Masel Residence is a heritage-listed detached house at 98 High Street, Stanthorpe, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia.

Dr Harry Masel, a general practitioner in Stanthorpe, acquired the title to a half-acre lot on High Street in 1936.

Una Masel, Harry's wife, had an interest in contemporary architecture and commissioned Brisbane architect JP Donoghue to design a home for her family.

Dr Masel was particularly interested in radiology and his surgery was subsequently fitted with a large X-ray machine, more commonly found in a hospital.

Modern architecture was the outcome of an attempt by European architects to invent new ways of building guided by rational principals of construction and associated aesthetic ideals rather than tradition.

Typical features of interwar Modernist styles in Australia included parapet walls concealing low pitched or flat roofs, steel framed corner and strip windows, masonry walls devoid of decoration, rounded external corners, cantilevered concrete awnings and balconies, asymmetric composition and stairwells expressed as vertical elements contrasting with dominant horizontality.

He received his architectural training at the Sydney Technical College, was an articled pupil of FE Stowe, architect and civil engineer and subsequently worked as a draftsman for Rudder and Grout.

He was particularly interested in the work of Dutch architect Willem Dudok, whose Hilversum Town Hall was influential in Britain and Australia in the early thirties.

In 1937 he entered into partnership with JP Donoghue, an older and more established architect and became Lecturer in Charge of Architecture at the Brisbane Central Technical College.

[1] Charles Fulton was a key practitioner and teacher of modern trends in architectural design in Queensland during the late thirties and forties.

These later buildings were characterised by low-pitched roofs, linear planning, cross ventilation, wide eaves or awnings and the use of modern materials.

[1] Situated on the main street into Stanthorpe from the northeast, the former Masel Residence and consulting rooms is a brick and reinforced concrete building set in an established garden.

Suburban houses extend along High Street to the east of the residence while institutional and commercial buildings predominate to the west.

Dominating the front facade is a centrally located curved stairwell with strip windows intersected by a continuous horizontal awning.

Brickwork is generally stretcher bond but incorporates header bricks where required to make sections of curved wall.

An original metal gate in a simple geometric design opens onto a stone path that leads to the main entrance.

A more modest entry further to the west, which originally provided access to the consulting rooms, has since been blocked by the construction of low brick walls.

This former public entrance, now converted to a balcony, is closer to the street and is screened from the residential entry by a brick fin wall with a porthole opening.

[1] On entering the residence one passes under the mid-landing of a dogleg staircase with a solid timber balustrade that fills the entrance hall.

Steel framed French doors open from the dining and living area onto the raised terrace, which is connected to the garden by an elegant curved brick stair.

[1] A discreetly positioned door off the entrance hall connects the former consulting rooms, now used as an informal living area, with the residence.

Positioned over the curved corner of the ground floor living room, the balcony overlooks the side garden and street.

The original built-in heating system is no longer used but electric radiators remain in the walls of the former surgery and main bedroom.

A system of electric bells located in the downstairs hallway, operates doorbells at the house and consulting room entries and connects the main bedroom to the former maids quarters.

The main lawn is located on the north eastern side of the house while the service yard and driveway occupy the south western part of the block.

The backyard originally contained a badminton court and remains of a concrete wading pool are visible near the northeast corner of the garage.

The house demonstrates, through the inclusion of a purpose-built surgery with separate entry, ways in which work and domestic environments were combined in the homes of medical practitioners during the first half of the 20th century.

[1] The former Masel Residence is a striking example of a building in what is known as the interwar functionalist style and incorporates typical features of the style such as asymmetrical cubic massing, expanses of undecorated brick walls, steel corner and strip windows, curved brickwork corners, flat cantilevered awnings and a concealed roof.