My father worked for the Queensland Government Railways as the Maintenance Engineer in Maryborough back in the 1950's and 60's. His office was just a few yards from the District Superintendent's House.
This aerial photo was taken in 1964. This was the main station yard for a district stretching from Gympie to Bundaberg and west to Mundubbera. The station is circled in green, the superintendent's house in red and our house in yellow. I used to go to school across the street from our house.
Since the station was set up as a terminus that suited steam engines, the arrival of diesel and electric engines that did not need to be refueled resulted in the closure of the station and the station yards. The area at the left is now a shopping mall. The station itself is heritage listed but the various railway houses are now privately owned.
The Superintendent's House fell into disrepair and was only restored a few years ago. It is now a BNB and we decided to stay the night as my birthday present.
If you click on this link, you will see the bnb listing including a photo of the front of the house (which I forgot to take).
About 60 years ago, the Superintendent invited our family to dinner. We children were presumably old enough to be trusted to behave. The current owner was keen to meet us to talk about the old history so we turned up at 3 pm for afternoon tea.
The Superintendent position was of great importance in the city and the house reflected that importance with larger rooms suitable for entertaining. The entrance to our bedroom is at the back right.
The house was completely gutted when the current owner took over and none of the furniture or contents are original. She is obviously a collector.
Our room was very comfortable.
The dining area.
We were invited to see the kitchen and this massive old stove which the owner found somewhere and had restored.
Afternoon tea, and no, we did not eat it all. But we talked and talked for hours.
During the visit 60 years ago, my father was pleased to be able to show me a large room to the side which apparently could be used as a ballroom. Alas, it is now divided up and not yet restored, but my father lusted after that room as a listening room for his records. There would have been refrigerator-sized loudspeakers at one end.
About all that remains that shows what was special about the house. It was such a pity that it was allowed to fall into such disrepair,
The local ferocious beast,
We settled into a smaller lounge and talked until 6 pm.
This fireplace uses coal and there was plenty of coal available back in steam engine days, It can get quite cold in these old wooden houses in winter since there is no insulation at all.
The next morning, we had an excellent continental breakfast.
The front verandah. It had rained overnight and it was a pleasure to hear the sound of rain on a galvanized iron roof. There is something very relaxing about these old wooden buildings.
The red flowers of a poinciana tree which flower here in November.
My father's old office across the laneway. It's no longer used.
It's a pity that these old buildings have lost their purpose in life.
Still, we really enjoyed our stay at the bnb and it is wonderful to see life restored to a magnificent house.
