Katanning Club
The Club building today
The Katanning Club is significant to the social history of the town, and the way people need to interact with each other in their leisure time.
There is also rarity value in its steward accommodation, which was a feature not often seen in country clubs.
There is also architectural significance, having been designed by the prominent Perth architects, Cavanagh & Cavanagh, and being well proportioned and carefully detailed.
By 1914, the men in Katanning were in need of a district social club. As a result, a committee was formed (predominantly of rural background), land was purchased (£213.15s) and architects submitted plans of the clubhouse.
The design of Cavanagh & Cavanagh was accepted, and Mr F L Kleeman was the successful contractor to build the clubhouse for £1803. (This amount was later adjusted to allow for an error in the additions). The Anderson brothers, Ross and Thomas, were extremely generous for their financial support of the clubhouse. The club, set on a lot of over one acre, was a male domain, except for the token “Ladies Day” held annually. It was not until 1985 that women were admitted as members when the club combined with the Ladies Marloo Club.
The club is a single storey, asymmetrical bungalow style building with brick walls and white tuck-pointing and stucco string courses. The hipped and gabled roof is of corrugated zincalume while the verandah is supported on circular stylised columns topped with pseudo Doric capitals and torus mouldings. The fascias are supported on console brackets and the main gable is elaborately decorated with niches, half timbering and roughcast render. The minor gable to the verandah has a central medallion and is surrounded by wreaths.
The windows are timber framed double hung. The ceilings and cornices are pressed metal. A room has been added to the clubhouse, and the bar has undergone renovations.