The Tin House

Statement of Significance

The Tin House is of significance:
• As representative, surviving example of the modest houses built in Margaret River during the consolidation of the town following Group Settlement in the 1920s.
• For its historical association with the operation of boarding houses in the town, serving the tourist trade in the 1920s and, intermittently,through to the present day.

Physical Description

The ‘Tin House’ is set on a steeply sloping site, rising up on the eastern side of Bussell Highway. It is set back approximately 24m from the street and would have originally had a large domestic garden at the front. This area is now sealed as a carpark, which is dominated by a large eucalypt in front of the house, and bounded by smaller trees. None of the current landscaping appears to date from the inter-war or immediate post-war period.The old boarding house is a modest residential cottage clad externally with pressed metal sheeting. It has a basic square floor plan with a partly enclosed verandah at the front and skillion lean-to at the rear. The main roof is hipped, with a projecting gable over the main entry, flanked by a bull-nosed verandah roof. The verandah is elevated and accessed by a modern ramp across the front of the building. Chamfered posts with simple timber brackets support the verandah roof. Original external detailing includes the paired casement windows to the side elevation.

History

Agricultural Development Linked to the Group Settlement and WWII Soldier Settlement Schemes (c.1922-1960)
• Establishment and Consolidation of Town and Village Centres
Tourism (c.1890s-Present)
• The Establishment of Tourist Accommodation.
The Tin House was built by Captain Robert John Currey in 1926, on land he had purchased from Ned Higgins for £30, and was initially run by Miss C E Currey as a boarding house.
It was constructed by builders and brothers, Arthur and Leslie Mann, who also built St Margaret’s Anglican Church (1927) (Place # MR(T)-16), the Church of England Convent (1928)(Place # MR(T)-03), and Cowaramup CWA Hall (1941)(Place # CO-02).In 1928 Currey went bankrupt and he subsequently sold this house and his nearby store (Place # MR(T)-04) to Ian and Malcolm Burns. Their mother also ran the place as a boarding house.
In 1936/37 the house was owned by Hankey-Giles and used by the Order of the Sisters of Elizabeth of Hungary (see also Place # MR(T)-03).In 1941/42 it passed to a Mrs Harders, wife of the accountant for the First Bank of NSW in the town and in 1943/44 was occupied by the Harders’ successor at the bank, Neil Reitze.From 1952, until her death in 1963, Mrs Alma Whitewood carried out extensive renovations and, once again, the place was used as a guest house. [The house is known locally as either Mrs Whitewood’s or the Tin House.]
In 1984 the house was purchased by Dr Ray Clarke, who with Dr Gavin White conducted a medical practice there until 1995.Since then, and as at 2012, the house has been used as Inne Town Backpackers.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium: The use has been altered, but the original use is still clearly evident through interpretation of the fabric.
Medium: The place has had some alterations, but the original intent/character is still clearly evident

Condition

Fair *Assessed from streetscape survey only

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.