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© Rockhampton Heritage Village
Step back into yesteryear and you and your family can experience what living in the family home was like in the late 1800s. In 1888, the Egan family built the homestead on their property ‘Rosewood’, situated at Wycarbah, 100km west of Rockhampton.
The homestead consists of a horizontal slab construction with iron bark timbers felled and dressed by an adze (a tool that was used to smooth rough cut wood), and a broadaxe. Interestingly, this particular homestead has imported glass windows and pressed metal ‘Wunderlich’ walls and ceiling from Britain. As there were fewer options for families to keep their houses cool in the late 1800s, hessian ceilings was used in the warmer months. Occupied until 1984, from 1955 to 1984 electricity provided by a generator when it was then connected to the grid power.
Originally, situated on the Rosewood property, the kitchen was the original house for the Egan family before the homestead was built on the Rosewood property. The kitchen is separate from the living area of the home to reduce the risk of fire but to also help keep the living areas cool.
The Rosewood Shed was yet another property that would have been found on the Rosewood property. However, the Rosewood Shed is a reproduction building and houses some of the Heritage Village’s collection of tractors and other working vehicles.
