Family home in Denistone West held for 70 years reflects a bygone era

The local horse wandering into the backyard to nibble flowers, dunny men receiving slabs of beer and groceries delivered to the front door by horse and cart were familiar sights in 1950s Sydney.

Gerry Josephs with his son Russell at 27 Glenayr Ave, Denistone West. Picture: Conor Arnold

The local horse wandering into the backyard to nibble flowers, dunny men receiving slabs of beer and groceries delivered to the front door by horse and cart.

Gerry Josephs has fond memories of growing up at 27 Glenayr Ave, Denistone West.

His parents, Jack and Antoinette Josephs, moved to their new house in September, 1950, with their two-month-old daughter Therese.

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This Denistone house hasn’t changed much since it was bought by the Josephs family in 1950.

The young couple accepted the fact that it wasn’t as big as it was supposed to be — a metre was lost from the rooms at the back due to a shortage of building materials after World War II.

The floor plan, largely unaltered, has a combined lounge and dining room, three bedrooms and a sunroom.

The kitchen and bathroom remain in original condition along with the laundry and separate WC at the rear of the house.

A straight concrete path leads to the Hills hoist, shed and single-car garage in the backyard.

The Josephs went on to have two more children — Martin followed by Gerry, who was born at Ryde Hospital in 1955.

Dunny men were an important part of life in Sydney — and were rewarded with slabs of beer for their unpleasant work.

Horse and carts were not only used for transport but as delivery vehicles for milk and groceries.

The Joseph kids grew up in a suburb that used to be farmland and was part of West Ryde until 1999. Their street was named after a house called Glenayr, owned by landholders the Hay family.

“A horse a couple of streets over used to wander into the backyard and munch on the plants,” Gerry recalled

Loaves of Buttercup Bread and bottles of milk were delivered by horse-drawn carts. The sewer hadn’t been connected so dunny men were employed to perform the unpleasant task of waste removal.

The Glenayr Ave home still has a Hills hoist in the backyard.

“Christmas would come along and everyone would leave out a carton of beer for the dunny men,” Gerry said.

In the days before organised sport and timetables for just about every extra-curricular activity, the neighbourhood kids would create their own games.

“As kids we’d play cricket in the backyard or go up to the park after school and on the weekends; sometimes there’d be 20 to 30 of us,” Gerry said.

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The property goes to auction on Sunday, July 7, at 11am through Richardson and Wrench Ryde City — CK Arnold with a buyer’s guide of $1.15 million.

Originally published as Family home in Denistone West held for 70 years reflects a bygone era