Safety Bay Butcher's Shop (fmr)

Statement of Significance

• The place has aesthetic value for the remaining elements of the Inter War style combining a residence and retail premises.
• The place has historic value for its association with local businessman and prominent citizen, Oliver Wilson.
• The place has historic value for its association with the development of Safety Bay in the 1940s as a place for permanent settlement not just for holiday homes.

Physical Description

Single storey timber framed, fibro, weatherboard and corrugated metal former shop converted to residence. The building is of asymmetric plan form with a projecting gable section fronting directly onto the pavement and still presents with the weatherboard and fibre cement cladding. The window is a large timber framed single pane opening with a single solid timber door adjacent. The façade of the recessed section of the house cannot be seen due to the verandah having been enclosed with corrugated metal balustrade and louvered openings with a pair of timber plank doors. The windows all appear to be single pane timber framed openings. The main roof is hipped and gabled with a skillion verandah canopy to the front and a further skillion roof over the rear addition and verandah.

History

From the late 1920s, land developer and real estate agent, A.J.H. Watts, offered building lots for sale at Safety Bay in the Safety Bay Townsite Estate and the Penguin Estate immediately to the northwest.
The area was promoted as ‘resembling the famous Waikiki Beach of Honolulu’, with the beach ‘free from sharks and undertow, with unlimited space of safe water for speedboats and surfboards in addition to good fishing’.
The land on which this property is located was approved for subdivision in 1929 and by the late 1930s, a number of residences and commercial premises had been built in Safety Bay. In 1940, Oliver (Crom) William Wilson (1906-1995) built a butcher’s shop in Penguin Road, Safety Bay. Wilson was also a partner in a small abattoir at the corner of Day Road and Dixon Road and operated another butchers shop in Marine Terrace Rockingham. Oliver Wilson was a prominent community member and member of the Road Board from 1955 to 1961. The motto of his shops was 'Good Service, Good Meat and Good Humour'. He lived at the Penguin Road premises with his wife Kathleen, nee Howell in the 1940s.
Since its original construction, the building has undergone alterations and additions although the original form can still be determined and its position close to the footpath designates its origin as a retail premises.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate Degree
Authenticity: Moderate Degree

Condition

Good

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.