Owning a heritage listed house is a double edged sword. On one hand you will likely own a piece of history, a looking glass into the past, but on the other, you can’t do much with it.

And so, owners with dollar signs in their eyes often facilitate artificial degredation of the dwellings in order to own a house which is past the point of no return and thus, demolition now legal, proceed.

One fine example of this (about to get all controversial on your ass) is the Guildford Hotel, which was suspiciously damaged and burnt-out by a large fire. Another example of such skulduggery is this huge residence on G.t Northern Highway, near Toodyay Rd in Midland. Known as the Lynwood Homestead, its construction dates back as far as 1894, and is a permanent Heritage Listed residence with the State Registry, Municipal Inventory and is classified by the National Trust. However, due to the semi-loophole which exists in these matters, it has been demolished due to it being declared as ‘being beyond the point of repair’ after the current owner alleged that an investment of $3M would be required.

Ms Quirk, Shadow Heritage Minister, has been highly critical of its demolition, after the Liberal government and Heritage Minister Albert Jacob have done absolutely nothing to inhibit the destruction of a piece of Perth history, taking the owners estimates as gospel without an independent study. The City of Swan is on the record as saying that without the states assistance they have no means of preventing the destruction of what they consider to be an important landmark in the area.

Politics notwithstanding, it is a pity to see such a brilliant building in a sorry state, let alone witness it’s piece by piece destruction. This is made all the more bitter knowing that the owner is doing so in order to develop a business lot- which the owners, Mr Carlo Antonio Aloi and Mr Neil John Aloi and Mr Joseph John Aloi would obviously benefit economically from.

So in June, just as I noticed the back end of the house being pulled apart, my brother and I (who now live in the locale) decided to go through the downtrodden house and attempt to document a little bit of history.

By the time we got there the back had been dismantled, and the rain set in

Since the house is long abandoned, it has been host to many groups of misfits, homeless inhabitants and users. This is evident by the writings on the walls, sleeping bags, destruction and other bizarre items. Since the house is mid-way through demolition, right on the highway and in close vicinity to the Midland Police Station, it was a quick in and out, but what we saw there was grand. Or, would have been…