Glentana Homestead Historic Site 1906

Glentana was one of three historic homesteads that were removed with the expansion of the Harvey Dam in the 1990s.

Unlike the modest homesteads of Nicklup and Jardup, Glentana was a substantial Victorian-Georgian-style home.

It was a timber-framed building with weatherboard external cladding and a galvanised iron roof. A curved flight of steps led to the front door, and the verandah surrounded the entire house. Projecting bay windows were located on either side of the front door.

Inside, Glentana had a central hall and seven main rooms. There was pressed metal wall lining and 4.5m high pressed metal ceilings with ornate cornices and ceiling roses.

Every room featured a carved jarrah fireplace surround. The style and size of the homestead reflected the general increase in prosperity in Western Australia by the 1890s, largely due to the construction of the Perth to Bunbury railway in the Harvey District in 1893.

Joseph Thomson built Glentana in 1906. He was an importer of pianos and sewing machines, with premises in Pears Arcade, in Perth. Thomson sold the property seven years later. In that time, he established a garden and an orchard.

When the Harvey Dam expanded, the Glentana homestead was estimated to be metres from the water’s edge.

A buyer was found for the property, and the building was to be relocated. The intentions were to restore the homestead. However, during the relocation process, the new buyer found the white ants had substantially damaged the foundation. Removing it was unsuccessful, and the white ant damage was irreparable.