Verandah

The Australian building as an object: the verandah itself, corrugated iron, weatherboard, iron lace, the Queenslander on stumps and the homestead with its shade. Domestic and civic architecture treated as a national vernacular rather than as scenery.

Part of Australia

68 moments in this segment.

1. 1910 - Federal Hotel, Childers. A two storey timber hotel in Childers, Queensland, its upper verandah running the full width of the street front behind turned posts and cast iron balustrade. William Ashby built it in 1907 for £1,250, a figure that covered an eight stall stable and a billiard room, and his family held it until 1967. The double verandah is the standard Queensland answer to heat and glare, shading the wall below and giving the upstairs rooms an outdoor edge.
2. 1926 - Construction and Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1926-1932, Colourised, HD). ), published by Based in Australia Archive and concerning New South Wales. The Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932. The footage depicts events of 1926. Filed as a vernacular record, from footage of 1926 held by Based in Australia Archive.
3. 1939 - Wallace Bishop store, Queen Street, Brisbane. The Wallace Bishop jewellery store on the corner of Albert and Queen Streets in central Brisbane in 1939. Street awnings and verandahs over the footpath were normal in Australian city retail and were progressively removed from central Brisbane after the war on traffic and streetscape grounds.
4. 1965 - 1965: SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE - Too Revolutionary to Build? | Tonight | The Making of... | BBC Archive. 1965: SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE - Too Revolutionary to Build, published by BBC Archive and concerning New South Wales. Jørn Utzon resigned on 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. The footage depicts events of 1965. Filed as a vernacular record, from footage of 1965 held by BBC Archive.
5. 1968 - Sydney Opera House Takes Shape (1968) | Vision, Controversy and Design. Sydney Opera House Takes Shape (1968), published by NFSA Film Australia and concerning New South Wales. Jørn Utzon resigned on 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. The footage depicts events of 1968. Filed as a vernacular record, from footage of 1968 held by NFSA Film Australia.
6. 1972 - Sydney Opera House in 1972 | Rare Construction Footage Before Opening. Sydney Opera House in 1972, published by NFSA Film Australia and concerning New South Wales. Jørn Utzon resigned on 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. The footage depicts events of 1972. Filed as a vernacular record, from footage of 1972 held by NFSA Film Australia.
7. 1975 - 15,000 lamingtons made in a massive lamington bake (1975) | Retrofocus | ABC Australia. 15,000 lamingtons made in a massive lamington bake (1975), published by ABC Australia. The footage depicts events of 1975. Filed as a vernacular record, from footage of 1975 held by ABC Australia.
8. 2010-12-08 - Sydney's Harbour Bridge. 1932. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by NFSA Film Australia in 2010.
9. 2012-01-10 - Holden and Ford consider Australian manufacturing futures. (Australia). Holden built cars in Australia until manufacturing ended in 2017. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News (Australia) in 2012.
10. 2012-01-10 - Holden plants face future shutdown. (Australia). Holden built cars in Australia until manufacturing ended in 2017. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News (Australia) in 2012.
11. 2012 - Macpherson Street, Carnamah. Macpherson Street at Carnamah in the Western Australian wheatbelt looking south west, with the Carnamah Hotel on the left. The Carnamah Historical Society displays a photograph of the same view taken in 1932 as its Window to the Past.
12. 2012-12-10 - Australian Inventor Perfects Novel Lawn Mower. Australian Diary 40. 2012.
13. 2013 - Coorow Hotel, Main Street. The Coorow Hotel on Main Street at Coorow, on the Midlands road north of Perth. Its verandah posts stand at the kerb line, which is the older arrangement, with the roof carried out over the public footpath.
14. 2013 - Store at Eurong, K'gari. The shop at the Eurong resort on K'gari, the sand island off the Queensland coast formerly named Fraser Island. The island was renamed to its Butchulla name in 2023. Its buildings sit directly on sand and are roofed and verandahed in light steel for that reason.
