Kobeelya

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Kobeelya is a conference centre for the Baptist church in the town of Katanning in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, located approximately 300 kilometres south east of Perth.

Kobeelya was the name given to the grand mansion of the Piesse family, who were pioneers of the town. The seven bedroom home boasted a billiard room, hot and cold running water, a ballroom, tennis courts and a croquet field, which was an unusual building for a town that was only fourteen years old. Ever since then, no other similar residence of such scale has been built in the town.

The Piesse family managed to establish permanent and successful settlement in the district. For many years, the Roller Flour Mill, which they owned, supplied electricity to the entire town.

Eventually the family was forced to sell the property during the Great Depression and it was later converted into the Kobeelya School for Girls, until 1986, when dwindling enrolments at the school led to the site being sold to the Baptist Church.

The name Kobeelya is thought to have come from an aboriginal word meaning 'a place of sleep'. A colleague and friend of Mr Piesse, Sir John Forrest suggested the word may have been a play on words on the name Piesse.