High Street, 80, Fremantle WA 6160
DESCRIPTION
Heritage TitleCommercial HotelAddress80 High Street FREMANTLE WA 6160Geo tag[1] Heritage Place No921Location Description Street Number80Construction Commenced1908Construction MaterialRoof – METAL: Corrugated IronWall – BRICK: Common BrickFormer W.A. Heritage ThemesOCCUPATIONS: Commercial & service industriesStatement Of SignificanceThe Commercial Hotel has social, historic and aesthetic significance.The place is historically significant as hotel representing the development of Fremantle’s Old Port City from the gold boom period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The place is significant because, when viewed from the street, it is a substantially intact example of a federation period commercial building which contributes to the very significant Old Port City of Fremantle. The building has landmark significance as a fine example of a hotel in the Federation Free Classical style.The place is of social significance as evidenced by its classification by the National Trust.ArchaeologyConditionFairHistoryHigh Street was named by Surveyor General Roe - as was customary in English towns, the main street of the town was named High Street. Eastward from William Street the roadway was completed by convict labour after the Town Hall was built in 1887. High Street around the Town Hall closed to traffic in 1966. The High Street Mall was trialled in November 1973 and made a permanent pedestrian mall in 1975. The current Commercial Hotel was built on the site of an earlier hotel (Albert Hotel, owned and kept by Capt John Thomas, on Fremantle Town Trust 1849-51, 1853-54, 1863-66, 1870, Chairman of Town Council 1873-75. There is a stained glass window in St John's in his memory.) It was known as the Exchange Hotel from c1882 to 1888, then Commercial from 1888, according to rates records. (There are also references to it being called the Southern Cross Hotel c1905 in Daily News 8/12/1976.) The hotel was rebuilt in 1908 by architect John McNeece; the builders were Bradley and Rudderham. Costing £8, 000, it originally had three storey verandahs and balconies, and stables and coach houses at the rear. Castlemaine Brewery Co purchased the hotel c1920; later bought out by the Swan Brewery from c1930. Repairs and renovations were carried out in 1941 (Allen & Nicholas Architects), 1963-64, 1985 (James Christou Architect) and 1994 by MRSA, Miller & Assoc. Building Designers. Grande Development carried out these recent changes. It has been Sun Dancer Resort backpackers' accommodation, with a bar on the ground floor since c2002. Physical DescriptionThree storey tuck point brick prominent building, with rendered banding on the columns and pilasters. The decorative parapet has the name 'Commercial Hotel' in raised stucco and central decorative pediment. The first and second floors have stucco architraves and recesses with timber and glass French timber doors and six paned transom windows, some have rounded metal balustrade balconies. The ground floor has an arcade effect veranda with stucco archways and banded columns; the awning (not original) onto the footpath has metal columns.AssociationAllen & Nicholas, 1941Bradley and RudderhamJohn McNeecePlace UseOriginal Use – COMMERCIAL: Hotel, Tavern or InnPresent Use – COMMERCIAL: Hotel, Tavern or InnArchitectural StylesIntegrity/AuthenticityPlace TypeIndividual Building or GroupState Registered1
Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations
Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations CustodianHeritage CouncilHeritage Council Decisions and Deliberations TypeRHP - To be assessedHeritage Council Decisions and Deliberations Date1/07/1997
Statutory Heritage Areas
Statutory Heritage Area CustodianHeritage Council of WAStatutory Heritage Area West End Heritage AreaHeritage Area StatusState RegisteredHeritage Area InHerit Number25225Statutory Heritage Area Date18/07/2017
Local Government Statutory Heritage Listings
Local Government Statutory Listing CustodianCity of FremantleLocal Government Statutory Listing TypeHeritage ListLocal Government Statutory Listing StatusYesLocal Government Statutory Listing Date8/03/2007
Local Government Non-Statutory Local Heritage Survey
Local Government Non-Statutory Local Heritage Survey CustodianCity of FremantleLocal Government Non-Statutory Local Heritage Survey Date18/09/2000Local Government Non-Statutory Listing Local Heritage Survey Management CategoryLevel 1B
Non-Statutory Listings and Surveys
Non-statutory Listings CustodianDCCEEWNon-statutory Listings TypeRegister of the National EstateNon-statutory Listings GradingRegisteredNon-statutory Listings Date21/03/1978
Non-Statutory Listings and Surveys
Non-statutory Listings CustodianHeritage Council of WANon-statutory Listings TypeStatewide Hotel Survey Non-statutory Listings GradingIncludedNon-statutory Listings Date01/11/1997
Non-Statutory Listings and Surveys
Non-statutory Listings CustodianNational Trust of Australia (WA)Non-statutory Listings TypeList of Classified PlacesNon-statutory Listings GradingClassifiedNon-statutory Listings Date28/10/1974
PARENT PLACE
Parent Place No22576
RELATED
INTERNAL
Heritage EntryYes
High Street, 80, Fremantle WA 6160. City of Fremantle Local History Centre, accessed 19/03/2026, https://history.fremantle.wa.gov.au/nodes/view/28348