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| Streets: | |
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| Built: | 1890 |
| Wikidata: | Q30622529 |
| inHerit: | 984 |
-32.05355556, 115.74416667 | |
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Robert Harper Building, aka Jebsens, Genesis
49 [[../westend/phillimore.html|Phillimore]] Street (cnr [[../westend/pakenham.html|Pakenham]] Street), also aka Genesis Travel, Norwegian Jebsens Shipping & Travel Company.
The extant building is from the 1920s, architect unknown, a previous building (c. 1890) having been destroyed by fire in 1922 (FSN).
The building was threatened with demolition in 1976 and 'saved' by the Fremantle Society. See President Les Lauder's annual report for that year (publ. 1977) linked from the bibliography (below).
The name Genesis survives above the corner door, and many people refer to it as the Genesis Travel building.
Heritage Council:
History
The Jebsens Building stands on the corner of Phillimore and Pakenham Streets and is a landmark. Formerly the Robert Harper Building, the building is a combination of warehouse and offices. Some changes to the facade were made in the 1990s [and the 1950s].
Statement of Significance
The place is of historic significance as an example of a commercial building in the Old Port City of Fremantle dating from the gold boom period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The place is of aesthetic significance as a fine example of a substantial commercial building in the Inter-War Stripped Classical style. The place is a significant landmark in the Old Port City of Fremantle. The place is of social significance as evidenced by its classification by the National Trust.
Skip Watkins' 1985 photo: Jebsens, after Robert Harper, before Genesis Travel. (Note on the left hand side the Lysaght/Halco building which was almost entirely demolished and replaced with a condo, Quest Apartments. Before that it was the site of Manning's Hall/Folly.)
Physical Description
Two storey and basement, painted brick and rendered corner building with a zero setback from the pavement. The building has a bracketed parapet and a dome above the rounded corner, which is covered with lead sheets. The main entrance has a stucco arch and glazed paneled doors with a stained leadlight glass fanlight, the windows have prominent stucco mullions flanked by engaged pilasters. Heritage Council.
Robert Harper traded in flour, inter alia, and sold Harper's Empire brand self-raising flour.
In 2023, the Fini Group is proposing to add four apartments to the top of the building. See: the Fremantle Society's view of this proposal.
Source: Fremantle Shipping News.
- Robert Harper still occupied the building in 1941.[1]
- KJR Travel was liquidated in 1990.[2]
- 1898, RH employees donate to Fremantle Hospital.Template:Cite news
- 1896. Smelly drain in Pakenham St.[3]
References and Links
Cook, Peter, RH bio, ADB.
Notes about the building in Fremantle, the newsletter of the [[../society/index.html|Fremantle Society]]: [[../society/newsletter/1976-4-1.html#robertharper|Vol 4 No 1 1976]], [[../society/newsletter/1977-5-1.html#robertharper|Vol 5 No 1 1977]][[../society/newsletter/1996Mar.html#railwayhotel|]].
Grant, Steve, 'West End pushback', Fremantle Herald, 8 December 2023. Quotes John Dowson at length.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 25 March, 2016 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/robertharper.html (it was last updated on 23 January, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.