House

Statement of Significance

The place is an example of a stone residence, representing the expansion of Fremantle in the gold boom period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Physical Description

House, 44 Burt Street is a two storey house which was originally a single storey stone with brick quoining house to corners and window and door openings set above pavement level.The house has been substantially altered however the original form remains visible.

History

Burt Street is likely named after Chief Justice Sir Archibald Paull Burt, who came to Fremantle in 1861 from the West Indies. His son, Septimus Burt, became the first Attorney-General under Responsible Government.
Fremantle City Council Rate books revealed that in 1900, Lot 914 (1 & 2) now 44 Burt Street, was a vacant lot owned by Elias Solomon. Charles Gallagher is listed as the owner in 1901. A cottage appears in 1904-05 with Thomas John Gallagher, a warder, as owner. Miles Moorhouse is the owner of the cottage in 1907-08 and it remained in the Moorhouse family until at least 1945. It taken over by the army during WW2 and extended to provide cheap accommodation for soldiers.
There is no clear evidence when it became a boarding house. Judging by the style of building material used for the extensions (timber, asbestos sheeting, roof tiles), the conversion of the original family home into a boarding house happened between 1945 and 1952, when Claude Watkins purchased the property and applied to the Council for a building permit to do undocumented works The house had two distinctive architectural forms; the core being the original limestone and brick residence with all its internal and external features and finishes still intact. However, the house had been extended. The 1940s style of those extensions was part of the adaption for use as a boarding house by the army. The 1940s style was consistent throughout the external built forms, including such details as a medium pitched and partly gabled roof, the exposed timber framing on external walls, window frames and hinged sashes, window hoods, balustrading and co-ordinated colour scheme. The consistency with which the 1940s style had been added gave the building its architectural appeal and provided physical evidence of the tradition of larger scale domestic architecture in Fremantle, albeit of a more recent style.
The house has been substantially altered by recent (1995) additions.
In 2005 the Heritage Council of WA undertook further investigation to ascertain whether House, 44 Burt Street warranted further investigation for inclusion on the Register Heritage Places. It was decided that while the place is not of state heritage significance, inclusion on the City of Fremantle’s Municipal Inventory determines a place to be of local heritage significance.

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This data is provided by the City of Fremantle. While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this data, the City of Fremantle makes no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and disclaims all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages (including indirect or consequential damage) and costs which you might incur as a result of the data being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason. Under no circumstances should this data be used to carry out any work without first contacting the City of Fremantle for the appropriate confirmation and approval.