Myendetta Homestead facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Myendetta Homestead
Myendetta Homestead, circa 1915
Location	Myendetta Station, Bakers Bend, Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia
Design period	1900 - 1914 (early 20th century)
Built for	Charles Decimus Edmund Francis
Architect	Robin Dods
Architectural style(s)	Arts & Crafts
Queensland Heritage Register
Official name: Myendetta
Type	state heritage
Designated	2 December 2013
Reference no.	602822
Builders	Gibbs Brothers (Charleville)
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Myendetta Homestead is a special old house located at Myendetta Station in Bakers Bend, Queensland, Australia. It's considered a heritage site, meaning it's important to history. A famous architect named Robin Dods designed it, and local builders, Gibbs Brothers of Charleville, constructed it. Myendetta Homestead was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on December 2, 2013, to protect its historical value.

Myendetta Homestead: A Look Back in Time

Myendetta Homestead was built in 1910. It's about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) southwest of Charleville. The famous architect, Robert Smith (Robin) Dods, designed it for a farmer named Charles Decimus Edmund Francis.

Early Days in the Warrego District

The area around Myendetta, called the Warrego district, started to be settled by farmers in the early 1860s. Large areas of land were leased for farming. The town of Charleville was surveyed in 1867. It grew in importance when the Western railway line reached it in 1888. Charleville became a major hub for the surrounding farms.

Charles Francis and His Big Property

Charles Francis was born in 1860 in England. He came to Australia around 1880 and eventually settled near Charleville. By 1890, he started building up a large farm. Over time, he gathered almost 46,000 acres (about 18,600 hectares) of land. This land was used for raising sheep and cattle.

In 1901, Charles Francis married Marian Anne Challacombe. They had a daughter in 1904 and a son in 1907. He became an important person in the community. The property stayed in his family until 2010.

Why a New Homestead?

Around 1906, Charles Francis decided to build a new, high-quality homestead. He wanted it away from the Warrego River, which sometimes flooded. Family stories say he used money he inherited to build "something of quality." He chose Robin Dods as the architect.

To help with the new house, a very deep water well was dug in 1908. This well tapped into the Great Artesian Basin, a huge underground water source. A woolshed and shearers' quarters were also built around this time.

Why Robin Dods?

It's not known exactly why Francis picked Dods. However, Dods had designed another homestead nearby in 1903. He also worked on a church in Charleville in 1906. So, Francis would have known about his work. Dods finished the designs for Myendetta in March 1908.

About Robin Dods, the Architect

Robin Dods (1868–1920) was a very important architect. He was born in New Zealand but grew up in Brisbane, Australia. He studied architecture in Scotland and England. There, he learned about the Arts and Crafts movement. This was a design style that valued traditional skills and simple, beautiful forms.

Dods started his career in Edinburgh in 1886. He became good friends with another famous architect, Robert Lorimer. In 1896, Dods returned to Brisbane and started a company called Hall & Dods. He is known as "one of the most significant early 20th century Australian architects." He was special because he brought the Arts and Crafts style to Queensland.

What is Arts and Crafts Style?

The Arts and Crafts movement was popular from about 1860 to 1910. It was led by artists like William Morris. This style focused on using traditional craftsmanship and simple shapes. It often used medieval or folk designs. It also valued local traditions.

Arts and Crafts buildings often look solid and strong. They have wide porches and steep roofs. The natural look of materials is important. Buildings in this style are often not perfectly symmetrical.

Dods' Unique Design Style

Hall & Dods became very influential in Brisbane. Dods was the main designer. He mixed British design ideas with traditional Queensland house styles. He also made sure his designs worked well in the subtropical climate. His houses were practical, attractive, and had fine details.

Dods' houses were usually made of timber. They felt solid and strong. He often designed large roofs that covered the verandahs. These roofs were simple and often made of terracotta tiles or flat iron. He used dark, earthy colors and stained timber. This gave the houses a weighty, established look.

His designs also focused on comfort and health. Rooms were planned to get good airflow. Wide windows and doors helped with ventilation. Verandahs were big and comfortable, like outdoor living rooms. Inside, there was beautiful timber work and built-in cupboards.

