Ferguson's Cottage, Heritage residence at Breakwater Road, Coffs Harbour, Australia.
Ferguson's Cottage is a small weatherboard house with an iron roof at 1 Breakwater Road, Coffs Harbour, near the South Coffs breakwater. It sits on its original timber sleeper substructure, indicating it was built as a temporary structure. The building began as a Public Works Department construction office and later became a family home.
The cottage was probably built as a temporary office for the Public Works Department during construction of the South Coffs breakwater, which began in 1912; the building rests on its original sleeper substructure. In the early 1950s, district engineer Hugh Bailey let Andrew Ferguson's family occupy it as a home. Successive district engineers endorsed the arrangement through the 1970s, and it remains a private residence.
Evelyn Ferguson, known in the Public Works office as "old Mrs Ferguson" and to police as "Granny Ferg", was a Seven Day Adventist who encouraged her family to attend services, bringing Aboriginal and white residents together at a time when such mixing was rare. Police brought community and individual disputes to her for mediation in the 1950s and 1960s.
The cottage remains a private residence at 1 Breakwater Road and is not open to visitors. It can be seen from the public road near the South Coffs breakwater; its original sleeper substructure is visible at the base. The site is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register, so the structure cannot be altered.
This building started as a temporary construction site office but was never removed and instead became a permanent home. Few similar Public Works Department offices from that era survived and were repurposed in such a way.
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