HERITAGE NOOSA
HERITAGE NOOSA
Alfredson's Sawmill, Pre-cut House Workshop and Joinery Complex
DETAILS
Alternative NameAlfredson's SawmillNoosa Hinterland Brewing CompanyAlfredson's JoineryDescription
At 28 King Street, the former joinery and sawmill is a multi-level timber building, built on a sloping site with a combination of gabled, sawtooth and skillion rooflines. This building provides intact evidence of a timber-based family business premises that was operated, expanded and adapted between 1933 and 1990. The building has been adapted for new uses including for a bar and brewing facility on the upper level fronting King Street with a traditional joinery workshop operating in the former pre-cut house workshop (underneath and to the south of the former joinery). The Alfredson name and signage have been retained.
At 30 King Street, the western part of the building was constructed in 1947 as a garage and paint shop. The building had a saw-tooth roof and a folding garage door at the front to enable cars to access the service area inside. The maintenance pit in the floor survives under a trapdoor in this area. In 1962, this building was expanded on the eastern side to create an office for Jeanette Alfredson, and became known as the ‘front office’ of the joinery. Behind the office was an area for sharpening tools, and underneath were quarters for the single men employed by Alfredson’s. All parts of the complex have been adapted for new commercial uses.
Timber getters were active in the Shire form the 1860s with early transport by boat. The railway arrived at Cooran from Gympie in June 1889, which helped the district to develop as an agricultural and timber centre and the town became an important centre for loading local goods, freight, timber and produce onto the train.
Mervyn William Henry Alfredson started his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker with Page Furnishers in Pomona. In May 1933 Mervyn Alfredson purchased 37.7 perches of land opposite the railway station from Alice Mcllwraith and set up a woodworking shop. In 1937 he married Mavis Miller, and for about six months they lived under the woodworking shop before Alfredson purchased a house and an acre of land on the western side of Henry Street, Cooran, from Charlotte Nielssen. This became the Alfredson’s family home (7 Henry Street) and remained in the ownership of the family until 2020.
Alfredson, M. is first listed in the Queensland Country Post Office Directory of 1939, as a ‘Joinery & Cabinet Maker’. Although he was rejected for defence service during World War Il, as he was in a reserved industry, his workshop supplied the Army with tent floors, tent pegs and other items. In September 1942, Alfredson purchased additional land from Alice Mcllwraith of just under one acre, to the south and west of his original workshop. In July 1944, ‘W. Alfredson & Company’ was established and as the business grew, the Widgee Sawmill near Gympie was purchased, to cut and supply timber directly to Alfredson’s operation, rather than purchasing it from a third party.
After the Second World War, Alfredson recognised the need for housing in Queensland, particularly in rural areas. This led to him devising an economical ‘build it yourself system for constructing timber homes by supplying ready-cut timber frame components with pre-cut mortise and tenon joints. In partnership with agent, Queensland Pastoral Supplies (QPS), he started manufacturing and selling these pre-cut homes from 1953. The houses, their timber bundled together and stencilled for ease of assembly, were despatched on rail cars from Cooran station and by the mid 1960s, when marketing through QPS ended, M.W. Alfredson & Company had produced at least 1,200 pre-cut houses. Mervyn and Mavis's daughter Jeanette had worked at M.W. Alfredson & Company from the time she finished school, becoming proficient in all aspects of joinery and manufacture as well as doing office work. With her mother's health failing, she gradually assumed control of the business, which
concentrated on the production of specialist timber joinery and cabinet making for custom orders. Government tenders were won, especially for schools. Doors and windows were also supplied for the Public Works Department in Queensland.
Over the years a large number of people from Cooran and nearby towns were been employed by M.W. Alfredson & Company. At its peak the business employed 32 men, plus logging contractors, carriers and subcontractors, and over 60 apprentices learnt their trade in the factory. The former Alfredson’s workshop complex survives as important evidence of the timber industry in the Noosa Shire and the North Coast (now Sunshine Coast) region. The timber industry played a major economic role in the history of this region, yet many of the early buildings connected with it have been lost. As a result, Alfredson’s former joinery complex is a rare surviving example of the pre-Second World War era of sawmilling and joinery operations on the North Coast. It is also a rare example of a post-Second World War pre-cut house workshop.
