House

Statement of Significance

The house, at 150 Coogee St, was the family home of Hazel Hawke, wife of Prime Minister Bob Hawke. It is a fine and representative example of an Interwar California Bungalow.

Physical Description

The single storey dwelling has a hipped roof with a double front gable feature. A full gable over the protruding front room and a truncated gable over the wide verandah. The verandah roof is supported by square rendered columns on a stepped base supported by the face brick dado wall. The front walls have a dado brick work and render above. The garage on the side has a parapet frontage. Low fence- lawns and perimeter shrubs None apparent

History

No. 150 Coogee Street was part of Swan Location 724, Lot 215. It was the childhood home of Hazel Hawke (nee Masterton), former wife of Prime Minister Bob Hawke. Hazel wrote in her biography 'My Own Life' that 'It was not long after this holiday that we moved into a brick house Mum and Dad built on the other half of their double block in Coogee St. The big gum trees had to go! Dad owned a block in the smarter suburb of Nedlands, over near the Swan River, but Mum was too attached to Mount Hawthorn to leave. It was where she felt comfortable and it was near her sisters'¦ Dad built paths, enclosed the large back verandah and built a summerhouse the width of the block for Mum to fill with wondrous ferns and flowering exotics'¦ There was a huge, flat lawn at the back to play on and a curved wall on the front verandah where for years to come all the family photos were taken in the afternoon sun.' From 1924 until 1928 James Masterson, an accountant, is shown in the Wise's Post Office Directories as owning house No. 120 Coogee Street. From 1929 until 1936 he is listed at No. 148 (the blocks had been renumbered). The 1937 and 1938 issues show No. 148 as vacant and the Mastersons at No. 152. Around 1939 he erected a second house on the vacant block next door and the new house was then numbered 150, the previous one then being renumbered as 152. On his death in 1959, James widow Edith inherited in the property. In 1960 the house was purcahsed by another daughter Edith (Hazel's sister) and her husband Ronald William Baker. No. 148, a weatherboard and iron building that was the Masterson's first home, was demolished in 2002 and replaced by a modern four bedroom residence with a swimming pool. Hazel attended the nearby Mount Hawthorn State School in Matlock Street and many past students and other local families remember her musical skills. It was through her music that she met Bob Hawke, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. Hazel later wrote her autobiography and became involved in a broad range of organisations, including Alzheimer's Australia.

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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.