SHOP & HOUSE, 107 SOUTH STREET

Statement of Significance

Aesthetically significant as an example of Fremantle’s vernacular architecture. Typical local shop and attached residence dating from the first decades of the twentieth century. Historically significant as a representation of commercial activity in the Fremantle area.

Physical Description

Single storey rendered and terracotta tile roofed house and truncated corner shop. There is a zincalume verandah awning over the shop front, which is probably not original. The following places form a significant group and contribute to the streetscape South Street; 75-77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86,87, 88, 90, 91, 94, 98, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 114, 140 & 142.

History

Erected c.1925 for Maria Stapleton. The place was initially used as a bootmakers, and subsequently a newsagent, a hairdressers and an electoral office. Shop & House, 105-107 South Street is a house and shop combination, with the shop on the left hand side and the house on the right hand side facing from the road. From a black and white photo taken in 1979 the shop of rendered brick or stone, and is on the corner of 2 roads, it has a tile main roof with a corrugated iron verandah that faces South Street and wraps around the front part of the building, but does not continue to the end of the building. The shop has a large window with the words “Silver Streak” on the window. The corner of the building away from the house has been constructed with a door on the footpath on the diagonal. The roof has hips to match the walls. On the left hand side wall there are two windows in the main part of the building, and a fibro sleep-out behind with one louvered window. The tile roof does not continue all the length of the building, but is replaced by an iron skillion roof before the sleep-out. There is also a sign on the side wall saying “Silver Streak” and a painting of a woman’s head. The house (no. 105) shares a common wall with the shop, but is set back, allowing for a small area of garden in front of a verandah. The house is of brick construction, with a tile roof with hips that meet at a central point and a verandah under the main roof. At the rear of the house is an iron skillion roof that matches that of the shop. There is a brick chimney on the right hand side of the house. The front wall of the house has a front door on the left hand side and a 3 paned casement window on the right hand side. The verandah has a low rendered wall with pillars and plain wooden? posts supporting the roof. An outbuilding at the rear of the block is behind both parts of the building, and a brick W.C. with a curved roof is also visible behind the house. A colour photo taken in January 1993 shows the shop with no sign on the window and a sheer curtain inside. When the property was offered for sale in November 2002 it is described as a 2 bedroom house and a semi-detached premises with a shop front formerly used as a hairdressing salon and 3 offices, and off-street parking at the back. There is a report from 2002 of a well on the block 104-108 South Street at the rear, believed to have been built by convicts c1870, circular about 4.5-5 feet in diameter and 90 feet deep through limestone. It is reported that chisel marks are visible, that a natural stream runs through the bottom of the well down the slope to the old Sunny West dairy and ice-cream factory on the adjoining block. In the 1970s a wind mill was installed over the well and the water fed into 2 2000 gallon tanks. The report suggests that the spoil from house demolition has been shoveled into the well and it has been covered over. It is unclear whether this is at the rear of this property, it is described as on the north east corner of the block. This place was identified by the Fremantle Society in 1979/80 as being of cultural heritage significance. (Coded: Brown: "Positively contributing to the built environment")

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update