P&O House

DESCRIPTION

NameP&O HouseTypeBuildingResidenceGeolocation^[1] Last edited by: Will Chittick

DescriptionOak Flats was originally granted to John Horsley in 1821 and was known as the Oak Flats Run. Ownership changed to the Wentworth, Hughes and Towns families until 1880, when the 1200 acre property was purchased by George Laurence Fuller.

GL Fuller's son, George Warburton Fuller eventually subdivided the estate 15 March 1921 and auctioned the Oak Flats subdivision. Lots 9-11 became the suburb of Oak Flats.

Oak Flats was further subdivided in the 1920s when George Warburton Fuller (land owner) and Staples & Co of Sydney (developers) formed the Panorama, Lake Illawarra Township and the Kembla Vista estates.

Many investors from all over the state purchased building blocks on the opening of the 1925 Lake Illawarra Township estate, in anticipation of one day building a holiday home on the shores of the beautiful Lake Illawarra. Due to the downturn in the Great Depression of 1930s some owners of lots in Oak Flats either had to relinquish their land, or settle in tents, primitive shanties or garages, and lived off fish and prawns from the lake and trapping rabbits, abundant on adjacent farms. Small fishermen’s cottages became the basis of building development in Oak Flats, some cottages still surviving todays population growth.

Although sales interest ensued and some holiday cottages were constructed prior to World War Two, the 1930s Depression and then the war dampened land uptake and building, until c1950s when European migrants came to Shellharbour to take advantage of the affordable housing.

These new residents of Oak Flats used whatever building materials were available to construct their homes - mostly weatherboard and fibro.

This cottage is one of the few remaining examples of post World War Two era homes surviving in Oak Flats today.

‘The giant P&O liners steamed into Australian harbours during the interwar years until the take over by popular air travel in the late 1960s. Their porthole windows, streamlined prows and massive curved funnels were echoed on the shore by a fleet of modernistic new buildings. Following international trends, these crisply defined new buildings stood out dramatically from their more conventional neighbours’ [Stapleton 1997 p81]. Doors fitted flush into walls, windows with smooth reveals and no skirting or architraves to collect dust. Popular in seaside locations.

This site is former lot 126 of the Kembla Vista Estate.

P&O House, Wentworth Street, Oak Flats, c.2000.

Heritage Information

Heritage NSW LinkShellharbour Heritage Inventory Sheet Last edited by: Erin Tierney

CONNECTIONS

CollectionPlacesLocalityOak FlatsRelated ItemKembla Vista Estate

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P&O House