5 Mouat St (was 17 pre 1938) Tarantella nite club
This three storey building, a unique Federation Romanesque style, was designed by architect Edward Herbert Dean Smith for William De Lacey Bacon and the North German Lloyd Steamship Company in 1902, and constructed in 1903. The facade is constructed from limestone with contrasting bluestone columns and plinths. There are decorative string courses defining the floor levels and the building is entered through an arched opening supported by two bluestone columns with bowl capitals. It has a steep gabled roof which has been topped with an elaborately decorated square turret that has a steep pyramidal roof. The side and rear external brick walls are constructed in English bond brickwork.
1905 A large number of the Italian residents of Fremantle called on the Italian Vice-Consul, Mr Louis Ritazzi, to pay their respects to him as the representative of their King on the occasion of His Majesty's thirty-seventh birthday. The Italian ensign and other flags were flown over the consulate in honor of the.occasion, and His Majesty’s health was drunk by those present. (reference)
1907 Chevalier Zunini, the Italian Consul, proposes leaving the State on a visit to Italy. Mr. Ratazzi will assume the duties of Acting Consul for Italy during Chevalier Zunini's absence. (reference)
1909 The outbreak of fire on the German steamer Borkun, which put back to Mauritius on Friday last, has not yet been under control and according to a cable received by the local agents for the steamer (Messrs. Ratazzi and Co.) on Saturday morning from Captain Stolberg, the cargo is still burning fiercely… Captain Stolberg tried to save as much of the cargo as possible, but just prior to arrival at Port Louis the fire gained so that he decided for the safety of those on board to jettison 4000 cases of dynamite and 20 cases of detonators. The explosives were all consigned to Messrs. Barrymore and Co., of Fremantle and it is stated were valued at about £10,000. (reference)
1911 Herr L. Ratazzi, the German Consul in this State, who recently returned from a trip to Europe, states that the people in Germany are not obsessed with Anglophobia, but rather are satisfied with the feeling that both nations understand each other better and are content to let matters stand as they are. (reference)
1913 The Chevalier L. Ratazzi, Consul for Germany in West Australia, and local manager for the Nord Deutcher Lloyd- asked whether the feeling between Great Britain and Germany was any more cordial, he said ‘There is no doubt that a strong friendly feeling now exists between the two countries.’ (reference)
Prior to World War I it was rumoured that C. P. Ratazzi, the German Consul in WA, used the attic in the building to spy on movements in Fremantle Harbour and in 1914 Ratazzi was ordered by the Federal Government to cease acting as Consul. (reference)
1914 On Saturday night a noise as if some persons were breaking windows was heard by a man as he was walking in the direction of the North German Lloyd office in Fremantle. One of these offices is occupied by Mr L. Ratazzi, formerly the German Consul. On arrival at the scene of the disturbance, it was found that the front windows of the office had been broken. (reference)
1915 Apparently some of our Fremantle patriots are unable to taste the sweets of victory with a spirit unperturbed. When Mr. Lovekin, with scare headlines in the "Daily Ooze" on Monday evening announced a great Russian naval victory, the exuberance of their spirits got the better of them, and they began to simmer with excitement. That excitement soon reached the boiling point of resentment… Having given Wittorf what they considered enough, they moved on, drunk with: excitement and bug-juice, to ex-Consul Ratazzi's residence, the windows of which they also wrecked. (reference)
1915 There is a good deal of talk in Perth and Fremantle concerning the anomalous position of one Ratazzi, who lives and has his lager beer at the port when he isn't travelling on the continent. It reminds one forcibly of Mrs. Malaprop's Gereberus "Three gentlemen in one, aren't you?" The gentleman's full moniker is Carl Peter Ludwig Ratazzi. A naturalised Australian, he was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. In addition he is the consular agent for Italy in this part of King George's dominions, and has been decorated by the King of Italy for services rendered to that country. As a naturalised Australian, he is bound to hope that victory should crown the British arms, as a German bold he could hardly be blamed for thinking kindly of his native country, and as an Italian consul he is voluntarily expected to throw his hat in the air and whoop for the descendants of the Caesars. It is a complicated case. (reference)
1919 On Saturday last Mr. H. Momber (local manager for Messrs. Wm. Crosby and Co.) together with his wife and child, sailed per the s.s. Hermiston for Melbourne, all of them having recently recovered from severe attacks of the flu. (reference)
1924 Two more commercial houses are installing Dodge Brothers cars for business purposes. Both Messrs William Crosby and Co., of Fremantle... (reference)
1926 The firm is one of the oldest in Australia, established in 1857 (reference) Notice is hereby given that the registered office of William Crosby and Co. Pty Ltd is situated at 17-19 Mouat street, Fremantle, and that such office will be open to the public between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m, on weekdays, except Saturdays, when the hours will be from 10 a.m. to noon. (reference)
1931 Demolition of an old two-storey building in Pakenham-street, Fremantle, near Short-street, is to make room for a new brick building for the Federal Stevedoring Co. The bottom floor will be occupied by William Crosby and Co shipping agents, and the top floor will be let as private offices. The architects for the new building are Messrs. Owen and Nicholas, of Fremantle, and the cost of erection is £1700. The builder is Mr. C. W. Melrose. (reference)
In 1951 it was purchased and occupied by Dickenson's Transport Agency and in 1971, L.H. & A.E. Webb acquired the building.
