Item Type: Place

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Oak Flats

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Lady Albion Tourist Launch

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Panorama Estate

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Illawarra House

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NameIllawarra HouseAlternative NameThe California Guest HouseLake Illawarra HouseTypeBuildingHotelGeolocation^[1] Last edited by: Will Chittick

DescriptionThe California Guest House, originally called Illawarra House, was built in 1929.

Mr Albert Orange had great plans for the Panorama Estate, and built a two-storey guesthouse called Illawarra House on the shore of the lake in The Esplanade, Oak Flats. He also built a timber wharf at Windang Street, Albion Park Rail. From here he met passengers from the Sydney train and ferried them to the guesthouse at Oak Flats. He owned the Lady Albion ferry, used for excursions around Lake Illawarra.

The Guest House offered sumptuous furnishings, modern bathrooms, lounges and a music room, a radio player, gramophone, and excellent meals.

With the onset of the Depression in the 1930s, the project failed and the guesthouse was dismantled and transported in 1936 to Reddall Parade, Lake Illawarra South by the Chambers family. The building exists today and is known as the California. It is a private residence.

During the Depression years, land sales were slow and unemployed men squatted with their families in tents and rough dwellings made from fruit boxes nailed together and covered with hessian and a thin coating of sand and cement.

The first shop in Oak Flats was situated on the southern side of Fisher Street next to a house named Nimrod. Holiday visitors from Sydney could rent the cottage.

External LinkHealth Inspector's Report 1936Building Applications 1929Opening 1929

Object

Certificate of Registration Illawarra Ferry Company

Ledger - Illawarra Ferry Company

Panoramic Photographs Of Lake Illawarra

Australian Red Ensign Flag - Lady Albion

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Lake Illawarra Panorama

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Chambers Bakery

Blackbutt Motel

California Guesthouse

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Orange

Chambers

Map or Plan

Panorama Estate Lake Illawarra

Locality

Lake Illawarra South

Maritime

Lady Albion Tourist Launch

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Tourism

Illawarra House, The Boulevarde, Oak Flats.

Heritage Information

Heritage NSW LinkShellharbour Heritage Inventory Sheet

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CollectionPlacesFamilyOrangeChambersLocalityOak FlatsMaritimeLady Albion Tourist LaunchPlaceIllawarra House Jetty RelicCalifornia GuesthouseChambers BakeryRelated ItemPanorama Estate

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Illawarra House