In part 1 of my history of Dornoch Terrace, I looked at its ancient origins as an Aboriginal pathway and early European settlement through the 19th century. This post covers the development of the street into a prestigious “dress circle” in the 1920s and 30s, followed by a period of decline, and finally the emergence of high rise living and its subsequent “re- gentrification”.

The early 20th century

Continuing population growth and expansion of Brisbane eventually made attractive even the undeveloped steep land to the south of Dornoch Terrace, by now considered close to the city. In 1909, a large remaining paddock between Sankey and Boundary Streets that extended from Dornoch Terrace down to the river was subdivided into 100 blocks. The Telegraph reported that

long before 3 p.m., a large crowd had assembled, and the sale was continued until it was too dark to bring it to finish. Out of 100 sites offered for sale 73 were sold.

The image below shows a number of recently completed new dwellings on this land 5 years later.

Many of the houses built along this part of Dornoch Terrace required high stumps at the rear.

Public transport

Adding to the appeal of the area were new tram services, largely replacing the horse drawn omnibuses which previously were the only form of public transport. The West End line was extended down Hardgrave Road to Ganges Street in 1897 and the Dutton Park line on Gladstone Road, which passed the top of Dornoch Terrace, was completed in 1901.

Later, in the 1920s, a private bus service began, running from the city via Montague Road to its terminus on Dornoch Terrace. Generations of school children took this bus, and later its reincarnations the number 29 and 192, to and from West End State School.

A selection of Federation Style houses

The new century brought changes in house design, with the Federation style and its close variant the Queen Anne style becoming popular.

Holyrood at number 37 exhibits many of the features of the Queen Anne style including several bay windows, multi-paned windows, and diagonally projecting corners. It was built circa 1914, and was the home of the Smith family until 1920. Interestingly, it has a near identical twin on nearby Bristol Street.

Carinya at number 117 was constructed in around 1913 for Edwin and Mary Bulcock. Edwin was for many years the manager of Alexander Stewart and Sons warehouse. He and other members of his family were involved in the development of Caloundra.

The house at number 121 was built by Richard Kelly and Annie Sachse in 1914 and by 1916 they had given it the name Verdun, honouring the fallen in the fierce battle that raged throughout that year.

Kelly was estranged from his wife Maria and family, and he and Annie had commenced living together a few years previously. I suspect that he built the belvedere, visible in the early image below, to keep an eye on his family, as their house in nearby Carlton Street would have been clearly visible from there. It was blown off in a storm in the 1950s.

The property title was in Annie’s name, but after Kelly’s death in 1920, she lost ownership following legal action by his family.

The Lutheran Church purchased the house, and Pastor Otto Theile administered the Church’s missions in Australia and New Guinea from here. Its named changed to Lutmis, a contraction of Lutheran mission. You can read the full fascinating story of this house in my posts The Mistress’s House and The Pastor’s House.

Highgate Hill Park

The crest of Highgate Hill had probably been a favourite lookout spot for tens of thousands of years by the time of the arrival of Europeans, given that it was at the junction of two Aboriginal pathways as I described in Part 1. Most of the historic images in this post looking down Dornoch Terrace were taken from this location.

At the instigation of local pharmacist and Alderman John Davies, in 1903 the South Brisbane City Council purchased 1 acre 23 perches, or about 4,600 square metres of land at the summit for £1,250. In 1911, the shelter which still graces the park was erected. The required funds of £30 were raised over a few years by a group of South Brisbane women who held a series of concerts in the West End School of Arts (see my post The West End School of Arts).

Davies was also largely responsible for the establishment of Davies Park in West End which you can read about in another of my posts.

The Fire hydrant

An unusual heritage listing in Dornoch Terrace is that of a fire hydrant located outside number 191. The citation states that the cast iron fire hydrant probably dates from the 1920s, and is one of a handful remaining in Brisbane. A local story relates how the lives of several children were saved when the hydrant protected them from a car that ran off the road.

As described in part 1 of this little history of Dornoch Terrace, in 1889 the Highgate Hill Reservoir came into service, greatly improving water flow. Nevertheless, at least two houses on the terrace burnt down in the following decade due to the ferocity of the conflagrations. Reports of fires appear regularly in the press over the years and others, such as one in our house circa 1910, went unreported.

