The Story
Behind the name
Old & new collides.
A warm welcome, 182 years in the making.
The Hougoumont exists today as Fremantle’s boutique small-room hotel, purpose-designed to bring guests closer to moments in time – past, present and future. Step aboard as we warmly open our doors to an intimate experience together, fringed with “that little something” that sets the scene for an enriching voyage.
It may seem a far cry from the sordid tales of yesteryear, but we have more in common than you may think. Today we write a new chapter, 184 years in the making. We invite you to share our experience.
A ship named Hougoumont. A street named Bannister. Two age-old legacies, knotted with tales of gallantry, prosperity—even thievery. Each over a century in the making. In 2013, they collided.
The Ship
The year is 1852. A ship is constructed in Moulmein, Burma. In an eerie omen of the troops and political prisoners it would later come to convey across the globe, the ship is named Hougoumont after the Château d’Hougoumont where the Battle of Waterloo was fought. A full rigged ship weighing 875 tons, the Hougoumont’s three masts cast a commanding shadow over distant shores, providing safe passage to soldiers, emigrants and convicts across the seas and the centuries. Notable journeys of the Hougoumont: Chartered by the French as a troop carrier during the Crimean War. Conveying emigrants from Plymouth to Port Adelaide. The last convict ship to transport convicts to Fremantle.
The Site
Bannister Street in Fremantle, 1840. The new Stanley Beer House soaks in the weary feet and faces of emigrants seeking fresh starts in a foreign land. 1901, architect Talbot Hobbs resurrected the site into the famed Duke of York Hotel. Lording over Bannister Street, its gabled walls pierce the briny Fremantle sky. The Duke keeps close company with two brothels—and a funeral parlour. Come 1923, Italian emigrants commandeer the site, giving rise to Club Giovanni Italia and later, the Fremantle Club. An era of hard work and harder drinking ensues, with patrons sculling 40 x 18-gallon kegs per week (18,000 middies) at its peak. 84 years on, this illustrious site lain in wait for a new era to begin.
Some interesting reading;
The Catalpa Rescue - Peter Fitzsimmons
Fenians 63 - Peter Murphy
The Fenian Rising - James Stephens
The Fenians in Australia - Keith Amos
A Concise History of Western Australia - Russell Earl Davis
The Fatal Shore - Robert Hughes
'The Last Fleet': Crime, Reformation, and Punishment in Western Australia After 1868 - Barry Godfrey and David J. Cox
The Hotel
Built for smooth voyages.
With a prime location in the heart of historic Fremantle, The Hougoumont’s architectural vision was to transport guests through passages in time – past, present and future.
Fusing original built-form from the former Duke of York Hotel (est. 1901) with innovative sea container construction, this eternally evocative boutique small room hotel promises an intimate experience bringing you closer to people and places.
Setting the scene is a heritage–laced façade giving way to a dynamic blend of colours and materials, modernistic artwork by Troy Barbitta and custom-designed furniture from award-winning designer Yoshio Takagi.
The result is a melting pot for adventurous souls. Romantic escapees, pleasure seekers, corporate travellers, engineers, ship pilots, students and world wanderers. And they’re all here for the same reason – to experience what it’s like to be truly well travelled.
Modular Documentary
Our hotel is featured in this short film. Part of a series based on projects by the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) as part of the ‘Greening the Built Environment Program’, led Professor Peter Newman, Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute.
