Barrington Guest House once nestled on the edge of our World Heritage ancient rainforest wilderness where it had been a landmark for probably 79 years.

All that sadly came to an end late at night on September 24, 2006 when an electrical fault caused a fire.

Despite initial hopes, rebuilding never took place. And if you look online these days, you might stumble across visitor pictures of a tall orphan brick chimney surviving on a site slowly being reclaimed by bush. They’re probably all from early 2014 and show the chimney is all that remains of the main guesthouse. However, a Dungog Council representative said this week the chimney had been now toppled over “for safety reasons” and the area fenced off.

We know nothing ever really stays the same, but somehow, for many decades, remote Barrington Guest House seemed to defy the reality of modern life.

A 1986 Dungog Council heritage study described the big, now vanished 1920s building as “a rare example of a surviving country guesthouse” which never radically changed from its original appearance.

Built between 1925 and 1927 by Dungog hotelier Norman McLeod, the bush icon was officially opened in late 1930 by Sir Earle Page, MHR, who later became Australian Prime Minister.

Built from local blue gum timber (for the exterior) and lined with red mahogany, it was erected on a logging site known as Big Flat on the Upper Williams River. Soon, the tourism venture became a popular institution. Officially at Salisbury, the original idea was that easy access to the Hunter wilderness might create an area to rival the Blue Mountains in popularity. Sadly it didn’t. Mind you, very early on, the premises provided only basic comforts of farm house-style accommodation with a generator providing power.

The wooden building was fringed by wide verandas on three sides and constructed on wooden piles. There were originally 19 rooms and all cooking was done on a fuel stove. The site was so isolated that town electricity didn’t arrive until the summer of 1954. It had a dark dining room and a high-vaulted, pressed-metal ceiling. There was a familiar, old fashioned feel to the place.

So, what was the attraction of Barrington Guest House that made it a byword in Newcastle for families who kept coming there for generations? And why was there a major site redevelopment, including a range of 20 community title, modern rainforest cottages around it, in 1989?

It was the area’s very isolation and back-to-nature feel that proved a winner. Despite some financial hiccups over the years, visitors just kept falling in love with it. Besides the solitude and beautiful scenery, attractions included tennis, swimming, horse riding for ages, long bush walks and four-wheel drive tours to Carey’s Peak and trips to scenic spots like Rocky Crossing. People fed the protected bush birds, tame kangaroos and after dark, even friendly, if pesky, possums

Many visitors also remember the guesthouse’s welcoming fireplace with the big aircraft propeller mounted over it. This was recovered from the crash of a De Havilland Mosquito which crashed in the Barrington Tops wilderness on April 16, 1945. The wreckage, however, wasn’t located until January 1946.

For there have been at least seven aircraft crashes in the dense, rugged terrain in the past 70 years, including an RAAF Mirage back in 1969. The most publicised aircraft associated with the forests was Cessna VH-MDX. It disappeared without trace in the wild with five people aboard on August 9, 1981. It is claimed to be the only aeroplane still recorded missing in Australia since World War II.    

Another, but largely forgotten aircraft crash until now, was the loss of the Hunter Westpac rescue helicopter, known as Angel One. It crashed (luckily without any loss of life) after hitting hidden power lines near Barrington Guest House in February 1993. The chopper fell about seven metres to ground and was a total write-off. Community liaison officer Barry Walton said the chopper crew yelled out the warning, “wires, wires, wires” just before the crash. Two blades spun off the aircraft. One was given to Barrington Guest House and the other went to Dungog SES. That same SES-stored blade is now on show at a free exhibition at Newcastle Museum until June 30 to mark the rescue service’s 40th anniversary.

But now back to historic, former Barrington Guest House. More insights come from a small booklet by Therese Aitchison written probably to celebrate the site’s 50th official anniversary. Donated to Newcastle Library by historian Jack Sullivan in 1980, it reveals the guesthouse was once closed during the winter months. And in the 1930s, house facilities were very primitive. The cool room was heavily insulated with sawdust and cooled by night air. The door was left open all night and closed just before daybreak to remain shut all day. 

Author Aitchison said during WWII, enlisted Army men marched 40kms in full packs to Barrington House from their Dungog barracks at as part of their training program.

One treasured feature of the house’s vestibule for years was a tall, odd, carved wooden hat stand featuring a climbing bear. The design seems to have originated in Germany’s Black Forest in the 1850s.  

And the local weather could be rough. In the worrying drought in 1839, at least 500 head of cattle were driven up to nearby Barrington Tops. That winter it kept snowing for 21 days. The cattle, huddled together for warmth, died in droves. After the cattlemen’s tents were blown down, a drover called Carey, after whom Carey’s Peak was named, suggested the carcasses of dead animals be skinned to build a shelter of cowhides. This was done, but none of the cattle were saved, Aitchison reported.  

Then in August 1933, members of a botany expedition were also trapped there by heavy snow for two days. A few years after, a ski club was formed, but had to disband because of lack of snow!

Today, one link to the former historic house still remains. The prominent multi-directional road sign in Dungog’s main street was originally erected about 1930 just to promote the new Barrington House.