Item 04: Memoirs of a Colonial Boy by Robert Joseph Stewart, ca. 1971 - Page 137
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[Page 137]
68
But there was a tremendous amount of work to be done in the grounds outside: surplus building material to be gathered up and properly stacked; garden beds to be laid out with brick ornamental edges; a Buffalo-grass lawn to be turfed; shrubs and fruit trees to be planted; internal paling fences to be erected. And there were a host of minor jobs inside and outside the new building which had one large and two smaller bedrooms, a 12 ft. by 20 ft. dining room, a 16 ft by 18 ft. drawing room (lounge), a tiled palm court (my Mother's pride) and a big 10 ft. by 20 ft. kitchen which incorporated an existing concrete enclosure of corresponding dimensions. The ceilings, of varnished Cypress Pine, or of the new embossed steel in the front rooms, were a full twelve feet high, which gave a measure of coolness in the hot Summers.
Ernest Bligh & Sons, established local builders, contracted to build this big brick house for £120, labour only. Father found all the necessary materials, which was not a really good arrangement as, naturally, the Blighs overestimated the quantities required, and nearly enough bricks, timber and other materials were left over to add on two extra bedrooms a few years later. The final all-in cost of this fine residence was only a little more that the Architects's original estimate of £240. But no houses in those days, no matter how magnificent otherwise, had conveniences such as hot and cold water basins in bathrooms, or bedrooms; electric or gas lighting; flushing W.Cs. inside; or fixed kitchen cupboards and laundry tubs.
The only outstanding facility in our new home was a big counterweighted kitchen safe that hung, on ropes passing over pulleys, between vertical runners. This safe, with a minimum of effort, could be dropped down into the cool cellar below, and hauled up again as required. It was certainly a boon during very hot weather.
A sheet-iron low chip-heater supplied hot water for the bath and shower, and for a loose washbasin on a corner shelf. It was a very efficient little invention and a good hot shower could be had by feeding it a couple of tightly rolled newspapers.