West Island Elevated Houses

The West Island Elevated Houses are the last houses to the south of the West Island Housing Area. There are two houses clad in cement asbestos and have a plan form and design suited to local climatic conditions. Most have distinctive raking on end walls and there are several variations on the "Type 2" plan which have been achieved by lengthening the base plan. The houses mainly have three bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and living room with a large hall leading onto the front porch. There is a separate laundry out the back of the house. The Shire Clerk's house has a large added verandah to the west.^[1]

In 2000 the condition of the houses was assessed as still being good.^[1]

The West Island Elevated Houses are significant for their association with the establishment of housing for Australian Government employees administering the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The presence of the Australian Government assisted the self determination of the Cocos Malay people. The houses are significant in the development of the West Island settlement which grew after Government House was located on West Island in 1953.^[1]

The Elevated Houses are significant as examples of Australian Government housing on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands with a plan form and design suited to local climatic conditions. The two houses are larger variations of standard "Type 2" houses and their siting to the far south of West Island, near the administrator's residence, indicates their important status on the Islands.^[1]

• Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle Architects Pty Ltd (1996). Cocos (Keeling) Islands Heritage Study. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
• Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle Architects Pty Ltd (1994). Lot 14 Home Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
• Bunce, P. (1988). The Cocos (Keeling Islands) Australian Atolls in the Indian Ocean.
• Nairn, B. (1986). "no title (1891-1939)". In Searle, G. (ed.). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943.

This Wikipedia article was originally based on West Island Elevated Houses, entry number 105359 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2019 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 15 May 2019.