02 Aug Let’s just take a couple of minutes to celebrate sheds

In the modern world, everything is fast-paced, slick, practical, and functional. If you’re not at the cutting edge, you risk being run over and left behind.

We’ll admit we’ve bought in to that ethos here at Stilla. We’ve spent years refining our shed designs to make them easier to manufacture, transport, and assemble.

We have dedicated ourselves to making and supplying the best quality sheds that are also the best value and the most suitable for the most people.

But living and working that way can lead us to forget to stop and smell the roses … so that’s what we’re going to do right now.

We’re going to take a couple of minutes to celebrate the history, cultural significance, joy, creativity, and sheer beauty of sheds.

Historical sheds of Australia

Sheds have been part of the Australian landscape virtually since British settlement. Some of the most significant and impressive sheds that have survived for well over a hundred years are now heritage-listed.

There are farm sheds like those that have been so beautifully restored at Belgenny Farm, Camden South, the original home of Merino wool pioneers John and Elizabeth Macarthur.

There are woolsheds, like the unique octagonal Deeargee Woolshed near Uralla, NSW, which was built in 1872 and is still in use.

There are woolsheds, like the unique octagonal Deeargee Woolshed near Uralla, NSW, which was built in 1872 and is still in use.

There are mountain cattlemen’s huts, rail sheds, tram sheds, goods sheds, and wheat sheds.

The Murtoa Stick Shed, in Victoria’s Wimmera, is the largest rustically-built structure in the world. It was built in 1941 and is 900 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 60 feet high!

And, given that so many Australians live near the water, we can’t forget boat sheds and beach sheds (which some people like to call huts or bathing boxes, but to us they’re clearly sheds).

Tourist attractions in sheds

There are a couple of pretty impressive – and enjoyable – tourist destinations in sheds.

One is the Sarina Sugar Shed, 37km south of Mackay in Far North Queensland. Depending on your age, you might like to sample their fairy floss, sauces, or award-winning rum!

Then there’s the Great Aussie Beer Shed in Echuca, which features over 16,000 beer cans from Australia and around the world, as well as other historic brewery-related items, including equipment and machinery.

If you’re heading to Margaret River, stop in at Yallingup to see a shearing show at the Yallingup Shearing Shed. It’s about three hours’ drive south of Perth, but it’s a beautiful part of the world.

Some love for other people who love sheds

We don’t need to know anything else about a person: if they love sheds, they’re good folk!

Jane Field-Lewis is a British stylist, art director, and author who put together a book subtitled ‘an inspirational guide to stylish hideaways and workspaces’ called My Cool Shed. It was a best seller and spawned a television series, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.

She’s now published a follow-up, The Anatomy of Sheds: New Buildings from an Old Tradition.

Yarra Valley-based photographer Richard Higgs takes amazing shots of lots of different things, but do yourself a favour and check out his gallery of Shacks, Sheds and Shanties.

If you’re looking for a great gift for the shed-lover in your life, you could do worse than search out a copy of Frank Hopkinson’s book The Joy of Sheds.

Meanwhile, Aussie icon Scotty Cam has a book coming out in a few months. You can pre-order Scotty’s Top Aussie Sheds here and you can take a look at some of the entries submitted to his blog in this gallery.

If you’re a shed lover, or have a shed-related product, we’d love to hear from you.

And if you’re particularly proud of your very special shed, send us some photos and a few notes and, you never know, we might share your story in a future blog post.