Historic heritage Freemantle home on the market

The numbers 8 8 8 gracing the facade at Fremantle’s former Trades Hall aren’t a mark of the historic building’s address, or even the year of construction.

The digits are a nod to the labour movement’s motto of eight hours work, eight hours rest and eight hours leisure. It’s a symbolic welcome to a heritage home with a big story to tell and plenty of space to work, rest and play.

Few residences capture the spirit of a city quite like 6 Collie St, in Fremantle’s vibrant West End. Since its foundation stone was laid in 1901 by Western Australia’s first Premier, Sir John Forrest, the period property has lived several colourful lives.

Originally the headquarters of the trades and labour movement, the 701 sq m site was sold for $21,000 in 1968, when it became a popular music hall. By the early 1980s, it had been turned into a landmark restaurant known as Zorba the Buddha, operated by the Rajneeshee – aka the controversial Orange People.

Then the block became Club Le Maschere, a high-society Italian restaurant and bar, made famous after the America’s Cup win, when, in December 1986, it even earned a glowing review in the LA Times. Later, the two-storey building served as a convention centre until it was transformed into one of Fremantle’s most iconic private residences in 2009.

The Collie St home last sold in 2022 for $5.5 million, but is now seeking new custodians. Michael Harries and Kat Goddard of Ray White Dethridge Groves have listed it via an expressions of interest campaign, expecting in the “high $7 millions”.

Beyond the marble-floored portico, arched niches still display the workers’ organisations that once filled the hallowed halls. The remainder of the home, however, has been transported into the 21st Century through a sophisticated interior makeover.

At ground level, there is a ballroom-sized multipurpose workspace framed by tall curved windows, intricate pressed tin ceilings, stately bookcases salvaged from the old Battye Library, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. The vast space flows out to a private courtyard with sheltered seating and a sculptural pond.

Across the hallway, the main bedroom features a fireplace and a palatial ensuite with a freestanding tub. The same floor also houses two more bedrooms, a media room, and a laundry room.

Upstairs, via a meticulously restored sweeping jarrah staircase, the primary living level is a grand open-plan lounge and dining zone with cathedral-style ceilings. The contemporary commercial-grade kitchen features a large butler’s pantry and two work islands.

Additionally, there is another bedroom with an ensuite, an internal deck with a plunge pool overlooking Esplanade Park, plus three Juliet balconies.

In total, there are four bedrooms, with the possibility of a fifth, artwork lighting systems, CCTV security and alarm, climate control, electronic blinds, and off-street parking for three cars.

Sitting across the road from the Esplanade Hotel, this rare residence is also within walking distance of Bathers Beach, museums, galleries and sought-after restaurants.

The unique heritage home at 6 Collie St, Freemantle is for sale via an expressions of interest campaign with Harries and Kat Goddard of Ray White Dethridge Groves.