A major fire occurred in 1989, when two houses burnt down and an adjacent backpackers hostel also caught fire. Forty people fled the hostel, losing all their possessions in the blaze, and tragically a fireman died from electrocution.

On a cold July night in 1998, squatters at number 134 lit a fire to keep warm, and narrowly escaped asphyxiation crawling out of the smoke filled house. Luckily, the wind was blowing the leaping flames away from our house next door.

Changes in home life

Gas

Although gas had been reticulated down Dornoch Terrace in 1889, its use for other than home lighting had been limited. Some complained that gas cookers gave food an unpleasant smell. Improvements in appliance design led to the increasing use of gas cookers, water heaters and coppers in the early 20th century.

Electricity

Electric power came to Dornoch Terrace in 1916. By the 1920s, home connection was becoming common, although domestic use at this time was mainly for lighting. In the 1930s, electric stoves became popular, but refrigerators and washing machines only became affordable after World War 2.

Electric street lighting, much more effective than gas, was an early innovation.

Telephone

By 1910, there were just 800 suburban telephone connections in Brisbane, including 5 in houses on Dornoch Terrace. With a service costing £3 a year, only the wealthy could afford a home connection.

In 1925, Queensland’s first automatic telephone exchange was built in Vulture Street, South Brisbane. Subsequently, costs dropped and telephones gradually became more common.

The fixed telephone migrated from the hallway to the kitchen and bedroom, and is now in the process of disappearing.

The mid 20th century

The surface of Dornoch Terrace was first bituminised in 1924 at a cost of £2,635. With steadily increasing car numbers after World War 2, residents would have welcomed the reduction in dust.

Inner suburbs of Brisbane were being sewered in the 1930s and there was great rivalry between alderman in the prioritisation of work. In 1933 one alderman argued that as most houses on Dornoch Terrace already had septic systems, it should be a low priority.

A newspaper article in that year entitled “A Council Scandal” commented that

It will come as a surprise to most people to be informed that Dornoch Terrace, that fine thoroughfare with so many of Brisbane’s best houses, is unsewered. The properties there are rated at the greatest values possible, and in view of the revenue that must accrue to the Council from this Terrace, the least that it could do would be to render it sanitary.

Dornoch Terrace was sewered in sections beginning in 1934 and completed in 1938, bringing an end to the previously ubiquitous outhouse.

The thoroughfare was often described in this period as being one of the dress circles of Brisbane. Many residents had planted palm trees in their front yards creating a boulevard effect.

Dornoch Terrace in the social pages.

During the 1920s and 1930s, there were frequent mentions in the social pages of Dornoch Terrace residents, with a small number of families in particular appearing regularly.

Not quite the social pages, but Helen, one of the children of Leslie Johnson and Valda Ruthning whose wedding photo appears above, featured a few years later in a national magazine Vegemite advertisement. They were living at 30 Dornoch Terrace, Lurgon.

The beginnings of apartment living

The 20th century saw a reduction in family size, making large houses less attractive compared to new homes in estates on the expanding periphery of the city. With a housing shortage developing in the 1920s, grand old houses were increasingly divided partly or totally into flats. Others continued the older practice of operating as boarding houses.

For example, operating as Dornoch Flats, the house at number 92 was divided into 4 furnished flats and remains so 100 years later.

In 1953, the flats made the news when the owner, Olga Conelan, sought Council assistance to repair the front retaining wall, which was said to be supporting the footpath. The issue became political as her husband, William Conelan, was a previous Alderman and Labor Member for the federal seat of Griffith, and at the time a current Senate candidate.

Eight months later, Council authorised an expenditure of £560 to repair the “Conelan Wall” and footpath.

Purpose built flats

Purpose built blocks of flats with modern conveniences and decoration started to become popular and fashionable in Brisbane, and the 1930s saw a rapid increase in their construction. Dornoch Terrace has two attractive buildings from this period.

At number 189, Highview, designed by architect George Rae, was built in 1934. Comprising 6 flats, fibro-cement was an integral part of the design.

