A.J.H. Watts Land Sales Office (fmr)

Statement of Significance

• The place has aesthetic value as an intact example of a commercial and residential premises built in the Inter War period.
• The place has aesthetic value as a landmark in the district since the 1940s for its location on a prominent streetscape.
• The place has historic value for its association with the settlement of Safety Bay from the 1940s and the role of local land agent Alfred Watts in subdividing the land for residential development.

Physical Description

Single storey corner shop with angled frontage facing the intersection of Safety Bay Road and Penguin Road with secondary frontages to both roads. The angled shop frontage is the main aspect of the building with a centrally placed entrance flanked by traditional shop windows, angled to create a recessed entrance. The Penguin Road elevation contains a further shop frontage with recessed entrance and single window. Both these elevations present with high parapet walls with advertising. The Safety Bay section of the building to the south of the main façade was constructed originally as a residential premise with hipped roof and has gradually been converted to additional commercial premises.
The building is of timber frame and fibre cement construction with weatherboards to the lower section of the main elevation. The roofs are corrugated iron. Corrugated iron awnings project out over the main shop windows. The former residential premises are of the same construction.

History

From the late 1920s, 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’.
During the late 1930s, the population of Safety Bay grew, with the construction of a number of residences and commercial premises.
Alfred John Henry Watts (1873-1954) was born in Victoria and travelled to Western Australia in the 1890s. He worked as a farmer in Northam, Southern Brook, Narrogin and Cunderdin whilst also pursuing a career as a land agent. In 1904, he was elected as the MLA for Northam and held the seat until 1905. He also served as a member of the Northam Municipal Council. After his parliamentary term he worked as a land agent, lecturer for the WA Lands Department, fruit grower and farmer.
From 1917, Watts and his family, of nine children, had camped on Penguin Island for their holidays. In 1933, Watts decided to base his family permanently at Safety Bay, where he would promote and sell building blocks from a parcel of land that he had purchased in the 1920s. He built a weatherboard house at the Junction of Penguin and (what was then) Rockingham Roads. It was from this house that he initially conducted his business as a Land and Estate Agent. In the early 1940s, Watts built this building at the corner of Penguin and Safety Bay Roads to where he relocated his land agent business. The family home was located behind the shop premises. Later Alfred Watts relocated to 13 Penguin Road where he lived until his death in 1954.
The building continues to be used for the sale of real estate in the district. Aerial photographs of the place indicate its form and extent have changed little since the mid-20th century.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Degree
Authenticity: High 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.