The colonial era building you can see from the windows in Apartment 102 is the Old Albany Post Office, affectionally termed the Penny Post.
The building is formally recognised as a place of significance by Western Australia’s state heritage office.
The building was constructed to be used as customs house, post office, telegraph office, and local government meetings. However in 1875 the building housed a base station for the intercolonial telegraph system enabling communication with the eastern states of Australia.
The Western Australia State Heritage Office describes the building’s construction as follows:
The first stage was designed by architect James Manning and used local materials. Construction began in 1867 and the building was occupied by December 1869. Building materials included granite from Mount Clarence, lime for cement from Limeburners Creek and sheoak shingles for roofing from the King River and Kalgan River areas. The building was originally used for a Court Room, Local Government Offices, Post Office, Customs on the second floor and a bonded warehouse on the bottom floor.
The building’s use as a post office was discontinued in 1964 and thereafter was used for several years as an Employment Office and Taxation Department. The building has had a variety of uses from then on including theatrical performances, concerts, church services, and even housing a restaurant at one time. More recently in 1999 the building became home to the University of Western Australia’s Albany Centre.