Look from the public footpath near the southern Marine Parade-Curtin Avenue junction. The former cable station stands opposite the Vlamingh coastal reserve.
Cottesloe became a cable landing point in 1901, when the Eastern Telegraph Company opened a submarine link from Western Australia to Mauritius via the Cocos Islands, connecting into the international network beyond. A new, faster cable was laid in 1926, and this purpose-built station was constructed to house the relaying and transmission equipment and its technical staff. Designed by architect Samuel Rosenthal, it replaced an earlier station on the site.
The station remained in operation until the 1960s and is now on the State Register of Heritage Places. Look for its balanced frontage, tiled roof and raised position above the foreshore. Across the road, the Vlamingh Memorial area adds another layer to the story: wartime infrastructure and remnants of the old cable route form part of the heritage place.
Appreciated the Cable Station from the street as it is not a museum or open to the public- but knowing that international messages once passed through this quiet stretch of Cott makes the building worth a second look.