Dutch House Demolished in Coopers Plains

Local authorities have unceremoniously demolished another Queensland Housing Commission home built by a Dutch company and Dutch migrant workers in the 1950s.

It was a prime example of its kind and one of the few with an original outhouse (toilet). Also, it was ideally located in a central location to the Cornerstone Living development.

The project was part of Queensland’ ‘s- indeed Australia’s – WWII immigrant and housing history.

There were mixed messages given to us about who owned the property mid-2024 when we last inquired. Both the sitting state member and the developer gave conflicting accounts if any at all.

It is believed the Cornerstone Living Developer, Consolidated Property, in conjunction with the State Government ordered the destruction of the house after the Oxley Creek Catchment Association moved out to their new premises at the Archerfield Wetlands.

Hopes of it becoming a neighbourhood history cafe going back to 2021 have been dashed. Visions of a Community Garden supporting the cafe have come to naught. It all seemed so nice, because there is a lot of history being forgotten in the area. Hopes for the preservation of one of the houses have risen and fallen, topsy-turvy – see Dutch House History Cafe Goes Under

Another Dutch House with a rare outhouse and iconic Australian Hill Hoist was demolished in 2022. It sat on Troughton Road where a shopping centre is being erected.

Six Dutch Houses have been slated for heritage overlay protection in Sunnybank behind St Thomas Moore College. This is the results of years of lobbying by the Coopers Plains History Group and the Dutch Australia Cultural Centre. This will be a very good outcome because the six houses are still State Housing homes that are rented out and under the housing department’s repairs and renovations regulations.

Of the original 300 homes built in the 1950s, about 70 remain in private and state ownership, but the many belong to the developer of Cornerstone Living who will demolish them.

This story was also published on 24th of March 2025 on Sunnybank Hills News and Robertson News.