Lake Muir Homestead

Values

• The place has aesthetic value for its picturesque setting and simple architectural form.
• The place was amongst the first farm homesteads to be constructed in the area and was built by one of the Muir brothers, the first European settlers in the Manjimup district. Descendants of the Muir’s still live in the homestead.
• The place is representative of the type of farm homesteads that were constructed in the second half of the 19th century in Western Australia.

Physical Description

The site contains an early cottage (1850s), Lake Muir Homestead (1865), a graveyard, and a variety of sheds and yards.
Lake Muir Homestead is located approximately 80kms south east of Manjimup, on the east side of Thompson Road. The buildings are set well back on the site, close to the edge of Lake Muir, and are not easily visible from the road.
The Homestead is accessed off Thompson Road via a long gravel road that winds its way through cropped paddocks, up a low rise, to the settlement area on the western side of Lake Muir. The Homestead and early cottage are contained within a simple timber picket fence, and surrounded by a variety of mature trees including Pine trees, a Moreton Bay Fig tree and other native trees, including a small orchard to the southeast.
There are several timber framed and corrugated iron sheds and yards to the west of the Homestead, an old timber frame, weatherboard and corrugated iron stable to the northeast, and an early cottage immediately adjacent the south west corner.
The original settlers cottage is a simple mud brick and iron structure with hipped roof and rectangular, two room plan form. Recent (c2000) refurbishments include the installation of a ventilator to the roof ridge, removal of the rear lean-to cook & wash house, cement rendering of the walls, removal of the shingles and installation of red colorbond roofing, possible construction of a second entrance to the main façade, and landscaping of the north garden. Lake Muir Homestead is a simple, single storey brick and iron structure with hipped roof, two short projecting brick chimneys, and a surrounding broken-backed verandah supported on timber posts. The original timber verandah floor has been replaced with concrete, and the roof sheeting has been partially renewed. The bricks are unusual for their white colour, evidently acquired by burning the bricks during the firing process.
Approximately 30 meters west of the Homestead is a small graveyard containing tombstones and two willow trees, enclosed by a white picket fence.

History

The MI states:
Prior to 1850 all land was disposed of by sale. However in 1850 legislation was passed which made provision for pastoral leases on land more than two miles from the coast, occupied townships or principal rivers. Leases cost 10s. per 1 000 acres for an eight year period with the prospect of renewal at the end of that period. As a result settlers began moving into the timber country of the south-west. Grazing leases adjacent to the south coast were also taken up at this time.
In 1852 the Assistant Surveyor Augustus Charles Gregory explored extensively in the Warren region. Also in 1852 the Muir brothers explored the eastern part of the region, settled at Deeside adjacent Lake Muir and obtained their pastoral leases in 1859. They became the first settlers in the district. Their homestead at Deeside was built in 1865.
There was a steady increase in population in the area in the following decade and a local community established. By the 1870s there were about a dozen major homesteads in the region.
One of the Muir brothers built Lake Muir Homestead in 1865. Descendants of the Muirs still occupy the Homestead.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity- High
Authenticity- The site has moderate authenticity ( the cottage has low authenticity )

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.