Like Highview, number 58 Regina Court was also featured in a newspaper article when it was completed in 1939. It was constructed with walls of multi-coloured brick, relieved at intervals with sunken courses of purple-tinted bricks, and mottled brown Marseilles tiles.

Optimistically, the article described the benefits of high rise flats.

As the height of the building increases, the amount of ground left for garden and recreation is greater, and the greater amount of air space surrounds the building.

Midcentury houses

Through the 1920s and 30s, house construction continued on the few vacant lots that still existed, on subdivided blocks, and in the wake of house fires. A few that were built in this period have been given Brisbane City Council Heritage listing.

The Roman Catholic presbytery at number 59 was designed by the Brisbane architectural firm of Hall and Prentice and completed in 1928. It stands alongside Toonarbin, by then converted into a convent, St. Francis’s Church, and the former school which was opened by Archbishop Duhig on 22 January 1928.

After the Toonarbin property was purchased, the church was transported across the road from its original location where it was constructed in 1923. The school, which in the 1930s had over 250 pupils, was one of a number of small inner suburban Catholic schools that fell victim to changing demographics, and it closed in 1974.

Later in this period, house construction ground to a halt due to the diversion of resources into the war effort. Penryn at number 147, the work of architect Mervyn Rylance, was built in 1939 for the Giles family just before war restrictions all but prevented new house construction.

It features a red tiled gable roof with a second gable over the entry and two pyramid roof projections on the Dauphin Terrace side of the house. The Truth published a flattering article describing the house, entitled “Years Will Not Touch This Charming Home In Highgate Hill”

The three storey English style brick house at number 81, designed by Hall and Phillips, was constructed in 1941 for Rose and Charles Topham on land that was previously the location of the tennis court of the then neighbouring Weeroona.

Charles Topham was the managing director of the Queensland Can Company, which was located on Vulture Street. See my post “James Cole and the West End Factory” to learn more.

Another attractive house from this period, which was located at number 161, was demolished in 2017 after an appeal to the Land Court. At the time of writing, the block remained vacant.

Churches

As mentioned above, St Francis’ church on Dornoch Terrace was moved across the street when the Church purchased the Toonarbin property.

Above : St Francis’ church in the middle of Dornoch Terrace. (Brisbane Courier 15th July 1926, State Library of Queensland) and the church today (P. Granville)

Coincidentally, the other two churches that have stood on Dornoch Terrace were both moved there from other locations. In 1885, the Presbyterian Church on Glenelg Street was built. A few years later, there was a disagreement over the purchase of a “kist o’ whistles”, or organ, splitting the congregation, and a breakaway group built a new church at the corner of Vulture and Hope Street.

This was an unfortunate location as the extension of the railway to South Brisbane described in my post Gloucester Street Railway Station, required the removal of the church in 1890. A new location was found at 167 Dornoch Terrace near the peak of Highgate Hill. Bad luck continued to follow the church as it was destroyed in a severe storm in 1892 and had to be rebuilt. In 1923, it was demolished and the land sold. The last service held was the marriage of the bride who lived next door. For more on this, see my post Sheep, a House, and Three Churches.

Primitive Methodists living in the Hill End area raised funds to purchase land in Gray Road and build a new church in 1888. In 1914, for reasons unknown, the congregation decided to move the church up to Dornoch Terrace. With a steady reduction in churchgoers after World War 2, the church closed.

In 1971 the building was sold to the trustees of the Light Opera Music Company who converted the hall into a musical theatre known as The Music Box. Since then it has had a variety of occupants including the Stoliarsky School of Music. The upper floor is currently a second hand book shop.

The later 20th century

After World War 2, building materials remained in short supply for many years due to wartime rationing and subsequent pent up demand. In the 1950s, thousands of affordable Housing Commission homes were constructed in outer suburbs. Immigrant families took advantage of the preference of many for homes in these new suburbs to buy inner city real estate at favourable prices.

Along Dornoch Terrace, further grand old homes were divided into flats with their verandahs enclosed to provide the maximum occupancy possible.

Otherwise, Dornoch Terrace changed little in appearance until the end of the 1950s.

Torbreck

Construction of Torbreck, Queensland’s first multi-storied home unit development, took place between 1958 to 1960 on the block of land that had been occupied by the 1860s house of the same name. It was a totally new concept for Brisbane, with each of the 150 home units having at least one private balcony,  electric kitchen, sewage and garbage disposal facilities, washing machine and clothes drier. 

