Mayes Cottage

Mayes Cottage is now a colonial house museum managed by Logan City Council. Check the website for opening times. Located at 20 Mawarra Street, Kingston, this 1887 house was saved from demolition in the late 1970s. The large stand of mature trees on the property allowed it to be declared a reserve for Park and Recreation in 1979, as there was no heritage legislation at the time. The oldest structure on the property is the 1872 slab hut, built shortly after John and Emily Mayes took up the selection. John and his sons were involved in timbergetting. By 1887 the family had funds to build a house. It was a small workers cottage, typical of that time, with four rooms, verandahs, a steep pyramid roof and a detached kitchen. Fruit trees, grape vines and mango trees helped to sustain the family. After John’s death in 1908, son Josiah occupied the house. He turned to dairying after an injury forced him out of the timber industry. The family sent their cream to the newly opened Kingston Butter Factory. The house remained in the Mayes family until 1978 when it was acquired by the Queensland Housing Commission, and subsequently protected.