Queensland Heritage Register entry: https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=602690
Address28-30 , King Street, Cooran
At 28 King Street, the former joinery and sawmill is a multi-level timber building, built on a sloping site with a combination of gabled, sawtooth and skillion rooflines. This building provides intact evidence of a timber-based family business premises that was operated, expanded and adapted between 1933 and 1990. The building has been adapted for new uses including for a bar and brewing facility on the upper level fronting King Street with a traditional joinery workshop operating in the former pre-cut house workshop (underneath and to the south of the former joinery). The Alfredson name and signage have been retained.
At 30 King Street, the western part of the building was constructed in 1947 as a garage and paint shop. The building had a saw-tooth roof and a folding garage door at the front to enable cars to access the service area inside. The maintenance pit in the floor survives under a trapdoor in this area. In 1962, this building was expanded on the eastern side to create an office for Jeanette Alfredson, and became known as the ‘front office’ of the joinery. Behind the office was an area for sharpening tools, and underneath were quarters for the single men employed by Alfredson’s. All parts of the complex have been adapted for new commercial uses.
Timber getters were active in the Shire form the 1860s with early transport by boat. The railway arrived at Cooran from Gympie in June 1889, which helped the district to develop as an agricultural and timber centre and the town became an important centre for loading local goods, freight, timber and produce onto the train.
Mervyn William Henry Alfredson started his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker with Page Furnishers in Pomona. In May 1933 Mervyn Alfredson purchased 37.7 perches of land opposite the railway station from Alice Mcllwraith and set up a woodworking shop. In 1937 he married Mavis Miller, and for about six months they lived under the woodworking shop before Alfredson purchased a house and an acre of land on the western side of Henry Street, Cooran, from Charlotte Nielssen. This became the Alfredson’s family home (7 Henry Street) and remained in the ownership of the family until 2020.
Alfredson, M. is first listed in the Queensland Country Post Office Directory of 1939, as a ‘Joinery & Cabinet Maker’. Although he was rejected for defence service during World War Il, as he was in a reserved industry, his workshop supplied the Army with tent floors, tent pegs and other items. In September 1942, Alfredson purchased additional land from Alice Mcllwraith of just under one acre, to the south and west of his original workshop. In July 1944, ‘W. Alfredson & Company’ was established and as the business grew, the Widgee Sawmill near Gympie was purchased, to cut and supply timber directly to Alfredson’s operation, rather than purchasing it from a third party.
After the Second World War, Alfredson recognised the need for housing in Queensland, particularly in rural areas. This led to him devising an economical ‘build it yourself system for constructing timber homes by supplying ready-cut timber frame components with pre-cut mortise and tenon joints. In partnership with agent, Queensland Pastoral Supplies (QPS), he started manufacturing and selling these pre-cut homes from 1953. The houses, their timber bundled together and stencilled for ease of assembly, were despatched on rail cars from Cooran station and by the mid 1960s, when marketing through QPS ended, M.W. Alfredson & Company had produced at least 1,200 pre-cut houses. Mervyn and Mavis's daughter Jeanette had worked at M.W. Alfredson & Company from the time she finished school, becoming proficient in all aspects of joinery and manufacture as well as doing office work. With her mother's health failing, she gradually assumed control of the business, which
concentrated on the production of specialist timber joinery and cabinet making for custom orders. Government tenders were won, especially for schools. Doors and windows were also supplied for the Public Works Department in Queensland.
Over the years a large number of people from Cooran and nearby towns were been employed by M.W. Alfredson & Company. At its peak the business employed 32 men, plus logging contractors, carriers and subcontractors, and over 60 apprentices learnt their trade in the factory. The former Alfredson’s workshop complex survives as important evidence of the timber industry in the Noosa Shire and the North Coast (now Sunshine Coast) region. The timber industry played a major economic role in the history of this region, yet many of the early buildings connected with it have been lost. As a result, Alfredson’s former joinery complex is a rare surviving example of the pre-Second World War era of sawmilling and joinery operations on the North Coast. It is also a rare example of a post-Second World War pre-cut house workshop.
Queensland Heritage Register entry: https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=602690
Address28-30 , King Street, Cooran
Article & Manuscript
Alfredson's Sawmill, Pre-cut House Workshop and Joinery Complex. Heritage Noosa, accessed 24/01/2026, https://heritage.noosa.qld.gov.au/nodes/view/25307
