Aberdeen Hotel & St Johns Building

Author

City of Perth

Place Number

04601

Location

84 Aberdeen St Northbridge

Location Details

Also part of Northbridge Urban Renewal Area 14590

Other Name(s)

Hotel, Deen Hotel
Union Hotel, Cosmopolitan Hotel, The Red Lion

Local Government

Perth

Region

Metropolitan

Construction Date

Constructed from 1886 to 1923

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type Status Date Documents
Heritage List Adopted 09 Jan 2004
Heritage Agreement YES 30 Dec 2003 HCWebsite.Listing+ListingDocument
State Register Registered 09 May 2003 HCWebsite.Listing+ListingDocument, HCWebsite.Listing+ListingDocument

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type Status Date Documents
(no listings)

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type Status Date Grading/Management
Category
Municipal Inventory Adopted 13 Mar 2001 Category 1
Local Heritage Survey Adopted 28 Mar 2023 Category 1
Local Heritage Survey Completed\Draft Category 1
Perth Draft Inventory 99-01 YES 31 Dec 1999
Statewide Hotel Survey Completed 01 Nov 1997

Statement of Significance

The place has aesthetic significance as a finely detailed Victorian Italianate style example of a commercial building as displayed in the Aberdeen Hotel and the Federation Free Style of the St John's Building. The place makes a positive contribution to the streetscape. The place has historic significance as it reflects the expansion and development of residential and commercial buildings on the city fringes during the rapid population increase of the 1890’s gold boom and the early years of the twentieth century. The place is representative as an example of a commercial building dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Aberdeen Hotel is a well-known local hotel and a popular social venue which has been operating continuously since 1886.

Physical Description

Two storey commercial building with large openings to street facade. Distinguished by wide loggia balcony pilasters, pediments at parapet with masonry balustrade.

History

A hotel and stables are recorded on this site from at least 1890, when a Mr W. Love was the owner. Since that time, the hotel has had several name changes. In 1900 it is listed as the Cosmopolitan Hotel; in 1910 the Union Hotel, then the Red Lion Hotel in 1940. The place was subsequently renamed the Aberdeen Hotel. In 1886 a hotel and stables were recorded in the rate book, where the house was previously recorded. John Jones, a brewer, leased the hotel for five years. In 1891 N. Routledge leased the property for ten years. A two-storey building was built next to the hotel in 1892 and was known as Balcony House and was eventually part of the hotel complex. The lease changed hands after N. Routledge and in 1897 the hotel was noted as the Cosmopolitan in the rates book. In 1898 buildings were constructed around the hotel. In 1901 works to the hotel’s bar and accommodation rooms were approved. In 1904 Friedrich J.L.T Schruth acquired the shop and house on the west side of the hotel. Friedrich Schruth had previously owned the Royal Hotel in Wellington Street. The family owned and leased the hotel which changed its name in 1905 to the Union Hotel. After his death, the licensees changed a few times, however the Schruth family became the licensee again with Heinrich Schruth taking over from 1917 to 1927. Changes in licensees often occurred at this time due to the high cost. Further alterations were carried out in 1922 which incorporated the shop and building adjacent to the hotel. The colonnades were also built on the ground and first floors at this time. In the 1950s the name changed to the Red Lion hotel and further internal changes occurred in the subsequent decades. In the 1980s the hotel became an important place for Perth’s gay and lesbian community to meet and socialise. Stages were set up at the venue for entertainment during this time. The hotel was acquired by the Main Roads Department in 1996, along with a number of other properties along the length of the proposed Northbridge Tunnel development.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium level of authenticity. Largely intact some restoration and adaptation.

Condition

Fair

Associations

Name Type Year From Year To
P W Harrison Architect - -

References

Ref ID No Ref Name Ref Source Ref Date
Burswood Bridge and Road Project Northbridge Tunnel Area Heritage Assessment and Report AMLFRAIA by Ronald Bodycoat and Duncan Stephen and Mercer Architects
The Village Northbridge Heritage Inventory Develop WA - MRA August 2002
East Perth Heritage Study AMLFRAIA by Ronald Bodycoat
Assessment File/s HCWA
Aberdeen Hotel and St Johns Building Northbridge Conservation Plan Palassis Architects March 2022

State Heritage Office library entries

Library Id Title Medium Year Of Publication
9452 Aberdeen Hotel & St Johns building management plan. Heritage Study {Other} 2009
9189 Aberdeen Hotel & St Johns Building, Northbridge: Heritage management plan. Heritage Study {Other} 2005
5356 Aberdeen Hotel & St Johns Building, Northbridge : conservation plan. Heritage Study {Cons'n Plan} 2002

Place Type

Individual Building or Group

Uses

Epoch General Specific
Present Use COMMERCIAL Hotel, Tavern or Inn
Original Use COMMERCIAL Hotel, Tavern or Inn

Architectural Styles

Style
Victorian Italianate
Federation Free Classical

Construction Materials

Type General Specific
Wall BRICK Common Brick
Roof METAL Corrugated Iron

Historic Themes

General Specific
SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES Cultural activities
SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES Sport, recreation & entertainment
OCCUPATIONS Intellectual activities, arts&craft
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY Immigration, emigration & refugees
OCCUPATIONS Commercial & service industries
OCCUPATIONS Hospitality industry & tourism

Creation Date

09 May 1996

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

27 Nov 2023

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.