King George Hostel
The King George Hostel was one of only a few such hostels built in Western Australia. Originally named the St. George Hostel, it opened in 1913 having been built for Melville Piesse, a son of F. H. Piesse by Alexander Thomson. Thomson was an experienced builder, who settled in Katanning in 1905. He built a number of prominent buildings in the Katanning district, as well as homesteads.
The King George Hostel forms a prominent part of the Austral Terrace streetscape.
Katanning was, at this time, experiencing a boom in farming and so accommodation became necessary for the influx of itinerant workers. The hostel, which was an unlicensed accommodation house, differs from a hotel in that it has shops along the street frontages rather than public bars. Some of the original shop tenants were an accountant, boot maker, tailor and mercer, an agency for Farmers’ Mercantile and Chaff Mills Ltd, an assurance company, Doctor Pope, newsagency and barber and Gilbert’s chemist.
There are six separate shops on the ground level, including a closed accountant’s business, which has been located in the hostel since 1913. The shops and stairwell have pressed metal ceilings and the wooden staircase is in original condition. In the hall is an ornate wooden hall-stand with the Piesse crest carved into it. The public dining room, original large stove and baker’s oven have all remained part of the hostel.
Members of the Piesse Family managed the hostel. Melville Piesse, who built it, died in 1920. Harold, his brother, then managed it and lived there with his family in one of the flats during the depression years.
Above information taken from the inHerit website.
The upstairs of the building is now used as a private residence while the bottom floor still contains shops.
