road East

149 Fox Street

83 Oberon Avenue

151 Fox Street

39 Percy Street

45 George Street

127 Power Street

49 George Street

131 Power Street

57 George Street

19 Ruth Street

11 Glendenning Street

2 Scott Avenue

13 Glendenning Street

26 Thomas Street

15 Glendenning Street

28 Thomas Street

17 Glendenning Street

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11 View Street

12 Grist Street

43 View Street

17 Grist Street

86 Vincent Avenue

20 Grist Street

54A Henry Street

60 Henry Street

43 Ivanhoe Avenue

45 Ivanhoe Avenue

33 James Street

14 Kate Street

25 Kate Street

8 Kodre Street

17 Kodre Street

19 Kodre Street

28 Kodre Street

7 Leonard Avenue

9 Leonard Avenue

10 Leonard Avenue

11 Leonard Avenue

14 Leonard Avenue

49 Milawa Avenue

32 Pennell Avenue

35 Pennell Avenue

31 Percy Street

133 Power Street

135 Power Street

3 Shirley Street

6 Shirley Street

11 Shirley Street

17 Shirley Street

22 Shirley Street

24 Shirley Street

26 Shirley Street

29 Shirley Street

44 Station Avenue

24 Thomas Street

89 Theodore Street

91 Theodore Street

12 Vule Street

13 Vule Street

15 Vule Street

170 William Street

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