ZUMSTEINS RECREATION CENTRE

The Green, Blue and Orange Cottages at Zumsteins was contracted in 1935 by Walter Zumstein’s using the pise or rammed earth technique to provide accommodation for the increasing number of tourists visiting the Grampians. Zumsteins identified these, and the other cottages he contracted, by the colour of the painted lintels over the doors and windows.

How is it significant?

The Green, Blue and Orange Cottages at Zumsteins are of significance to the State of Victoria for technological and social reasons.

Why is it significant?

The Zumsteins’ Cottages demonstrate creative accomplishment in the history of construction. Their location coupled with their period of construction when the state was emerging from a period of severe economic depression, is particularly unusual. The cottages provide a rare and extraordinary example of handmade vernacular construction which was forced to utilise local materials owing to the unavailability of traditional materials and the cost of transportation. They are also important for their social associations, and their ability to demonstrate a way of life, having provided some of the earliest holiday accommodation in the Grampians and assisted in the area becoming a popular venue for leisure activity.

Group

Recreation and Entertainment

Category

Holiday Camp