Desjardins Cottage

The Pioneer Slab Hut, built around 1885 by Johann Desjardins from timber cut on the property.

This slab hut was the home of the Desjardins family, early pioneers of Gehrvale (Mt Mort). It was built around 1885 by Johann Desjardins using timber he chopped on the property.

The walls are ironbark slabs and the roof was made from handmade shingles — now covered with iron for protection, though the shingles can still be seen from inside. For warmth, the interior walls were lined with hessian and then covered with newspapers and journals, glued on with a simple flour-and-water paste. A photograph of the hut in its original location is on display inside.

One of the Village murals, painted by resident artist Barb Ryan on the tractor shed, shows Irene Lee sitting on the veranda of the hut. Irene was born in the hut and lived there until she married.