Hotels/imperial.html
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Imperial Restaurant
14 South Terrace, the Interfoods site, now Pizza Bella Roma
In 1897 Arthur E. Davies../people/daviesarthure constructed a shop and dwelling at 14 South Terrace. In 1907 it had become the Imperial Restaurant, and in 1910 it was the largest lodging-house in the Fremantle area, capable of accommodating 63 people. It was a hotel in that sense, tho it never had a liquor licence.
Heritage Council:
History
From the rate books it would appear that 14 South Terrace was constructed by Arthur E. Davies in 1897 as a shop and dwelling. The following year Mr Davies opened a restaurant in his building which in 1901 was called 'Spanish Restaurant', in 1907 'Imperial Restaurant', and remained as such until 1948 when the new owner Mr Ezio Luisini altered the usage to that of a shop.
It was later a lodging house owned by Luisini into the 1970s. The lodging house at the rear of 14 South Terrace was demolished in 1985.
In 1986 a new arcade and restaurant was built in its place. This new two storey building extends across the rear of both 14 and 16 South Tce and houses restaurants. In 2001/02 a second storey verandah was built for a new restaurant on the first floor, Pizza Bella Roma restaurant.
An external Heritage Assessment was prepared in May 2009 by Philip Griffiths Architects for a DA submission to Council (DA197/09) for an awning over the existing verandah.
Physical Description
Two storey rendered building with a parapet and decorative and central pediment, has a zero setback from the pavement. The first floor façade has arched windows with stucco semi-circular arches and keystones onto engaged pilasters. The ground floor is metal framed with glass, which is not original. The verandas have a zincalume roof supported by metal columns with a fringe between; the first floor also has brackets and a balustrade (probably not original).
An external Heritage Assessment was prepared in May 2009 by Philip Griffiths Architects for a DA submission to Council (DA197/09) for an awning over the existing verandah.
Statement of Significance
The place is of historic significance as an example of a commercial building in the Fremantle Town Centre dating from the early decades of the twentieth century. The place is a fine example of a Federation Free Classical style building, with elaborate stucco decoration above the ground floor level, that makes a significant contribution to the streetscape. Awning and shop fronts are not significant.
References and Links
Thanks to John Dowson for drawing my attention to this premises.
The photo is part of a Valentines postcard. It show the veranda of the Newcastle Club Hotel on the extreme left, and the Synagogue in the distance at the bend in the street.
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 19 June, 2023 and hosted at freotopia.org/hotels/imperial.html (it was last updated on 28 November, 2023). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.