ANZAC COTTAGE
Located at No.38,Kalgoorlie St.,Mount Hawthorn this house was built in 1916 on the initiative of the Mt.Hawthorn Progress Association to be presented to the first wounded soldier to return from Gallipoli. The land on which the house stands was donated by a local Real Estate agent and the construction was a community effort that saw tradesmen complete the main structure in one day,the newspapers of the day reported " Feb.5,1916 a convoy of some 70 horse carts preceded by three gaily decorated motor cars left James Street for the house site with the building materials,in the leading car was the Anzac Queen,Mrs.Roberts". Later that month (Feb.12) it was reported that" at 3.30am trades men started laying the foundations and by 8am some 100 men were at work watched by a crowd estimated to be 3,000 strong". Mrs. Scadden,wife of the Premier performed the opening ceremony on 15th.April,1916 and the house was awarded to Private C.J.Porter and his descendants for as long as they chose to live there,the fanlight above the front door was leadlight and featured the word "Anzac"The material cost of the house was Onehundred&sixtyfive pounds and house and land were valued at Sixhundred pounds. Originally,on the street line,there was a timber and Mesh fence with an entrance gate on the right and a flag pole in the front garden on which Mr.Porter, as part of his tenancy agreement,raised the Australian Flag at 4.30am every April 25th. to mark the time and date of the landing at Gallipoli of the West Australian 11th.Battalion.One of the brick gate posts bore a plaque reading:
This dwelling was erected to commemorate the landing of the Australian Forces at Anzac,April 25th.,1915
The Porter family lived there until well after WW2. The descendants of Pte.Porter decided to hand the house back to the community and,eventually, the Vietnam Veterans Assn. inherited it to use as their H.Q. and,after extensive renovations, the house was re-dedicated on Sunday April 7th.,2002 in a ceremony which included the Govenor of West Australia, Minister for Veterans affairs and Mrs.Majorie Williams, youngest daughter of Pte.C.J.Porter. The photo (courtesey Vietnam Veterans Assn.) above shows the exterior of the renovated house and garden on re-dedication day.