From 1972 - 1993 the building was known infamously as Tarantella Nite Club.
The building was leased by Jose ‘Joe’ Faria and Jose Rebelo of Lanham Holdings Pty Ltd. They opened up the ground floor internal walls, making a large open space that could be used as a dance floor and bar area.
1976 Tarantella Tavern was a strip club and hookup joint for prostitutes and drunken sailors; as an undergrouund haven for the crooked, transgendered and otherwise excluded. Patrons would compare the merits of local penitentiaries and make deals while hunkering shadily around the bar tables, watching the strippers out of the corner of their eyes. Each night, one of the prostitutes would climb to the highest point and sing House of the Rising Sun, the performance often descending into an all-in-all brawl, with the singer and her sister- both big ladies - and tough- taking on all comers… (from Nine Parts Water, One Part Sand: Kim Salmon and the Formula for Grunge, By Douglas Galbraith, 2019)
1976 Kim Salmon (of The Scientists) initiated himself into the world of live music with a cabaret band called 'Troubled Waters' They obtained a residency at Tarantellas Nightclub in Fremantle, only to lose the young Kim Salmon after (only) eight weeks…(reference) Troubled Waters was formed by John Farley, (singer bass player and band leader). They played cover songs- three sets a night from 11-3, six nights a week at Tarentellas Tavern… (reference)
In 1986, Faria and Rebelo purchased the building and in 1992 the building was sold to Fabray Pty Ltd, a division of Fini Homes.
As Tarantellas, it earned a well-earned reputation as one of WA’s seediest nightclubs, which served only to make it more popular. ( Freostuff link)
As the Tarentella Night Club in the seventies and eighties, the building is all those things. It is port life in the raw. There were syringes in the street, midnight sex being vigourously and noisily transacted over car bonnets, angry adjoining residents, and insifde there’s metal strippers’ cage painted red. Is it to protect the strippers from the patrons or vica versa? Ron Davidson Fremantle Impressions, 2008 (p 269)
On Friday, 13 February 1993, the night club finally closed.
The building was restored and converted for residential use, by local architect Michael Patroni.
It was sold in 2015 for $1,450,000 (reference)
OCCUPANTS
Lot 28 owner:
1829 - 1879 Samson, Lionel
1903 - 1914 Nord-Deutscher Lloyd ( North German Lloyd Steamship Company) Imperial Mail Steamers (L Ratazzi & Co. general agents for W A)
1903 - 1916 Ratazzi C. P. L.
1903 - 1909 Imperial German Consul
1910 - 1914 Imperial German Consul & consular agent Italy
1915 - 1916 Consular agent Italy
1903 - 1917 Ratazzi & Co. L. general merchants & general agents for W A of the N.D.L. Imperial German Mail Line(1903-1905: wine, spirit)
1918 - 1932 William Crosby & Co Pty Ltd., ship owners & agents(1920 - 1932 Hubert Momber, manager)
1933 - 1934
Pocklington & Co, L H, estate agents, sworn valuators
Atlas Assurance Co Ltd (Pocklington & Co, L H, agents)
1936 - 1940 Parsons Bros & Co Pty Ltd (bulk store)
1940 - 1943 vacant
1944 - 1945 Burns Philp & Co Ltd, ship owners, ship agents & merchants
1947 Colyer Watson Pty Ltd, exporters
1949 Bankers Health Society, organisation; National Packers
1970s Tarentellas Tavern
1980s-1993 Tarentellas Nite club
2011- 2015 Fremantle Bed & Breakfast, owner Peter Donovan
Tarantellas Bed & Breakfast
