Nedlands 39 Stirling Highway

Landgate aerial photographs from November 1953 show the original building at 39 Stirling Highway. By 1975, aerial photographs show what appears to be a major renovation. Property databases list the construction year as either 1973 or 1975 but those dates may refer to the renovation.

Whilst I have not located any residential tenants between 1950-1954, the building continued to be owned by Ethel Winifred Longson. Electoral shows that she lived there with her daughter Lois until 1949 and then again in 1954 although the gap is the result of no available electorial rolls during this time.

It is quite possible the building that accommodated residences since it was constructed in 1923, is the same building.

Residential Tenants

William and Katherine Downe, 1924-1933

William James Augustus Downe owned No. 39 from 1924 to 1933. He was born in Echuca, Victoria, in 1885 and married Katherine Marion ‘Kate’ Penny in Beverley in 1908. They had two sons, Alwyn and Horace and a daughter, Sybil. Before moving to No. 39, William lived on Everett Street in Nedlands, where the electoral roll listed him as a civil servant. Most of the other records describe him as an accountant, an occupation he had recorded as early as 1910.

William had served as a second lieutenant with the Australian Light Horse at Katanning between 1910 and 1913 and as an honorary first lieutenant with the Senior Cadets between 1913 and 1915. He applied to join the Australian Imperial Force on 30 October 1918 while living in Maylands. An eye examination recorded unaided vision of less than 6/60 in his right eye and a partial reading of the 6/36 line in his left. He could read the 6/5 line with glasses but his unaided eyesight fell below the enlistment standard and he was found ineligible for active service. He later enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps at Claremont on 19 March 1942, giving his occupation as business manager.

By 1937, the Downes were living at 2A Thomas Street, Nedlands. William was working as an accountant and Sybil as a typist. Horace was listed as a clerk in 1943. Kate died on 5 April 1946, aged 62. William remarried that year and later lived with Ada at 115 Stirling Highway, where he was listed as a manager. He died in Floreat Park on 5 December 1957, aged 73.

Their son Alwyn Raymond Downe was working as a country depot manager in Katanning when he enlisted in the Citizen Air Force on 11 November 1940, aged 30. He had married Edna on 13 March 1937 and had previously served with the 44th Battalion in the Citizen Forces. On 4 September 1942, he was the front gunner aboard Wellington IC DV893, returning from an operation against enemy concentrations in the Western Desert. Low cloud and mist prevented the pilot from locating the base. He followed a road and the aircraft struck rising ground in poor visibility. Alwyn was killed, the second pilot and navigator were injured, and three other crew members escaped injury.

November 2024

James Charles Hancock, 1934-1935

James Charles Hancock was recorded at No. 39 in 1934 and 1935. He was born in Kadina, South Australia, on 15 June 1863 and married Mary Jane Stephens there on 2 April 1881. They had six sons and two daughters. He was listed as a hairdresser in Kalgoorlie in 1906, when he was living with his brother Harold, a bootmaker. By 1916 James was also working as a bootmaker. He was recorded as the publican of the Belmont Hotel in 1921, a bootmaker in Wyalkatchem in 1925 and a repairer at 15 Perth-Fremantle Road in 1931.

Hancock was also recorded at 34 Clark Street, Subiaco and by 1939, was working as a bootmaker at 155A Stirling Highway. He died in Claremont on 10 September 1940, aged 77.

Frederick George King, 1936-1937

Frederick George King lived at No. 39 in 1936 and 1937 and worked as a stationer. Earlier electoral rolls list him as a salesman in Subiaco. He was recorded at 171 Stirling Highway in 1939 and at 28 Portland Street, Nedlands, in 1943.

Ethel and Lois Longson, 1938-1949

Ethel Winifred Longson owned No. 39 from 1938 to 1949 and lived there with her daughter, Lois Huntley Longson, who worked as a typist. Ethel was born in Yanyarrie, South Australia, on 31 March 1889 and married Edward Darcy Longson in Midland Junction on 21 January 1913. They had two children, Lois and Geoffrey. Edward worked as a bank manager, and the family lived in Manjimup, Mingenew, Moora, Goomalling and Wagin during his banking career. He died on 7 October 1937, aged 48.

Ethel Winifred Longson continued to own No. 39 through the gap in the residential records. Electoral rolls list Ethel and her daughter Lois at the address up to 1949 and again in 1954. The rolls for 1950 to 1953 were unavailable, so it’s unclear whether they lived there throughout that period.

The house built in 1923 may have been part of the building that later housed offices. A Landgate aerial photograph from November 1953 shows the earlier building, and imagery from 1975 appears to show substantial alterations.

