Osborne Illustrated - The Zig Zag Steps

In 1894, James Grave began building Perth's first resort hotel. The Osborne Hotel was built on a 2 acre property on a cliff top in Claremont.

The hotel precinct included a flight of 200 steps (Osborne Steps) built on public land at the bottom of Bindaring Parade. The steep wooden steps with white railings were built on a sandy, wooded cliff face which lead to a jetty (Osborne Jetty) on the shore of Freshwater Bay on the Swan River. The jetty catered for those arriving by boat, which was primary mode of transport used by hotel patrons. The steps were gifted to Claremont Council in the 1890's and were maintained by the council until the 1920s.

By 1901, when the hotel was converted into the Loreto Convent, the steps were considered unsafe.

In 1904, the Claremont Council Works Committee produced a report on the Osborne steps. They found the steps in a very bad condition and unsafe for traffic. In several places the supports had gone. In others, owing to sand-drift, the supports were standing out of the ground.

In 1923 it was reported that the steps were constructed of a wood which was unsuitable for the purpose, then patched up until the foundations were rotten. In places, many steps were missing. Near the top a whole platform had disappeared. In some places the drop was about fifty feet or more on to the rocks below.

The steps were closed in 1922 and removed in 1923 because of continuing vandalism. Timber from the steps was often used in fires to cook crabs. By 1947 only one post and rail remained.