A Journey Through Australian Architectural Styles: Worker’s Cottage (1840s—1930s)

Interior Defining Features of Australian Worker’s Cottages

• Symmetrical façade. The usual layout was a central front door flanked by windows.
• Corrugated roof. It was affordable at the time, and effective, and is now a signature of the Australian worker’s cottage aesthetic.
• Front verandahs lend an element of detail to the otherwise restrained aesthetic of traditional worker’s cottages. Later evolutions boast bullnose verandah roofs, supported by wooden posts and some even decorated with iron lacework.
• Back garden. This is one of the major drawcards of worker’s cottages today: a garden in the city.

Restoring Worker’s Cottages with Heritage Hardware

Worker’s cottages were functional buildings. It was their dwellers, rather than their builders, who made them into the cosy homes they became. Hardware was exactly what the word describes: hardwearing. It was function-led and purposeful, even if by today’s standards its elements are considered really rather beautiful.

Selecting the Right Finishes

Choosing finishes reflective of the building’s history will help to ensure worker cottages retain the quiet charm for which they are renowned:

• Wrought or cast iron: This robust material was used abundantly in worker’s cottage design, on elements like Hinges, Sash Lifts, Rim Locks, and Mortice Knobs and locks.
• Brass: Door Knobs were often made from brass, along with sash windows elements like Sash Lifts and Casement Fasteners.
• Timber: In the most affordably-made cottages, timber was used for some of the hardware, such as the door knobs. Adding in vintage style accessories can help to reflect this aspect of the traditional worker’s cottage aesthetic.

Door Knobs and Levers

If the aim is to keep things entirely faithful, then door knobs and levers are the way to go, as they were the door furniture of choice in worker’s cottages originally. Heritage brass hardware like shiny brass Door Knobs easily assimilate, whilst both interior door levers and traditional style levers work seamlessly. TradCo’s Reims Lever, for example, with its elegantly long backplate, slots impeccably into place.

Explore Doors Knobs and Levers.

Pull Handles

There are elements that won’t have been around in the 1800s which can still work well in a worker’s cottage. Pull Handles are a case in point — as long as they are made in traditional materials, such as Antique Brass or Matt Black, they’re sure to fit right in.

Explore Pull Handles.