Camden Needs A Residential Heritage Style Guide

There is a crying need for a local Camden Residential Heritage Style Guide. Why do other Local Government Areas in Australia have a Residential Style Guide for their heritage housing styles, but Camden does not.

Camden is one of Australia’s most historic localities, yet newcomers and locals have to guess what a historically accurate guide to residential housing styles is.

The new Camden Region Economic Taskforce (CRET) is an opportunity to promote the historic and heritage nature of the local area. The Taskforce promotional material states that Camden LGA has a ‘unique history’ and that the aim of the CRET is to maintain ‘Camden’s unique historic heritage and natural environment’.

This is an opportunity to see if Camden Council is prepared to back its words with action. One easy way to do this would be to draw up a Residential Heritage Style Guide for the Local Government Area.

Camden heritage is a tourism drawcard to the local area. It creates jobs and business opportunities.

The aim of the CRET is

1. creation of jobs
2. the attraction of investment and
3. creating the right environment to support the growth of business and industry (both existing and future).

Houses are an integral part of our daily lives. We live in them and take them for granted. But they are more than this. A house is a historical statement of its time. As history changes, so does the type of housing.

The CRET publicity states that the Camden LGA is a ‘rapidly growing area’ and is subject to change in the form of ‘rapid commercial and industrial development’. There needs to be an understanding, according to the CRET, of ‘our unique heritage’.

The final membership composition of the Camden Regional Economic Taskforce (CRET) was announced by Camden Mayor Symkowiak on 3 November 2017. The press release making the announcement states;

Anyone with enquiries about the taskforce can contact Council on 4654 7777 or email: CRET@Camden.nsw.gov.au.

There are a number of housing styles that have been identified by architects in Australia since colonial times. The major periods of the styles are:
1. Pre-colonial period 30,000 BCE – 1788
2. Old Colonial Period 1788 – c. 1840
3. Victorian Period c. 1840 – c. 1890
4. Federation Period c. 1890 – c. 1915
5. Inter-War Period c. 1915 – c 1940
6. Post–War Period c. 1940 – c. 1960.
7. Late Twentieth Century c. 1960 – c. 2000
8. Twenty–First Century c. 2000 – present.
The Camden Local Government Area has residential buildings from most of these time periods.

The housing style of a particular location in the Camden or Narellan area gives the place a definite character and charm. It makes a place special and gives it a sense of its identity (Inter-war period along Menangle Road). The housing style will give the place its special qualities. The houses are a reflection of the times in which they were built.

The style is an indicator of the historical activities that have gone on in that area. It is a statement on changing tastes, lifestyles, social attitudes, cultural mores, and other factors (Inter-war cottages in Elizabeth Street and the use of colour glass in lead-light windows or the appearance of garages for the new motor cars of the day).

The housing style may be complemented by a garden and landscaping that reflects the tastes and lifestyles of the occupants of the building. Even gardens go through fashion trends (English-style gardens or native gardens).

The housing style says a lot about the occupants. Whether they were landed gentry, who owned one of the large estates in the area (Camden Park House, Brownlow Hill, Denbigh) or ordinary farmers who were making a living from a patch of ground (simple Federation weatherboard cottages like Yamba cottage in Narellan or the Duesbury family in Elizabeth Street or Hillview in Lodges Road).

Camden has been remote from the urban influences that drove the high forms of these architectural styles. However, local people adapted the style to suit their purpose (simple Federation brick or timber farm cottages like in the Struggletown complex or Barsden Street). Sometimes, they created their own vernacular style that used local materials.

Some of these styles have more examples in the Camden area than others. This reflects the economic prosperity in the history of the area. The Inter-war period is one of these times. Between 1915 and 1940, the town grew based on the wealth generated by dairying and, later, coal. There are quite a number of inter-war buildings in Camden (Californian bungalows on Menangle Road and Murray Street). The post-war period of housing construction in Camden on Macquarie Avenue and along the Old Hume Highway was driven by the economic activities surrounding the mining of coal in the Burragorang Valley.

Each housing style illustrates cultural influences from Great Britain in the Victorian style or from the United States in the Inter-war period in the Californian Bungalow and the Ranch style in the post-war period.

The local housing stock shows the skills and expertise of local builders, such as Harry Willis or Walter Furner, who constructed much of the Interwar housing stock. Ephraim Cross supplied brick for some Federation-style cottages in the area, James English in the 1940s, and Ron McMIllan in the 1950s and 1960s.

Each period represents the modern and progressive ideas of its time. Each housing style is a representation of the hopes and aspirations of those who built the houses. Just as Oran Park housing developments are representative of the late 21st century, Harrington Park and Mt Annan are representative of the late 20th century. They have been driven by the urban expansion of the Sydney area.

Within each of the major time periods, there are a number of sub-divisions. There are around five major styles within the Inter-war period, such as the Californian bungalow (West Coast USA influence) or the Art Deco (European influences). The post-war period had around six style divisions ranging from austerity (which reflected the lack of availability of building materials and labour following WW2) to ranch style (which illustrated the post-war influences from West Coast American and Californian housing styles).

Camden needs a Residential Heritage Style Guide to consolidate all these factors and influences in the Local Government Area.

Why is it that other Local Government Areas around Australia can achieve this, but Camden cannot?  What is the matter without local government representatives? Examples from other parts of Australia include

1. The New South Wales seaside community of Moruya has a wonderful document called the MORUYA RESIDENTIAL STYLE GUIDE.
2. In South Australia, the inner Adelaide City of Unley’ has Appreciating Heritage and Character Dwellings Design Guide 1.
3. In Queensland, the Toowoomba Region Council has a series of guides for heritage properties covering Victorian, Edwardian and Inter-war houses.
4. In Western Australia, the City of Subiaco has issued a document called Dwelling Style Indicator for bungalow architectural styles.

Camden Local Government Area has examples of housing stock that corresponds with each of these housing styles. What is wrong with Camden Council on this matter?

Read more on these matters on this blog:

1. Edwardian Cottages in Camden
2. Inter-war Camden
3. Ben Linden at Narellan
4. Urban planning in the Camden LGA

Epilogue

Success was achieved in 2023 when Camden Council commissioned City Plan Heritage to prepare the Camden Material and Colour Guide. While not exactly a residential style guide, it has many of its elements and provides useful and practical advice for owners of heritage properties, particularly for property owners within the Camden Heritage Conservation Area.

Updated on 21 December 2023. Originally posted on 11 February 2017 as ‘Camden Needs A Residential Heritage Style Guide’.