15. 2013-10-02 - Sydney Stories: Bradfield and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 1932. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by The University of Sydney in 2013.
16. 2014 - Corner store, Bangalow. A commercial building on the corner of Byron and Station Streets at Bangalow in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales. The town's intact verandahed streetscape survived the twentieth century largely because the district's economy declined, and tourism later found it.
17. 2014 - Webster Street corner store, Nedlands. A corner shop in the Perth suburb of Nedlands, with a footpath awning across both street faces. Suburban corner stores of this type were built to serve a walking catchment of a few blocks and were mostly emptied by supermarkets and cars.
18. 2014-11-23 - The Holden Story: the history of Australia's iconic car brand. 2017. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC Science in 2014.
19. 2015 - Gol Gol Hotel, on the Murray. The Gol Gol Hotel in far western New South Wales, close to the Murray River opposite Mildura. The verandah is carried on plain posts with a simple corrugated iron roof, which is the utilitarian end of the same idea that produced the iron lace of the city terraces.
20. 2015 - Commercial Hotel, Aberdeen. The Commercial Hotel at Aberdeen in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. The name recurs across the country because the commercial travellers who worked the rail lines needed a room and a sample display space in every town.
21. 2015 - Royal Hotel, Spring Ridge. The Royal Hotel at Spring Ridge on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales. Its upper verandah is enclosed with timber balustrade rather than iron, a cheaper substitution common in country building.
22. 2017 - The Astra, Argent Street, Broken Hill. The Astra hotel on Argent Street in Broken Hill, a mining city in far western New South Wales whose main street carries an almost continuous line of verandahed frontages. Argent Street is named for silver, the metal that founded the town in 1883.
23. 2017 - Austral Inn, Quorn. The Austral Inn at Quorn in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Quorn grew as a railway junction on the line north, and its stone and iron main street survives largely because the railway left and the town stopped rebuilding.
24. 2017 - Hotel Bay View, Whyalla. The Hotel Bay View at Whyalla on the Spencer Gulf in South Australia. Whyalla was built around the shipyard and steelworks, and its hotels are interwar rather than colonial, which shows in the flatter and more geometric verandah detailing.
25. 2017 - Station master's house at Peake. A derelict weatherboard cottage beside the railway line at Peake in South Australia, built as the station master's house. Weatherboard over a light timber frame, with a verandah on the approach side, was the standard issue railway dwelling across several colonies.
26. 2017 - Ferguson's corner store, Gulargambone. A corner store at Gulargambone in central western New South Wales, with the awning turning the corner to shade both street faces. Corner shops were sited where two streets met precisely because the frontage was double.
27. 2017 - Whan's corner store, Glen Innes. A corner store in Glen Innes on the New England tableland of New South Wales. The verandah returns around both frontages and the shopfront glazing sits back in its shade, which kept goods in the window from fading.
28. 2017 - Bluff Hotel, Capricorn Highway. The hotel at Bluff on the Capricorn Highway in central Queensland, a coal and rail township west of Rockhampton. The wide low verandah across the front is the whole social apparatus of the building, with tables set out under it rather than inside.
29. 2018-04-20 - Turning "worthless" suburban land into a market garden. (Australia). Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News (Australia) in 2018.
30. 2018 - Balldale Hotel. The hotel at Balldale, a small settlement in the New South Wales Riverina. The bullnose curve in the verandah roof is formed by bending corrugated sheet over shaped rafters, a detail that spread through Australian building in the late nineteenth century.
31. 2018 - Ardath Hotel, wheatbelt. The hotel at Ardath, a very small wheatbelt settlement in Western Australia. Pubs outlasted the shops, banks and schools in many of these towns because they were the last shared room left.
32. 2019-03-05 - Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, 1990s, 35mm. 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by Kinolibrary in 2019.
