Noonan's Hut
Photo courtesy of Bill Statton 1998.
Located at Brocks Road, Howqua on the Howqua River. Shown on the Buller Stirling map at GR 434838.
History
This hut was built by Fred Fry in the same drop-slab style of many of his other huts, for Mr Roy Bostock, then manager of the Bank of NSW at Mansfield. He requested a Permissive Occupancy 2 miles upstream from Fred Frys hut in 1949, within the Forest Reserve. Bostock built a steel garage on the site, but vacated in favour of another block at 6 Mile Creek.
Ms Robin Noonan, of International Hotel Melbourne took over the lease in 1966. She applied for a larger area and felled some very large Manna gums, to build a drop-log hut on the site in 1967, prior to formal approval. No action was taken and new hut was built being 30 feet by 16 feet in slab timber, with an iron roof. Little is known of the Noonan family, but the hut has seen considerable use by fisherpersons and is significant as an early representative sample of the new recreational lodges.
Construction
The hut is substantial gable roofed slab building, but its greatest feature is the double sided interior fireplace in the American Hunting Lodge style. Re-used six pane double sash windows and second hand two panel vertical boarded doors add unusal features for a bush dwelling. It also has some lead-light windows!
Caretakers - none known.
References
Hueneke Pp69, 241
Butler Pp238 - 242