Halse Lodge

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Alternative NameBay View GuesthouseBay View HouseHillcrest LodgeHillcrest Guest HouseAdditional Information Halse Lodge, formerly known as Bay View, then as Hillcrest Guest House, is a two-storeyed timber guest house which was substantially rebuilt during the 1920s. The site of Halse Lodge has been associated with boarding/guest house accommodation from the early 1880s and it is the only guest house in Noosa Heads to survive from the 1920s and one of few sites in southeast Queensland which has operated continuously as a seaside guest house from the late nineteenth century to the present. The land on which Bay View was erected was granted to James Forsyth and comprised 80 acres. Title records indicate that although the land was purchased in 1871, the register was not actually signed until December 1880. The land was transferred to Walter Hay, reputedly Forsyth's cousin, in 1881. Hay is credited with successfully finding/marking a route from Gympie to the Noosa River and the subsequent establishment of the town of Noosa. He placed an advertisement in the Gympie Times in March 1882, advertising that the house known as Bay View was available for letting. During the 1890s, the property was leased to Robert Walker, then to Heinrich Walkmann. Bay View was progressively enlarged and was one of two guest houses operating in Noosa by the turn of the century; the other being Laguna House located in Hastings Street. Photographic evidence indicates that by 1900, Bay View comprised a two-storeyed timber building with a detached structure at the rear. It is assumed that this forms the basis of the present building, which has had several owners since that time. It was substantially rebuilt and extended during the 1920s, after which time it was known as Hillcrest Guest House. Hillcrest Guest House was acquired by the Anglican Church in 1959, and renamed Halse Lodge, after Archbishop Halse. By this time the property included just over two acres of land. Between 1959 and 1988, few alterations were undertaken to the building which was used for group accommodation of up to eighty people. In 1988 substantial renovations were undertaken including the additions of a new front entry and kitchen block, demolition and erection of a new ablutions wing, refitting and re-roofing the caretaker's wing, and the erection of a new activity centre. Minor alterations were also undertaken to the main buildings, including reopening the verandah at the rear of the dining room, and the addition of internal doors to some of the upstairs rooms. In 2024, the building again underwent renovations in preparation for its chapter as a holiday guest house. Queensland Heritage Register entry: https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=601393 Heritage ListingQueensland StateAddress2, Halse Lane, Noosa Heads

IDENTIFIERS

Subject (Keywords)GuesthousesAccommodation

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LocalityNoosa HeadsPersonWalter HayFamilyHay FamilyMenuTopic | TourismLocation | Noosa Heads

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