Styles Of Houses
Removal houses vary in style, size and condition. Most popular styles are as follows:
QUEENSLANDER: Originally designed by early settlers to live comfortably in the hot humid Queensland weather. Built on high stumps with a surrounding verandah to help keep the interior cooler, consisting of VJ or tongue and groove walls and tin roofs. Built in this style until the mid 1930′s. Some features include breezeways above the doors, moulded ceilings, leadlight windows and window hoods. Some QLDER’S cannot be removed due to local council laws and Heritage listings.
COLONIAL WORKERS COTTAGE: Similar to a QLDER but smaller in size, features such as a front verandah with a central hallway, and windows on either side of the central front door. Style began in the early 1800′s by the Colonial Early Settlers with very few original still remaining these days. Often with simple floor plan layouts consisting of the central hallway separating sleeping areas from living areas, with timber floors and corrugated iron roofs the same as a Qlder.
QLD FEDERATION STYLE: Built from the end of the 1800′s to 1920′s. Originally built as a single storey high set with terracotta roof tiles which later changed to corrugated iron. These styles of houses are quite eye-catching both externally and internally. External features included gable roofs, fretwork on verandahs and leadlight windows. Internal features like high ceilings with fancy plaster work and decorative plaster ceiling roses at the ceiling lights. They are medium to large in size with the main bedroom situated at the front of the house. At the end of the hallway is the lounge room with the kitchen and dining situated towards the back of the house.
POST WAR HOUSES: Housing shortages began at the end of World War II (1950′s). Returning service people had increased marriages while building materials were in short supply due to the prior focus on the war. With such high demand for supplies houses were made smaller due to the high costs of what materials were available. These timber framed lowset homes on concrete stumps with weatherboard cladding and fibro throughout the interiors are often known as Government Housing Commission Houses. Floor plans were pretty basic with a small kitchen, 2 or 3 bedrooms, a combined living and dining area and a small bathroom. The toilet and laundry were situated outside in the back yard.
BRICK VENEER HOUSES: First built in the early 1930′s. Consisting of a timber or metal frame to support the roof, lined internal walls with a single layer of bricks on the outside. These were cheaper and faster to build compared to the traditional double brick houses. Common in Brisbane in the 1970′s, features included tiled roofs, aluminium windows, fly screens and security grills. By removing the external bricks the shell of the house can easily be removed then re-bricked on its new site. With such a large variety of bricks and blocks available today it looks like a new house from the exterior.
SEMI MODERN: These homes were built between 1970 and today, and generally have 2.4m high ceilings and are made of timber cladding outside with plasterboard inside. These are a great alternative to a new home, often requiring little work to bring them back to an”As New” condition.