Hoover House

Historic Hoover House was once home to Herbert Hoover, who went on to become the thirty-first president of the United States of America. Today it’s a museum and bed and breakfast, giving you the chance to walk in a president’s footsteps and discover other legends of the gold rush era.

You can take a 2 hour 40 minute flight from Perth to nearby Leonora, but the best way to get their from Perth is by road, via Kalgoorlie and the Golden Quest Discovery Trail. It’s a 2.5 hour drive to Hoover House from Kalgoorlie, or you can make it a 3 day trip and discover many Goldfields legends and icons along the trail.

Built in 1898, and commissioned by Hoover himself, the house was the residence for the manager of the neighbouring Sons of Gwalia mine, now long abandoned.

Stop by and peruse artefacts from the town’s mining heyday, including ‘Ken’, the narrow-gauge locomotive, and the mine’s Oregon head-frame, designed by Hoover.

Hoover House is available as a venue to hire for a special occasion or, you can stay at the guest house and give yourself time to delve deeper into Gwalia’s pioneering prospector past. Walk through the Historic Precinct’s miners’ cottages, huts and shops. Visit Western Australia’s first State Hotel, or take in sweeping views of the settlement from Mount Leonora.