Kookas

Statement of Significance

Kooka’s Restaurant Building, a two storey rendered brick building with a corrugated iron hipped roof in the Victorian Georgian style, built in 1845, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: The place is the oldest two storey building remaining from the early settlement at Albany, the only surviving component of the pre 1880 Stirling Terrace streetscape and one of the earliest buildings anywhere in the Albany townsite. The place is a good example of a two storey rendered house in the Victorian Georgian style, of which only a small number remain in the Albany area. The place is important in contributing to the community’s sense of place by being part of a large stock of historic buildings that make Albany an important historic town and tourist centre. The place contributes to the historic Stirling Terrace streetscape of two storey rendered buildings mostly dating from the last quarter of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The place was built in the early period of Albany’s development as the major port for the Colony and the central town of the Great Southern Region, and its fluctuating fortunes and uses, residential and commercial, reflect those of the City. The place is associated with a number of previous owners who were important in the early development of Albany, such as James Cooper, John Randall Phillips, and Dorothea and George Pettit.

Physical Description

Some of the notable features of this place include: • Two storey • Symmetrical facade • Hipped corrugated roof with two unadorned tall cement rendered chimneys • Smooth rendered façade with stone or brick quoins on corners and around windows • Double hung sash windows • Arched front door • Low random stone wall delineates property line from footpath Some obvious modifications include: • Former enclosed verandah with timber and brick posts now demolished

History

Kookas was built in 1845 for James Cooper, an early identity in Albany and the region. However, Cooper didn’t live in the house initially, offering it to the Government to lease as public offices for the Government Resident and Commissariat. In the 1850s and 1860s, presumably after Cooper died, the place reverted back to a private residence for his widow Dorothea ‘Dolly’ Cooper (nee Newell), who lived there and also took in boarders and had a bakehouse and confectionery store as a source of income. In 1875, Dolly Cooper married George Pettit, landowner and brewery proprietor. In 1886 Dolly died and in 1888, Pettit leased the house to Frederick Johann Ludwig Theodore Schruth, engineer, plumber and hotel proprietor (Albany Hotel). It is probable that the Schruth’s shops operated from the ground floor level, whilst George Pettit occupied the rooms upstairs and a workshop was added to the rear. Its fluctuating fortunes and various uses, residential and commercial, reflect those of the town, including the boom period of the late 1880s into the 1890s during the Western Australian gold boom, the development of the timber industry in the region and the rising popularity of Albany as a holiday destination. From 1890 to 1941, Alfred O’Keefe owned the place. In 1933, Alfred O’Keefe occupied part of the place, with the other portion let to Mrs. S. J. Edwards. It is believed that Mrs. Edwards operated a guest house at the place. Other lessees and tenants of the place included Francis L. Brady, Manager of Torbay Saw Mills, which was prominent in the development of the South-West’s timber industry Samuel Taylor, watchmaker, Charles Sherlock, stevedore. After O’Keefe sold the property, the place transferred ownership several times from 1941-1980, mainly being used as a residence. In 1980, approval was granted to Mark Harold Higham to use part of the place as a Podiatry Surgery. By late 1980, the place was in a very dilapidated condition, when the then owners accepted an offer from Andrew Markovs and his wife, Jo Sharp, to lease it, converting the ground floor to a fine dining restaurant which they named “Kookas Restaurant” and the first floor was their living accommodation. Even though place was to change hands several more times, it continued as “Kookas Restaurant”. In c2006 it was taken over by the Police Department as part of the broader Court House and Police Offices development. Conservation works were undertaken and refurbishments made to the building in the early 2000s to convert it into office accommodation for the Police. Refer to HCWA assessment documentation for full history.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate Authenticity: High/Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update