Dods also paid attention to the outside of the house. Entrances were often off-center. Bay windows and corner fireplaces were common features. He even designed the gardens to match the house. These gardens often had formal flower beds, terraces, and paths.

Myendetta: A Grand Homestead

Myendetta is a great example of the large homesteads built by successful farmers in Queensland. As they earned more money, they built comfortable, architect-designed homes. Most of these grand houses were in the more settled areas of Queensland. Few were built in the far west, where land was mostly leased.

Between 1901 and 1913, Dods designed six homesteads for rural properties. Myendetta was one of them. These were large homes that were often the center of many other farm buildings. Their gardens were also very important.

Myendetta was built by Gibbs Brothers, builders from Charleville. All the building materials had to be brought in because the local trees weren't suitable. Hardwood was used for the outside, while Hoop Pine was used for the inside walls, floors, and ceilings.

Modern Features for its Time

When Myendetta was finished in 1910, it was very modern. It had its own electricity, powered by water from the artesian well. This was a new technology at the time. Myendetta had electricity 13 years before Charleville town did!

The house also had flyscreens and good ventilation. An outbuilding even had a "cold room." This was like an early refrigerator, cooled by air blown through wet hessian curtains.

Inside Myendetta Homestead

The house was shaped like a rectangle. It had a cross-shaped hallway in the middle. This hallway separated four groups of rooms. It included a large dining room, sitting room, drawing room, and sewing room. There was a master bedroom with its own bathroom, four other bedrooms, a second bathroom, and a school room.

In the center of the hallways was an octagonal (eight-sided) hall. It had four arched doorways leading to the corridors. A verandah went all the way around the house. It was about 2 meters (6.5 feet) wide. In some places, like outside the sitting and dining rooms, it widened to 3.6 meters (12 feet) to create larger "piazzas" or outdoor living spaces. The main entrance had an even larger verandah area.

The house had very few windows. Instead, it had many pairs of French doors. These doors had glass panels and screened flyscreen doors. This allowed lots of air to flow through.

Service Wing and Other Buildings

A separate building, called the service wing, was connected to the main house by a covered verandah. This wing had a kitchen, a wash house, and a servants' room or large storage room. The kitchen had French doors leading to its own verandah. The wash house was on the ground level. Six water tanks were located nearby.

The Impressive Roof

The roof was the biggest part of the house. It had a very steep pitch, which made a strong visual statement. Under the metal roof, there were thick pine boards. This made the roof very strong and helped to keep the house cool. The roof also had special vents to let hot air out.

The verandah posts and beams were extra large. This gave the homestead a strong and sturdy look. The verandahs didn't have railings, which made the house feel relaxed and connected to the surrounding landscape. Water tanks on stands of different heights collected water from the well or rainwater from the roof.

Smart Design for a Hot Climate

Myendetta's design shows how well Dods understood the hot, dry climate of Charleville. The house layout was planned based on the sun's position. For example, the school room, used in the morning, was on the southwest corner. This kept it away from the morning sun. The dining room, used in the evening, was on the northeast corner, away from the afternoon sun.

The verandah around the entire house protected the walls from the sun. The huge, ventilated roof space, almost twice the height of the rooms, acted like a giant sun shield. The wide hallways helped funnel breezes through the house. All rooms had doors and fanlights that opened to the hall and verandah. This allowed air to flow through, no matter which way the breeze was blowing.

Dods used a dramatic color scheme for the house. He used large areas of dark, rich colors with bright, light features. The inside also had special painting techniques and stenciling.

Other buildings designed by Dods included a small dairy and butcher shop. There was also a grass tennis court and a rose garden with an orchard.

Changes Over Time

Myendetta has changed very little since it was built. The original water well stopped flowing in 1971. So, a diesel generator was used for power. By 1976, the house was connected to the main electricity supply.

After 1950, the tennis court was moved. A fern house was also added between the main house and the service wing. In 2002, the original paint colors were found under newer paint. In 2003, Myendetta was opened for tours.

