Bonney Downs Homestead and Log Cabin

Child Places

• 14223 Hale's Grave & Well

Statement of Significance

Bonney Downs Homestead has aesthetic, historic and social heritage values. The older building is unique and is constructed using a method no longer practised today. The design of the building is typical of certain Pilbara homestead buildings built in the early part of the twentieth century. The station demonstrates the evolution of station life over the years. It is associated with an early pioneer family, the Stewarts, who made a significant contributution to the district over many years. Bonney Downs Homestead is classified by the National Trust and is on the Register of the National Estate.

Physical Description

The main Bonney Downs Homestead consists of two rectangular buildings in parallel use and each surrounded by verandahs. The verandah of each house adjoins to form a breezeway parallel with the long axis. The smaller of the pair, constructed c 1910, has timber walls constructed in log cabin fashion. The timber windows and doors are of quite a sophisticated design. The hipped roof is steeply pitched corrugated iron. The interior walls were later lined with stamped metals. The verandah around the log cabin is made from local flag stones laid down in a crazy paving pattern. The larger house, built around 1933, has concrete block walls with a corrugated iron vaulted roof. Neither house has a ceiling, so the roof timbers are visible.

History

This log cabin was the original homestead on Bonney Downs Station, owned by Harry Stewart and Ferdinand Wehl, who were both teamsters. In the early days they ran horses and cattle on Bonney Downs, not sheep. Gradually, sheep were introduced. During WWI their main source of income was the supplying of remounts to Egypt during the war. The early Bonney Downs residence was built by Bob Rees, who was periodically employed on a team with Stewart and Wehl. He was also an excellent axe man and he built the house out of Mulga logs and bloodwood uprights. Each Mulga log was split in two with a broadaxe and the building was erected with the split side inside and the bark side on the outside. The average length of the logs is 44 inches. Sawn timber was used for rafters and the roof is of galvanised corrugated iron. The later building was added c 1933. It is said that the graves of Bob Rees and a few other people are located about a quarter of a mile from the homestead. The station is also associated with Mrs Thora Gallop-Howard, daughter of Harry Stewart, who played a major role in the Nullagine district for many years as licensee of the local hotel, storekeeper, postmistress, station manager, and Local Government Councillor. She has been called 'Mrs Nullagine1.

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