Kobeelya House
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Kobeelya was the first significant residence in the town of Katanning, and one of the most up-to-date in the state. It was built for the Piesse family, an important pioneering family in the Great Southern, who were instrumental in the development of Katanning. In its heyday the house entertained and accommodated many important people.
Kobeelya was erected for Frederick Henry Piesse in 1902, as the family’s private residence and built to overlook their property and the town. The name, suggested by Sir John Forrest, is an aboriginal word, which means “place of sleep and rest”.
The home originally contained seventeen rooms; bathrooms with hot and cold running water, in-door toilets (septic), seven bedrooms and billiard and ball rooms.
Kobeelya is typical of the period with its gabled roof, wide verandahs, many chimneys, bay windows, stained glass windows and side panels, ornate plaster work and polished jarrah floors. The Piesse family crest is featured in the arched stained glass window on the main staircase landing. Kobeelya was also connected to electricity. The bricks were made at the Piesse brickyards.
When the house was completed, there was still the road leading to its entrance which needed developing to Clive Street. However, rather than waiting for the Road Board to do this, Piesse hired “eight men for three weeks to gravel and level it, so that with a fringe of plane trees, it became one of the best roads in the district, and his own personal avenue”. [Bignell, p.205].
Kobeelya passed out of the hands of the Piesse family in 1922, when it was bought by the Bunbury diocese of the Anglican Church for £5000. The interior furnishings were sold and the building became the boarding house and schoolrooms of Kobeelya College. This school for girls was opened on 14th September 1922 and was later associated with Penrhos College in Como.
Kobeelya Church of England Girls School c1930
Many of the original outbuildings, such as the coach house, were converted into educational facilities and other amenities. A chapel was also erected on the eastern side in 1939. A fairly unique feature of the school was that the girls were able to keep their own horses at the school.
KENNEDY HALL
In 1986 the Baptist Church purchased the site for use as a weekend retreat and education/conference facility. The church itself is also located on the site in the former dining hall ,”Kennedy Hall“, for the Kobeelya School.
THE COACH HOUSE
The Coach House Museum
The Kobeelya site also houses a building called the “Coach House“. It was first built to house the coaches belonging to the Piesse family. When the property was converted into a school and started to expand the coach house proved to be a valuable asset. The loft was used for storage of the boarder’s cases and only a privileged few could climb the loft. The bottom story of the Coach House was used as servant’s quarters when the Piesse’s resided at Kobeelya.
The Old Kobeelyans Association (ex pupils) now house archives and memorabilia from the Kobeelya Girls School in the Coach House. A conservation plan was completed on the building and a LotteryWest grant has enabled the re-roofing of the building to be completed. The Katanning Baptist community has continued to raise funds for the restoration of the building.
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