The house at 42 Tuart Street is a single storey timber and iron structure constructed in the Federation Arts and Crafts style by architect Eustace Gresley Cohen and local contractor J G Hough. The pair often worked together in Bunbury designing and building well-crafted houses using local timber. Built in 1914, the house is reputed to contain timbers salvaged from the demolition of a whaling station once on the shores of Koombana Bay.

Tuart Street, part of the Tree Street area in Bunbury, was subdivided in the early 1890s by surveyor William Bedford Mitchell into 95 suburban blocks. The subdivision was originally called Stirling Townsite as the land originally formed part of Location 26, granted to Governor James Stirling in the 1830s. The Tree Streets were named Palm, Karri, Banksia, Jarrah, Wattle and Tuart.

The house’s architect, Eustace Cohen, immigrated to Western Australia due to ill health in 1904 and set up an architectural practice in Bunbury and Busselton. Cohen was instrumental in bringing the Arts and Crafts movement to Western Australia. The earliest examples of his work in Bunbury and Busselton display his interpretation of vernacular homes in the Arts and Crafts manner.

Between c.1930 and c.1950 George Shafe Cox and his family owned and occupied 42 Tuart Street. On 20 August 1920 the couple had a daughter (reference).

Residents of 42 Tuart Street

1930-1950 George Shafe Cox

More information on this property can be found at http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/

Information retrieved from Inherit with permission.