Mayes Cottage, Heritage house museum in Kingston, Australia

Mayes Cottage is a single-storey timber house built in 1887 at 20 Mawarra Street, Kingston, with a pyramidal roof and verandahs; early photographs show exposed external framing. The 1872 slab hut was kept beside it for storage and later served as the family's garage. Outbuildings include a kitchen with a brick chimney, a dairy built in 1922 and a milking yard.

John and Emily Mayes came from England in 1871 and settled on land near Scrubby Creek in 1872, building their first slab hut there. The property later became an important example of early European settlement in this Queensland region.

The house shows how early settlers lived in Queensland, with old farming tools and household items from the 1880s still visible today. The rooms and garden tell the story of daily work and family life across many decades.

The property is open to visitors most days and offers guided tours to help understand the rooms and historical context better. It helps to check opening times in advance since these may vary seasonally.

The property still keeps the original mango trees from the 1800s that the family tended across generations. Today visitors can rest under the same trees and enjoy the view that early settlers saw daily.