When Kristina Kucan and Andrew Tolson bought their home in 2018, they were handed the keys to a precious piece of Queensland history.
The couple became the custodians of an historic boathouse — called the Wheel House — that had been featured in tourism brochures and sought out by photographers on the Sunshine Coast for decades.
But there was a catch; the sellers didn't have proof of ownership, and the deteriorating timber shed needed extensive work to prevent it from falling down and being lost forever.
"There was a set of keys that came with the house, they [agents] said, 'We think this opens the boatshed, but there's no evidence that you own it,'" Mr Tolson said.
A magnet for avid photographers, the Wheel House is one of just five privately owned historic boathouses, or fishing sheds, still standing in the Maroochy River.
Constructed between 1940 and 1970, they are remnants from days when the river was more reliable than the Sunshine Coast's primitive roads.
Once, they were a common sight.
"From my research, they weren't just used for fishing or recreation it was multipurpose, it was when the logging was occurring and the shipments were coming down the river," Ms Kucan said.
"So, it's a pretty big deal and we just love it."
Ms Kucan turned detective and tracked back documents back through the decades, to successfully find their title and the original drawings for the Wheel House, built in 1969.
At the same time, Sunshine Coast Council put out a national call to try to track down the owners of all five sheds, aware that if they fell down they would never be allowed to be rebuilt.
Before and after the restoration that saved the heritage-listed Wheel House.
"The history there was so chequered, and so disorientated that nobody had any idea who owned the things," Councillor Jason O'Pray said.
"We as council were receiving an enormous number of complaints if you like that they were falling down and they were in horrible condition and deteriorating."
Time, tide and flooding continued to take a toll; the much-loved Wheel House was in such bad shape that history-loving locals felt distressed about it.
"We saw and heard the sense of loss because people were saying that there's another boat shed about to disappear," Mr Tolson said.
"They've watched the deterioration in numbers on the river over the years, these are real emotions, people are connected; clearly, we're connected."
Fencing had to be erected to stop thieves from helping themselves to the wonderfully weathered hardwood.
Vandals kicked the building's door in, and just as progress was being made behind the scenes, the pandemic hit.
Ms Kucan was made redundant and started a new business; the project was put on the back burner.
The couple worked with council's heritage team to navigate the red tape associated with its restoration and prevent it from being demolished.
The decision to heritage-list the boathouses had significantly added to the cost of repairs.
"We had to maintain the theme of the era and source locally grown, or salvaged materials," Mr Tolson said.
"It actually took quite a while to source the right materials to even start the job."
Community group steps in
At just the right time, Barry Cheales, the president of the Buderim Men's Shed, reached out.
"I thought it would be a nice idea if we could try and fix one or more of the sheds up, we became involved when the owners had done all of the hard legwork," Mr Cheales said.
UK-trained Don Kitson, who has worked with wooden boats all his life, assessed what was needed and led the men's shed restoration team.
Concrete stumps made way for traditional turpentine timber, the ramp and floorboards were replaced or restored, and a painting of a fish found inside the shed was mounted on its door.
The couple paid for all the materials, equipment and permits as well as making a sizeable donation to the Buderim Men's Shed.
"The fact that the shed is privately owned wasn't an issue," Mr Cheale said.
"For us the important aspect was that the project happen and that the boatshed should get restored for the benefit of all of the community.
"If it was done commercially, you just wouldn't be able to afford to do it and that's what is greatly disappointing to us that maybe the other sheds are going to struggle to be fixed up.
"So, all of a sudden the community loses those icons."
Expressing his gratitude to the Buderim Men's Shed and council's heritage team, Mr Tolson said the project would not have been possible without them.
"For a little timber shed, it's cost a lot, but it's probably cost a lot more emotionally, it was stressful," he said.
"It is a serious undertaking to be the custodian and to put things in place so that it can be protected for generations of people in the community."
