This Old House:

Braemar, 116 Main Street Montville

This 90-year-old house is Braemar at 116 Main Street Montville. The land on which Braemar stands was originally selected by George Land Bury in 1881, subdivided in 1898 and bought by Alfred and Harriet Bowser in 1900. They built their home from pit sawn beech and called it Lilydale after their eldest daughter and were the first to commercially grow pineapples at Montville.

Monte and Minnie Dart purchased the property in 1910 and ran the popular Mayfield Guest house. In 1934 Monte cut off 37 acres and built Braemar. The family of six children were now grown with the oldest four, Cliff, Girlie, John and Myrtle having moved away and only Len and Biddey still at home. With John next door looking after the guest house Monte was able to pursue his passion. He built a packing shed beside the house and established his commercial gladioli nursery of 6 acres with 300 varieties and 250000 bulbs. Those Montville gladioli festooned the foyers to Brisbane theatres, dance halls and grand homes with many a bride carrying a bouquet of Monte’s exquisite ‘glads’.

Monte and Minnie Dart left Montville in 1951 selling their property to Jim and Gwen Walker. Jim had been a clerk in Brisbane before becoming a fruit grower in Montville. Their son Ian started school in 1952. They were active community members for the next 40 years and hosted regular bridge games and tennis matches with their friends Eleanor and Dr Eric Dark.

Ian Walker with his wife Heather and three sons, Peter, James and Richard, regularly visited Jim and Gwen even though getting away from Double Island Point near Noosaville was a bit tricky with Ian the lighthouse keeper there. Following Jim’s death in 1995, Gwen and Ian kept the family home. Braemar belonged to the Walker family for 63 years before it was sold to Jayne and Nigel Secomb in 2014.

Nigel had moved to the Sunshine Coast after completing his carpentry apprenticeship in regional Victoria and gained extensive experience as a foreman on large commercial projects in Melbourne. As an award-winning Sunshine Coast Master Builder, he and Jayne, his wife and business partner, were the ideal couple to reinvigorate Braemar. Their repair and renovation included a remodelling of the master bedroom to include an ensuite, refitting the kitchen and repainting inside.

Today, Braemar has a fresh, contemporary appeal, while retaining its 87-year-old heritage and sits comfortably with a dozen new homes in nearby Hamptons Place, a recent development.

Reluctantly, the couple have now put Braemar on the market as they have found their work demands are mostly on the Coast and they are keen to complete work on their Maroochydore home.