The original plan also included some features which did not come to fruition, including shopping facilities and professional suites at ground level, a basement laundry service, a restaurant with room service, a terrace café, roof and indoor gardens, a tennis court, putting green and fully equipped children’s playground. 

Many units have been held for decades, and sixty years after its completion, Torbreck units are still sought after. For more, see my post The Three Torbrecks.

Recent Decades

In the 1970s image below, Torbreck continues to dominate the upper stretch of Dornoch Terrace. On the right side is a row of young tamarind trees, today mature and heavily producing fruit.

Whilst Queensland strata title legislation simplifying unit ownership was introduced in 1965, it wasn’t until the mid 1970s that further larger home unit buildings began to appear along Dornoch Terrace.

In the 1980s, there was a wide range of people living along the Terrace, including elderly long term residents, a large variety of people living in flats and share houses, and an increasing number of unit dwellers. Crime rates were high. In our first 10 years of residency from the mid 1980s, we had many break-ins and later attempted break-ins as we steadily increased security in response.

High rise unit construction along Dornoch Terrace accelerated, and before Queensland heritage legislation was passed in 1991, many fine old homes were demolished and in some cases replaced with low quality design blocks of flats.

With the demolition of houses and the building of apartment buildings, along with the restoration of some older houses as private dwellings, there has been what could be described as “re-gentrification”, recalling the first half of the 20th century.

Dornoch Terrace is one of only three major access roads to the ever growing Kurilpa peninsula, and the only one without traffic lights, with resulting high traffic levels. An attempt at traffic calming was made in around 2006 and the speed limit was reduced to 50km/hr.

A major bicycle route passes down Dornoch Terrace, and in 2020 it was identified as the second worst route for cyclists in Brisbane, with 16 crashes involving cyclists in the four years to 2018.

In 2019, Brisbane City Council proposed widening the bike lanes which would have removed 115 car parking spaces and several bus stops. There was strong community reaction against this aspect of the plan, but support for other proposed measures such as pedestrian crossings. The plan was scrapped in total and crossing the road remains a dangerous activity at many times of the day.

In retrospect

A 1930 newspaper article states, perhaps apocryphally, that in the 1860s Governor George Bowen remarked as he rode along the crest of Highgate Hill – “One day there will be residences along this ridge.” The 1930 article comments on the beautiful residences and goes on to say that

It is an unusually pretty drive, with a glorious view of the spreading city. Distant mountain ranges, softened in a delicate blue mist, limit one’s vision to the west, while immediately below curls the stately Brisbane River.

Today we can only imagine with some effort the Aboriginal pathway as it was for tens of thousands of years winding through the bush, or later a stately Sunday drive down Dornoch Terrace with its extended vistas and some of the most beautiful residences in Brisbane.

Notes

1. In the past, I have obtained numerous historic property titles to add accuracy to posts of this nature, such as for example, A Walk Down Norfolk Road. However, the Titles Office has now been corporatised and prices have increased. The last quote I obtained for a single title was $157.46 compared to the previous cost of $21.67, making it too expensive for my non profit endeavours.
2. House names were the only method of identification until street numbering was introduced on Dornoch Terrace in 1936.

Dornoch Terrace Heritage Listings

The 1.3km of Dornoch Terrace is the location of no fewer than 16 heritage listings.

1. Former Methodist Church 19 Dornoch Terrace
2. Flamingo House 22 Dornoch Terrace
3. St. Francis School and Church
4. Toonarbin
5. St Francis Presbytery 59 Dornoch Terrace.
6. Dornoch Terrace Bridge
7. 81 Dornoch Terrace
8. Cleona 100 Dornoch Terrace
9. Kinauld 116 Dornoch Terrace
10. Carinya 117 Dornoch Terrace
11. Lutmis 121 Dornoch Terrace
12. Glenview 132 Dornoch Terrace
13. 147 Dornoch Terrace
14. Highgate Hill Park
15. Torbreck 182 Dornoch Terrace
16. Fire Hydrant outside 191 Dornoch Terrace

© P. Granville 2024