Settlers Hut

About The Settlers Hut

A restored 1840s colonial cottage, The Settlers Hut is situated in the historic village of Berrima in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. In 2001, The Settler's Hut was awarded winner "Most Romantic Getaway in NSW" and awarded four and a half stars by the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Settlers Hut, situated in its own private garden at the rear of Jellore Cottage, offers a cosy and intimate getaway for two people. Overlooking the Wingecarribee River, platypus can be seen playing at dawn and dusk.

The rough hewn slab walls and carefully selected rustic colonial bush decor enhance the amazing ambience that The Settlers Hut exudes. Consisting of three rooms in total, the main room is a traditional living space complete with a Victorian Iron Tester bed and accompanying luxurious linen. This room also features a large open fireplace with easy chairs. A range of books and a compact disc player is also provided for your entertainment as well as gas heating for year round comfort.

At the rear of the hut a period kitchen has been recreated, lined with hand hewn slab walls and fitted with cupboards and benches of recycled timber. You may choose to prepare breakfast, provisions for a hot breakfast are provided, or a romantic evening meal on the classic early Kooka gas stove. The kitchen has a fridge and all necessary utensils. There is an abundance of local cafes and restaurants serving breakfast, lunch and dinner for those who want to relax entirely.

The third room, the bathroom, is complete with an old fashioned claw foot bath and shower. Located in the front garden is a former stable now a traditional rustic dining room. At the rear of The Settlers Hut another hut is located which was once an old dairy, this is now a laundry providing a washing machine and dryer for longer stays.

The Heritage...

Now reconstructed at the rear of Jellore Cottage in it's own private garden, the Settlers Hut has an interesting history. The Hut was originally constructed in Wheeo some twenty kilometers south west of Crookwell, in the high country of the Southern Tablelands. A bushman's hut of a pioneering settler named Michael Frost.

In early 1840 Frost arrived from County Clare in Ireland, an immigrant and perhaps one of the early squatters in the Crookwell region. Marrying Marie Clune of Goulburn in 1843, they had ten children, which is astounding given the size of the Settlers Hut, with just one living area.

Typical of the colonial bushmen, the Settlers Hut was built of rough hewn timber slabs and had a roof made from bark which was later replaced by shingles or perhaps corrugated iron. The facade of a hut was often decorated with more refined weatherboards if they were available from the local sawmill.

The Settlers Hut remained in the family for over a century and with the death of the last descendant of Frost in 1962 the hut fell into a state of disrepair. It was dismantled and re-erected in it's current location in Berrima in the 1980s, receiving some much needed attention.

With old weatherboards and verandah, the front of the hut is as it was originally. Slabs from the remains of a derelict house of the same era located near the town of Bevendale replaced the missing external slabs. With faithful reconstruction, the internal slabs and floorboards are original. The internal lining boards were recovered from an 1880s Goulburn house during it's demolition. Bitumen coated marine ply has been placed behind the exterior slabs with insulating material between the ply and internal lining boards to provide extra insulation.

A modern brick open fireplace was added to the living room, it has been disguised externally by a traditional covering of corrugated iron. A classic early Kooka gas stove was installed in the fireplace alcove in the kitchen and the bathroom renovated in period style.

A small weatherboard hut, originally in a similar location, is located at the rear. It was once the dairy where the Frosts separated cream and made butter, today it serves as a laundry. The barn in the front garden was not located on the Frosts property, however, most of the materials came from the same district, this now serves as a separate dining room furnished with an aged timber table and chairs.

For more information, contact Settlers Hut on 0404 951 884. You can also contact them using our Settlers Hut email enquiry page.

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Settlers Hut Map

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