WILBAR FLATS , 52 Hawthorne Street
The building known as WILBAR FLATS (or Wilbar Apartments) is a good example of what can be done with an old, tired timber house in a good location.
When the Wilson family home on the corner of Hawthorne and Fleurs Streets started to show its age in late 1939 the choice was clear: renovate, build something cost-effective or move. They chose the first option and employed architect Edward J.A. Weller to design a building that would take advantage of their excellent location, be visually attractive but also produce an income.
The outcome was impressive: A new brick building with distinctive curved front and containing two two-bedroom flats was attached to the original home which was turned into two modern flats.
“Simplicity is the keynote in external and internal design – it ensures relative agelessness. where the old building has been made to worthily take its place beside the modern addition, by the simple expedient of removing such remnants of over-decoration as remained after the fusion of the buildings”. (The Truth, 14 April 1940, page 28).
A destructive super-storm on 27 November 2014 which affected large areas of Woolloongabba required the building to be vacated for a while and major repairs carried out.
Multi-Gable house 1923
A typical Queensland high-set house in Woolloongabba in 1923, no location is available.
House near Kingfisher Creek 1950
