the Aroona Hut

The hut in the Aroona Valley, known as the Aroona Hut, was built as an outstation on Oraparinna Station. The property lessee, KP Sawer had instructed the property manager, Bert Mudie, to construct the hut in 1925, some twenty miles from the Oraparinna Homestead.

The hut is of pug and pine construction. Native pine was cut on site and driven into the ground closely spaced. Chicken wire was nailed to both sides and covered with a pliable mixture, usually of chopped straw and mud. Internal surfaces were generally towelled smooth and lime wash was applied internally and externally to improve the appearance and give protection from the elements. Some of this original pug is still on the walls.

The hut consists of three rooms built in a straight line, with verandahs running their full length at the font & back. The kitchen and washroom are enclosed at separate ends of the back veranda. The windows of the main rooms look out on the sweeping valley and its encircling mountains. One the east are the humps of the ABC Ranges, on the west the up thrust buttresses of the main mountain chain, now known as the Heysen Range, culminating in Mount Hayward.

There is a stone chimney & fireplace in the main room with some of the original rammed earth floor still existing. The corrugated galvanized iron roofing is gone and has been replaced with a new roof by the national parks as a conservation measure to preserve this historic building.