We have a wide and varied collection of published items in our collection that are useful resources for researching the history of a house. While it is rare to find a published book or pamphlet written specifically about your house, you may be able to find information through published histories of your town or suburb. You can also search more broad subject areas such as architecture and dwellings to find information about the specific design features of your home; allowing you to discover the likely period when your house was designed and built, and why such features were a trend at the time. It may also be helpful to read histories discussing the social environment at the time to imagine what life may have been like for the early landowners or tenants.
Listed below are some resources to get you started, but if you would like to explore our collection further, try searching our catalogue, or select the subject headings listed in the box to the right
Published Sources:
Apperly, Richard. A pictorial guide to identifying Australian architecture: styles and terms from 1788 to the present, 1994.
The encyclopedia of Australian architecture. Editors: Philip Goad and Julie Willis, 2012.
Heritage of the city of Adelaide: an illustrated guide. Editors: Susan Marsden, Paul Stark and Patricia Sumerling, 1990.
Houses around Adelaide Honorary editor: F.D. Wallace van Zyl, 1964.
Joseph, Elliot. Our home in Australia : a description of cottage life in 1860, 1984.
Liston, Carol. Researching old buildings, 1986.
McCartney, Karen. Iconic : modern Australian houses 1950-2000, 2019.
Morgan, E. J. R. and Gilbert, S. H. Early Adelaide architecture 1836 to 1886, 1969.
Persse, J. N. House styles in Adelaide: a pictorial history, 1981.
Pikusa, Stefan. The Adelaide house 1836 to 1901: the evolution of principal dwelling types, 1986.
Regan, Des. How to trace the history of your house, 1990.
Stapleton, M. & Stapleton, I. Australian house styles, 2003.
Australian home beautiful : a journal for the home builder - a magazine for the home builder, devoted to planning and construction, decoration, furnishing, garden and home management (Library holds 1925-).
Australian house and garden - a monthly lifestyle magazine covering interior design, decor, gardening, real estate and more, consult this source to identify popular architectural and design trends of the eras (Library holds 1950-2017).
New Home - a monthly magazine by The Advertiser showcasing new housing with advice on builders, design, and real estate trends for home buyers and renovators. A great source for those researching more modern houses (Library holds 2008-2017).
South Australian Homes - a quarterly magazine profiling beautiful homes and architecture across South Australia with a focus on design, sustainability, and lifestyle. A great source for those looking into builds of the 1990s (Library holds 1992-1997).
Cottage, West Terrace. B 5804 (Click for a larger/zoomable version)
These subject headings will help you find published sources in our catalogue. You can then filter the results by the following categories; 'Books & Pamphlets' and 'Magazines, Journals & Newspapers'.
Use the example below to search for any published material relating to your town or suburb. Simply change the suburb name (i.e., Adelaide Hills), to the name of your suburb or town.
Not all collection material held by the State Library of SA is available in our open access areas. For more information on how to search our catalogue, request material, and access items in our collection, click here.
The easiest way to find any material in our collection related to a specific city acre is to perform a collection search. In the search box enter 'Acre' followed by the acre number, i.e., 'Acre 630', then press search. This will then provide a list of results of any material in our collection that relates to that specific city acre.