33. 2019 - Fishing shacks at Pondalowie Bay. Shacks at Pondalowie Bay in Innes National Park on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. The lean-to verandah on an iron clad box is the most reduced version of the form, built by fishermen with whatever sheeting came to hand.
34. 2019-12-09 - The Proud Arch - 50 Years of the Harbour Bridge - Sydney, Australia - Documentary 1980s. 1932. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by Shadow Archive in 2019.
35. 2020-02-28 - The rise and fall of Holden, Australia’s iconic car | ABC News. The rise and fall of Holden, Australia’s iconic car, published by ABC News In-depth. Holden built cars in Australia until manufacturing ended in 2017. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News In-depth in 2020.
36. 2020 - Regatta Hotel, Toowong. The Regatta Hotel on Coronation Drive in Brisbane, with three tiers of iron lace verandah facing the river. The building dates from 1886. In 1965 Merle Thornton and Rosalie Bogner chained themselves to the public bar rail here in protest at the exclusion of women from public bars.
37. 2020 - Berridale Inn, Monaro. The inn at Berridale on the Monaro tableland in the Snowy Mountains country of New South Wales. At this altitude the verandah is as much about shelter from wind and snow as from sun.
38. 2020 - Port Hotel, Carnarvon. The Port Hotel at Carnarvon on the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia. Verandahs on both levels give the upstairs rooms shade and a sea breeze, which was the only cooling available before air conditioning.
39. 2021-01-19 - The iconic Sydney Opera House | Designing A Legacy. The iconic Sydney Opera House, published by ABC Entertainment and concerning New South Wales. Jørn Utzon resigned on 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC Entertainment in 2021.
40. 2021-09-07 - The Yellow Book - Sydney Opera House. 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by MHNSW - State Archives Collection in 2021.
41. 2021-10-04 - Behind the Wheel: 1934 Ford Coupe Ute Hot Rod. 1934. Filed as a vernacular record, from footage of 1934 held by National Motor Museum Australia.
42. 2022-05-09 - Bon Scott's High Voltage life as AC/DC front man | On the Brink full documentary | Australian Story. Bon Scott's High Voltage life as AC/DC front man, published by ABC News In-depth. AC/DC formed in Sydney in November 1973; Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News In-depth in 2022.
43. 2022-05-11 - Full interview: AC/DC's Brian Johnson talks meeting Bon Scott, joining the band | Australian Story. Full interview: AC/DC's Brian Johnson talks meeting Bon Scott, joining the band, published by ABC News In-depth. AC/DC formed in Sydney in November 1973; Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News In-depth in 2022.
44. 2022 - Bajool hotel. The hotel at Bajool, a small town on the highway south of Rockhampton in Queensland. Timber posts, corrugated iron and a plain gutter line are the entire vocabulary of the building.
45. 2022 - Railway Hotel, Marmor. The Railway Hotel at Marmor in central Queensland, named for the line it was built to serve. Hotels called Railway mark where the track went, and many of them outlived the passenger services entirely.
46. 2022 - Royal Hotel, Mount Larcom. The Royal Hotel at Mount Larcom in central Queensland, raised on stumps with the verandah at the upper level. Lifting the whole building rather than just the floor of a house is a Queensland habit that also allows the structure to be moved on a truck.
47. 2022 - Raglan Tavern. The pub at Raglan, a small town between Rockhampton and Gladstone in Queensland. The verandah extends past the building line to shelter the parking as well as the entry.
48. 2022 - Bororen Hotel. The hotel at Bororen in central Queensland, on the old highway between Gladstone and Bundaberg. Country hotels lost their passing trade in stages as highways were realigned to bypass the towns they had served.
49. 2022 - Pine Beach Hotel, Emu Park. The Pine Beach Hotel at Emu Park on the Capricorn Coast in central Queensland. Coastal hotels turn the verandah towards the water rather than the street, which reverses the usual inland arrangement.
50. 2023-01-08 - KINGDOM IN THE SKY: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Live at Hanging Rock | Full Documentary | Art Works. KINGDOM IN THE SKY: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Live at Hanging Rock, published by ABC Arts. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC Arts in 2023.
