Fairholme was established in 1952 as a home for 32 children aged from 3 years up, with cognitive disabilities, who were transferred from the Claremont Mental Hospital. Fairholme, with Earlsferry, made up the Nathaniel Harper Homes which were owned and run by the government of Western Australia, and located on opposite sides of the Swan River. Residents were gradually relocated into modern premises from 1982. All children had been relocated by 1984. The Fairholme property is no longer used for out of home care.
Fairholme was opened by the Minister for Health, Dame Florence Cardell Oliver, on 27 September 1952.
Nathaniel Harper, who had a son with Down’s Syndrome, donated money to the Mental Hospitals Department in order to improve service provision to children with cognitive disabilities., marking the beginning of a change in the way these services were delivered.
Prior to Harper’s philanthropy, children with cognitive disabilities were engaged in basic industrial work, whereas children at the Harper homes undertook a special education program facilitated by the Education Department. The Homes were run by nursing staff, with visits from Claremont Mental Hospital psychologists.
The young people and adults at Nathaniel Harper Homes were also engaged in work, taking some of the overflow from the industrial rehabilitation workshop at Claremont Mental Hospital making glass pipettes and cleaned and re-assembled bottle-tops.
When the government purchased Earslferry, a number of renovations were made. These included adding a laundry, removing the outhouses and building a cottage for the Matron in what had been the orchard. Security wire mesh fences were put up around the boundary, a large tree and rose beds were removed and the driveway was bitumised and kerbed.
By the 1980s, Fairholme and Earlsferry were better known as separate hostels rather than collectively as the Nathaniel Harper Homes. Earlsferry continues as a private home.
From
1952
To
1984
Alternative Names
Nat Harper Homes
Nathaniel Harper Homes
Fairholme Hostel
27 September 1952 - 1984
Fairholme was located on the eastern bank of the Swan River at Market Street, Guildford, Western Australia (Building Still standing)
