Oakley & Parkes-designed Forrest home sold
Canberra’s top weekend auction sale was a Forrest house designed in 1927 by Oakley & Parkes, who had previously designed The Lodge.
The home (above) on its 1500 sqm Barkly Crescent block last sold in 1997 at $525,000.
Luton Properties sold another Oakley & Parkes designed home in Forrest earlier this year.
Owned by the same family for more than 40 years, the residence was marketed as of 1925 origin.
"A traditional Oakley and Parkes design; privately hedged on this superb 2006 sqm came with high ceilings, cornices and large portrait windows.," the marketing advised.
The Dominion Circuit home fetched $2.25 million (below).
The Lodge, a fine example of the Inter-War Georgian Revival style of architecture, was designed by architects Oakley and Parkes, who played a key role in the design of Canberra's permanent housing in its initial phase.
Architects suggest The Lodge is the Canberra residence which demonstrates best their architectural expertise.
The designers of The Lodge were Melbourne architects, Percy Oakley and Stanley Parkes.
Work was begun on the residence in 1926, before the Federal Parliament moved to Canberra from Melbourne.
The design was illustrated in the 7 June 1926 issue of Australian Home Beautiful after it was built by James G. Taylor of Glebe, NSW, at a total cost of £28,319, which included furnishings, decoration and landscaping, with a tennis court and a croquet lawn.
Mrs Ruth Lane-Poole supervised the interior decoration of the house and the purchase of fashionable, late 1920s furnishings.
The first occupants were S. M. Bruce and his wife, in May 1927.
In 1929 his Labor successor, J. M. Scullin refused to live there, declaring that it was "too grand".