November 2025

Architectural design

The three-storey building has a classically styled frontage. At street level, a row of round arches rests on columns with scroll-shaped tops known as Ionic-style capitals. A balustrade with closely spaced turned uprights runs above the arches. Small triangular pediments sit above the first-floor windows, while the top-floor windows echo the rounded arches at street level. Together, these features give the frontage something of the appearance of an Italian palazzo.

Commercial Tenants

Gym Master

One of the earliest businesses I’ve found at No. 39 was Gym Master, a gymnastics equipment agency run by William Harper Todd. A 1977 Commonwealth Gazette notice records that he had already stopped trading from the address by then.

Todd was born in Glasgow in 1920 and married Elizabeth McDermott. He appears to have moved to Australia after her death in Scotland in 1970. By 1980, he was living in Yokine and working as a clergyman. He died in Yanchep in 1991, aged 71.

Ian Ross Wallace

On 25 June 1979, Ian Ross Wallace, a 21-year-old land salesman accountant, applied for a land agent’s licence and gave No. 39 as his intended principal place of business. The notice was published on 6 July and a hearing was scheduled for 7 August.

Edmiston International

Edmiston International Pty Ltd was listed at No. 39 in 1982, as the holder of an insurance broker’s licence. In 1990, the WA Government Gazette listed Edmiston International Real Estate & Finance Pty Ltd at the same address and named Kenneth Earle Edmiston as the person in charge.

Edmiston was born in South Charleston, Ohio, on 5 May 1923 and served during the Second World War. He worked in insurance before moving to Australia and established his Perth insurance brokerage and real estate business in 1973. He remained managing director until he retired and later worked as a hospitality industry consultant. He and his wife Maud had two sons and two daughters.

He also wrote stories for children. According to his obituary, he sold a set of Australian animal characters to a television network in the 1980s and they became the basis of a children’s show. The obituary gives neither the title nor the network. Edmiston died in Perth on 20 December 2007.

November 2025

Farming Management Services

Farming Management Services was both an owner and an occupant of No. 39. Its name was still on the directory beside the front door when I photographed it on 21 November 2024, listed on the second floor. The firm dates to 4 October 1966 and manages cropping and livestock operations for landowners and investors, including the day-to-day running of farms and their business administration.

One of its clients was KLK Farms Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Malaysian plantation company Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad. A land title for a farm at Ikewa, registered on 19 August 2003, gives KLK Farms’ address as care of Farming Management Services at No. 39. KLK Farms was registered on 2 September 1968 and was previously known as Erregulla Farms Pty Ltd. Its business names have included Mungedar Farms, Jonlorrie Farms, Tachbrook Farms, Wyngunga Farms, Chilimony Farms, Erregulla Farms, Warrening Gully Farm and Torradup Farm.

SACOA

SACOA Pty Ltd listed its head office on the first floor in product material from 2011 to 2013. Founded in 1991, the company supplied spray oils, soil wetting agents and products added to agricultural sprays to help them work. Its products included Biopest horticultural spray oil and the COHORT spray additive. DKSH acquired SACOA in 2021. The business was later brought together with SST under the Agrion Crop Solutions name.

Leasing

A commercial advertisement last updated on 30 September 2013 described the entire ground floor as a 100 m² partitioned office with four parking bays at the rear. It was offered unfurnished at $2,750 a month, or $33,000 a year, plus GST and outgoings. The advertised three-year lease was negotiable.

Key Petroleum

Key Petroleum Limited used the ground floor as its registered office and principal place of business from at least January 2013 to February 2015. The oil and gas explorer issued updates from No. 39 on drilling and exploration in the Perth and Canning basins. Its announcement on 23 February 2015 still gave No. 39 as its address. By 23 March, its registered office was listed at Level 2, 47 Stirling Highway.

Legal Consolidated Barristers & Solicitors

The sign beside the front door in my November 2024 photographs lists Legal Consolidated Barristers & Solicitors in ground-floor suite 1. The firm also used No. 39 on its legal documents.

Employment Innovations

Employment Innovations had its Perth office on the first floor of 39 Stirling Highway from at least April 2017. The company provides HR, employment and payroll support.

Owners

Panzarino Constructions Pty Ltd

On 16 June 1987, Panzarino Constructions sold Lot 1 on Plan 8943 to Farming Management Services for $365,000. Panzarino was registered in New South Wales on 3 February 1970 and deregistered on 20 December 2013.

Farming Management Services

Farming Management Services sold No. 39 to Hot Sand Capital Pty Ltd on 18 January 2021 for $1.8 million. On 12 June 2025, Hot Sand Capital sold it to Stirling Highway Development as part of the $8.8 million sale covering 37-43 Stirling Highway. No. 39 was one of four properties brought together for the student accommodation development.