Loton Park was once a lake, then a paddock and is now the home of Perth Glory and Australia's only gay and lesbian tennis club.

Today the site is known more commonly as Perth Oval, but the area in East Perth was once named for William Loton.

"Loton was a well-known pastoralist and merchant and he was in the legislative council, as well as being mayor of Perth from 1901 until 1903," Richard Offen from Heritage Perth told 720 ABC Perth.

"This area was originally part of the lake system that ran through Perth from Claisebrook to Herdsman Lake.

"This one was known as Stone's Lake. It was drained and Loton used it as a paddock."

Mr Loton built a grand two-storey mansion for his family overlooking the paddock and the city beyond, and named the house Dilhorn, after his hometown in England.

Dilhorn, built for William Loton, was used as a military museum and is now in private hands. ( Supplied: State Library of WA )

"Dilhorn is on the corner of Lord and Bulwer streets and people will recognise it as the rather magnificent house on the hill," Mr Offen said.

The house was occupied by the family until 1927, when it became a boarding house.

In 1952, the Federal Government bought the house for use by the army, and it later became a military museum.

In 2001, the house was sold to a private buyer and is now used as office space.

Long history of tennis

Loton's paddock was sold off in 1904 to the City of Perth, which wanted it for recreational purposes, Mr Offen said.

"A year later they constructed an oval and a grandstand on the site and also a tennis court," he said.

"That obviously flourished because in 1916 there was an application to the city for a new tennis club to be based there.

"The city agreed to lease the courts to the club and that continues to this day."

Loton Park Tennis Club in the 1920s. ( Supplied: Loton Park Tennis Club )

The oval was used initially not just for soccer matches, but cricket and Australian Rules football too.

"Soccer was played here throughout the first world war and this place was the scene of one of WA's worst humiliations in 1927," Mr Offen said.

"They were thrashed 11 to three by a team from Czechoslovakia."

In the 1930s, white art deco gates were added to the entrance of the oval.

"The gates have been beautifully preserved," Mr Offen said.

"They are on the State Heritage Register."

Glory pushed for redevelopment

In 1995, the oval became the home of the newly-formed Perth Glory soccer team, but the shape of the field proved troublesome.

"In 1996 temporary stands were moved in so that spectators could be nearer the pitch," Mr Offen said.

"After playing here for four years, Perth Glory decided they needed a proper rectangular stadium and there was a redevelopment.

"After the redevelopment, part of the ground reverted to a public open space and the original name — Loton Park — was applied in honour of William Loton."

The Loton Park Tennis Club will celebrate its centenary this year and is notable as the first gay and lesbian tennis club in Australia.