51. 2023-03-11 - The 'tree house' design that could lead to more greenery in Australia's drying suburbs | ABC News. The 'tree house' design that could lead to more greenery in Australia's drying suburbs, published by ABC News (Australia) and concerning Western Australia. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News (Australia) in 2023.
52. 2023-04-10 - How Vegemite became an Australian icon | Great Australian Stuff | ABC TV + iview. How Vegemite became an Australian icon, published by ABC Entertainment. Vegemite was developed by Cyril Callister in 1922. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC Entertainment in 2023.
53. 2023-06-13 - Vegemite 100 year celebration - Pyrenees Shire, Victoria, Australia.. 1922. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by Cyril Callister Vegemite Museum in 2023.
54. 2023-09-17 - Opera House: Design 218. 28 February 1966 and died in 2008 without ever returning to see the completed building. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by National Archives of Australia in 2023.
55. 2023-12-12 - The lamington, a tropical success story?. 2023.
56. 2024-03-11 - The Garden City and its influence on South Australian garden suburbs. 2024.
57. 2024 - A Queenslander at Sherwood. A timber house at Sherwood in Brisbane raised on stumps with a verandah across its street face. Raising the floor let air move under the building and kept the living rooms above the damp, and the verandah did the shading. The type is common enough across the state that the houses are simply called Queenslanders.
58. 2024 - Queenslander at Charleville. A raised timber house at Charleville in the state's south west, where summer heat is dry and severe rather than humid. The verandah wraps the corner so that shade is available on whichever face the sun is striking.
59. 2024 - Brewarrina Hotel. A verandahed hotel on the main street at Brewarrina in north western New South Wales. Corrugated iron roofing over a timber frame is the cheapest way to get deep shade across a footpath, and it defines the look of inland Australian main streets.
60. 2024 - Royal Hotel, Brewarrina. The Royal Hotel at Brewarrina, a second verandahed pub in the same small town. Licensed hotels clustered in inland towns because they served as the coach stop, the mail drop and the only accommodation.
61. 2024 - Ivanhoe Hotel. The hotel at Ivanhoe, a town on the Cobb Highway between Hay and Broken Hill in the western New South Wales saltbush country. The street awning is cantilevered rather than post supported, a later form adopted after councils moved against posts standing in the footpath.
62. 2024 - White Cliffs Hotel. The hotel at White Cliffs in far western New South Wales, an opal field where much of the town lives in dugouts cut into the hillsides to escape the heat. The verandah does above ground what the dugouts do below.
63. 2024-08-12 - The moment that ended Nick Cave's 'disgraceful self-indulgence' | Interview | Australian Story. The moment that ended Nick Cave's 'disgraceful self-indulgence', published by ABC News In-depth. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News In-depth in 2024.
64. 2025-05-26 - 25 years on from the historic Walk for Reconciliation over the Harbour Bridge | Living Black | NITV. 25 years on from the historic Walk for Reconciliation over the Harbour Bridge, published by NITV and concerning New South Wales. The Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by NITV in 2025.
65. 2025-11-04 - The woman behind Mona's controversial Ladies Lounge | Australian Story. The woman behind Mona's controversial Ladies Lounge, published by ABC News In-depth. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by ABC News In-depth in 2025.
66. 2025-11-13 - Hills Hoist - How a backyard icon became a story of migration. 1945, and Gilbert Toyne had patented rotary hoists from 1911 to 1946. Filed as a vernacular record, posted by Aldona Kmieć Photography in 2025.
67. 2026-01-14 - This Australian Factory Makes 15,000 Meat Pies Every Hour. 2026.
68. 2026 - Clare Castle Hotel, Kapunda. The Clare Castle Hotel at Kapunda in the Mid North of South Australia. Kapunda was a copper mining town from the 1840s, and the hotels along the highway date from the money that came out of the ground.