Coogee Hotel (fmr)

Statement of Significance

The former hotel and post office/shop are of significance in that they are illustrative of the typical small settlements which once served the rural areas near Perth but which have gradually been engulfed by urban development. The two buildings have townscape value. They have a high degree of unity in terms of material and are well known and are a landmark along Cockburn Road. The buildings are of considerable local historical significance for the Coogee district. The Coogee hotel also has wider social historical value, it being renowned in its day as the Honeymooners Hotel.

Physical Description

The former Coogee Hotel is a single story limestone building (now painted) with brick quoins and decorative stucco mouldings around the main windows and the front door. It is roofed in corrugated iron and has brick chimneys with moulded stucco tops. It original had a bull-nosed corrugated iron verandah supported by timber posts with ornamental capitals and timber corner brackets. This has been replaced with a straight profile iron verandah supported by steel posts. Beneath the original front bar is a cellar (now closed off). A timber picket fence originally ran along the western elevation. Internally, the building retains many original details including the panelled doors, moulded skirtings and architraves and fireplaces. The structure has been extended a number of times. The present main hall, for example was originally a courtyard sheltered by grapevines. The courtyard between the hotel and the adjacent former Coogee Post Office had a horseshoe shaped turning facility for horses and carts.
The Coogee Hotel was opened in 1091. It was built for Walter Powell, a prominent local identity who had been a member of the Fremantle District Road Board from 1887 – 1900, having served has its Chairman between 1893 and 1899. Powell is said to have modelled it on hotels he had seen in the French Riviera. The building was surrounded with gardens (including terraced lawns) and fountains and it soon became known as the “honeymoon Hotel of Western Australia”. Behind the hotel Powell built a race course and attracted patrons from Fremantle by presenting substantial tropheys. The Hotel was the first stop from Fremantle for the stage coach on its way to Mandurah. The hotel’s license was given up in about 1942 when it was occupied by the Saw Anglican Children’s Home. The building once again became vacant in 1967 when the Home closed and in 1969 it became the headquarters of the Coogee Progress Association.
The former Coogee Post Office/shop is a single storey limestone structure with an attached weatherboard portion. A simple verandah is attached to the front/west elevation. Two window are symmetrically situated on either side of the front entrance door. These appear to have replaced earlier (and probably paned) windows. The weatherboard (residence) portion is a simple gable-ended structure with a brick chimney and corrugated iron roof.
The Post Office/shop was built by Mr Jock McKinnon in about 1928. McKinnon was the brother-in-law of Walter Powell, builder of the adjoining Coogee hotel. It closed as a post office and shop and has since been used as a residence.

History

Assessment: 1988
comprising Fmr Coogee Hotel, 1901 & Former Coogee Post Office/Shop c.1928, limestone & weatherboard

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.