Metavale homestead, c 1910. History of the Queenslander The Australian tropical house conjures a vision of a large sprawling timber structure on stumps with an extensive, deep, shaded verandah via Franch doors. The roof is iron and the pitch is steep. A bougainvillaea, a Mango tree, and or a Frangipani adorn the front garden of the house. The primary reason for the development of the Queenslander was the climate. The long hot summer days often ended with a torrential downpour. A house with wide verandahs that provided shelter from these conditions was essential. The importance of the verandah
Metavale homestead, c 1910. History of the Queenslander The Australian tropical house conjures a vision of a large sprawling timber structure on stumps with an extensive, deep, shaded verandah via Franch doors. The roof is iron and the pitch is steep. A bougainvillaea, a Mango tree, and or a Frangipani adorn the front garden of the house. The primary reason for the development of the Queenslander was the climate. The long hot summer days often ended with a torrential downpour. A house with wide verandahs that provided shelter from these conditions was essential. The importance of the verandahs as an architectural element in a tropical Australian house cannot be underestimated because it is one area which lent itself to an informal semi-outdoor lifestyle suited to the cliate. The verandah became an integral part of every house and their use an essential part of the Australian way of life. The cool space framed with white posts, decorative balustrades and brackets became a symbol of the tropical house as an essential link between the indoors and the outdoors. Being built on stumps up off the ground allows air to pass under the home. This and the light frame construction materials meant the heat was not retained in the structure thus providing respite from the heat of the day. There is an open friendliness about these houses which, like their owners, is a characteristic of the warmer regions of Australia. They reflect a lifestyle which is a unique expression of the way people have adapted themselves to an environment vastly different from their historic European experience. These qualities have also given these houses a peculiarly Australian form of vernacular character not found elsewhere in the world. The Queenslander is an important part of Australia's cultural heritage. Many of these houses were built during the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but they see to have survived remarkably well. There must be a reason for this! Description
Size: 1677px × 1192px
Photo credit: © QS Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1910s, architecture, archival, archive, archives, australia, australian, barcaldine, collection, historic, historical, history, homestead, house, image, metavale, nostalgic, photo, queensland, queenslander, ranch, reference, state, style, vintage