In 2010, the Australian Institute of Architects added Myendetta to its list of important 20th-century Australian buildings. It's one of only sixteen such places nominated for a world heritage list.

The current owners bought the property in 2010. In 2013, the homestead was being used as a manager's home.

What Myendetta Homestead Looks Like Today

Myendetta Homestead is a large timber house on a big property. It's about 15,981 hectares (39,490 acres) of flat, lightly wooded land. The house sits within the remains of its old garden, which is now mostly a lawn.

The front of the house faces southeast. It looks out onto a flat grassy area that was once a tennis court. It's a single-story timber building. It has a verandah all around it and a separate service wing to the north.

Key Features of the Homestead

The house has a very large, steep hipped roof made of corrugated metal. It has a special ventilated cap at the top and a decorative vent. Under the roof, there are insulating timber boards. The roof continues over the verandahs but at a flatter angle.

The verandahs don't have railings. The timber posts supporting the verandah are turned on their side, making them look very strong. The verandah walls are made of single timber boards. The verandah floor is made of wide timber boards.

The main entrance faces southeast and is easy to spot. It has its own projecting roof and concrete stairs. The verandah is usually about 2 meters (6.5 feet) wide. But it gets wider, to about 3.6 meters (12 feet), in two places. These are at the entrance and along the front of the sitting and dining rooms, and also outside the school room.

Inside the House

The house is divided into four sections by a central, cross-shaped hallway. In the middle of this hallway is an octagonal (eight-sided) hall. It has four decorative timber arches leading to each corridor. The house has only two windows, which are fixed glass panels in the sitting room. All other rooms have wide French doors with fanlights that open onto the verandah. These doors also have timber-framed flyscreen doors.

Generally, the inside of the house has polished timber floors. The walls are made of single timber boards with decorative timber trim. The ceilings are also made of timber boards. There are built-in timber cupboards throughout the house. The dining room still has an original light fitting, and an old electricity board is also still there.

The Service Wing

The service wing is connected to the main house's northeast verandah. It has been updated recently and now has a large, modern kitchen. It has a hipped roof like the main house. The verandah is shielded from the sun by timber battens arranged in a zigzag pattern.

A separate building north of the service wing is the dairy and butcher shop. It's a timber building with a steep, hipped roof. Its walls are covered with weatherboards. It's not confirmed if Robin Dods designed this building.

Other changes to the original building include:

• Updated bathroom fixtures.
• Original timber posts under the house replaced with steel posts and concrete.
• A new sewerage system.

Other smaller buildings on the property are not considered historically important.

Why Myendetta Homestead is Important

Myendetta Homestead was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on December 2, 2013, because it meets several important criteria.

Demonstrating Queensland's History

Myendetta (1910) shows how important architect Robin Dods was to Queensland's architecture. It also shows how houses were designed to suit Queensland's climate. It's a great example of how buildings were made to handle extreme weather. It even had hydro-electric power, which was very advanced for its time.

It's also a very good example of the large homesteads built on farms in Queensland.

A Rare and Special Place

Myendetta is one of only six homesteads in Queensland designed by the famous architect Robin Dods. This makes it a rare and well-preserved example of his work.

Showing Key Design Features

Myendetta is a fine and complete example of Dods' high-quality house designs. It shows his focus on tradition, strength, and honest use of materials. It's built in the Arts and Crafts style. This means it's a low-set timber house with deliberately oversized timber parts. It has wide verandah piazzas, a steep and dominant roof, and finely detailed built-in timber furniture. The layout is also very smart, allowing for good airflow and making the most of the sun's position.

Beautiful and Visually Significant

The low-set house, with its large, dominant roof and generous verandahs, stands out beautifully in the wide, flat landscape.

Its wide verandahs and piazzas, without railings, give it a relaxed, rural feel. The spacious, well-ventilated rooms and the use of oversized elements like the huge roof and large verandah posts make it look strong and sturdy.

Myendetta is very well-preserved. It's important for its Arts and Crafts beauty, especially its fine craftsmanship, high-quality materials, and the clever way its formal and informal living spaces are arranged.