page_title: Meringa Sugar Experiment Station
section_title: Entomologist's Residence (1917)
hierarchical_section_title: Meringa Sugar Experiment Station / Description / Entomologist's Residence (1917)
caption_attribution_description: English: Meringa Sugar Experiment Station, Entomologist house (former) (2013)
context_page_description: Meringa Sugar Experiment Station is a heritage-listed research station at 71378 Bruce Highway, Meringa, Gordonvale, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Goodsir & Carlyle, Baker & Wilde, and the Queensland Department of Public Works and built from 1914 to 1918 by Queensland Department of Public Works. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 July 2014.
context_section_description: Adjacent to the north of the entrance driveway is the Entomologist's Residence, a high-set, one-storey, timber-framed and clad building. The house faces west and comprises a central core encircled by a wide verandah, with a kitchen wing attached to the rear verandah. The house is supported on concrete posts and the understorey is largely open. It stands to the northwest of the other buildings and has a fenced front yard.
  The house core has exposed timber framing on the exterior, sheltered by a large hipped roof that is continuous over the verandahs. The roof is clad with corrugated metal sheets and has small, louvred gablets venting the roof space. The front is symmetrical around a projecting entry gable, which has decorative timber battening and post brackets, and a veranda door with a circular panel of glazing.
  The verandah is timber-framed with a timber balustrade and is enclosed on the north and east (rear) sides. On the northern side the original timber balustrade is retained below aluminium-framed sliding windows. The rear veranda is enclosed with timber-framed casements above the balustrade.
  The kitchen wing is clad in weatherboards and has a small, hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. A stove recess projects from the eastern wall. The wing has large, timber-framed double hung windows and a timber stair on the north side, providing access to the garden.
  A wide timber stair leads to the front verandah, which has a raked, timber, v-jointed board ceiling and a timber board floor. Two timber-framed oriel windows project onto the western verandah and these have decorative timber brackets and narrow, double-hung sashes. A hexagonal bay window with French doors projects onto the rear veranda. The eastern end of the southern verandah retains an early electric light fitting and opaque glass shade.
  The centrally-located front door of timber with glass panels provides entry into a short hall. The layout of the core comprises two bedrooms on the northern side, and a large living space on the south. The interior partitions are timber single-skin, v-jointed board walls with chamfered belt rails. The rooms have timber floors and moulded timber skirtings, architraves and plate rails. Cornices in the living room are moulded while those of the bedrooms are rounded. The flat ceilings are v-jointed, timber boards. The living room is in two parts, connected by a wide opening framed with decorative timber scrollwork. Internal doors are panelled timber, and opening onto the verandah from all rooms are glazed French doors, some of which have opaque painted glazing with an etched border. All doors have operable, glazed fanlights. The main core retains original door and window hardware including brass opening rods, bolts, catches, and rim locks, as well as original door knobs. The northern verandah has an early enclosure accommodating a toilet and bathroom. (The bathroom linings of sheet material and tiles are not of cultural heritage significance.) The southern end of the eastern verandah has a part-height partition with a central opening, lined with v-jointed timber boards.
  The kitchen wing comprises two rooms, although a timber member in the ceiling of the large room indicates the position of a removed wall. The internal partition is a single-skin timber, v-jointed board wall with chamfered timber belt rails. The rooms have timber floors, architraves and cornices. The flat ceilings are v-jointed, timber boards. The stove recess is lined with sheet material. The kitchen cabinetry is modern and not of cultural heritage significance.
  The residence has established gardens including trees, shrubs, and lawns.
caption: Entomologist house, 2013
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