The Wedding Wall

Freo Today. 30 September 2025. ‘The Wedding Wall’, Cliff Street, Fremantle. Well, the other side of the facade where most of the photos are taken, but equally fascinating. The Liebler Building/Reckitt & Colman Building Facade, often referred to these days for obvious reasons as The Wedding Wall, is the facade of the former Liebler Building/Reckitt & Colman building on the corner of High and Cliff Streets in Freo. Like many places in Fremantle, including the Strelitz Buildings in Mouat Street, the building was created through the addition of a street side facade to existing buildings in the 1890s. These buildings were demolished in 1967 but the facade along Cliff Street was retained after a campaign by Alec Smith of Fremantle Hotel and the famed cartoonist Paul Rigby. In 1974 the facade was listed by the National Trust. In 2018, University of Notre Dame Australia initiated the restoration of the facade to what you see today.

The more detailed notes of the Heritage Council state of the facade and the building once behind it –

Cliff St in the 1850s was a busy thoroughfare connecting the sea front jetty with the river. Many businesses were located along the route. The street was paved in 1858 with hand-tolled Yorkshire flagstones by sappers of the Royal Engineers. The job was completed by private contract after the sappers were needed elsewhere. Apparently, convicts were not skilled enough for the job. To meet the expense, dog licences, poundage fees and fines were raised by the Town Trust.
The Liebler Building façade is part of former buildings of Lionel Samson and Co, the oldest existing firm of merchants in the state. Lots 7 & 8 Cliff St were owned by John Lewis in 1880, as mixed commercial and residential use. New owners in 1881 were Mason and Liebler, and rates records refer to new buildings incomplete on Lot 8, and a house, occupied by Mason and Liebler. Lot 7 has a shop. In 1882 the ownership changes to Mason and Samson and remains thus until 1890 when owners are entered as Elias Solomon and Lionel Samson. At some time between 1890 and 1895 a facade was constructed in front of stone cottages already on the site. 
The cottages were demolished in 1967 but the facade was retained. The facade was classified by the National Trust in 1974. In 1980 the southern wing of the facade was demolished.