Historical information

This was the home of 3 generations of the Coop family:
1. Josephine and George Frank Coop (noted in Box Hill Rate Books for 1947-1954).
2. George Burton Coop (1906-1960) and his family. He was Assistant Chief Architect of Victoria in the Public Works Department (P.W.D.) George Burton Coop was born in c1906 in Williamstown, the son of Josephine Vistarini and George Frank Coop. He married Winifred Alice Trewartha in 1936 and they are listed in the electoral rolls at 688 Whitehorse Road in 1937. George died 3/4/1960, aged 54 years at Mont Albert.
3. George Burton and Alice Coop had 2 children:
George Lister Coop - born St Georges Hospital, 8/10/1937
Alison - born c1945.
The donor George Lister Coop informed that he initially attended Chatham State School because his first home was the Spanish Mission style flats at 346 Whitehorse Road, opposite Brenbeal Street, Balwyn. When his grandparents died, the family moved to 688 Whitehorse Road and he then attended Mont Albert Central School.

Significance

The California bungalow style of housing was the dominant style of housing built in the interwar period through the northern parts of Surrey Hills and Mont Albert as formerly semi-rural land was subdivided for new housing. It was relatively inexpensive and affordable. In Australia the Californian bungalow drew upon elements that were popular across the United States from around 1910 to 1939. In Australia the style became popular from 1913. In Melbourne both timber and red brick were used as the main building material. Typically they are one or one and a half story houses and feature sloping roofs and eaves with unenclosed rafters and often a feature a dormer window (or an attic vent designed to look like one) over the main portion of the house. Decorative elements include wood shingles, part stucco rendered exteriors, brick, stone, rendered or a combination of these treatments to exterior chimneys and front porches supported by heavy timber, brick or stucco columns.

Physical description

A black & white photo taken at an angle of a Californian bungalow.