Builders and Dreamers

Montville’s distinctive character was created in the 1980s and the 1990s. Of the 30 commercial development applications for building approval on Montville’s Main Street over the last 50 years, over 80% were lodged in these decades. Leading this wave of development were Ian Russell’s Camphor Cottage (1980) and the Green House (1984); John Hargreaves’ Montville Mountain Inn (1982); and Joe and Sue Delaney’s Connemara Cottage (1984).

Connemara Cottage, 1984

These early developments set a pattern for the boom of the 1990s – to preserve the village feel of Montville and, in the case of Connemara Cottage, to provide a residential component to attract people to live on Main Street. Later buildings, including Eastnor Terrace (1989), Montrose (1990), Montville Chalet (1991) Bala House (1995) and the Heritage House (1995) all incorporated residential components. In 1991, the village held a competition through the school to come up with a design for a Montville flag and to create a motto. Joe Adkins’ winning design for the flag featured several historic buildings while Rebecca Kennedy’s winning motto was This – Our Montville Village. The people of Montville had established some basic criteria for future developments based around history and a village environment where people lived.

Not all these early development proposals were accepted. Three of these were rejected after extensive community opposition; the proposal to build a tavern at 58 – 62 Main Street where Hoffman Close is now situated; the proposal to build a shopping centre/supermarket at 161 – 167 Main Street, now the site of the Chapel behind Poets Café ; and the proposal to build a Golf Course with residential hubs stretching from Main Street along the valley between Western Avenue and Kondalilla Falls Road. Others proved controversial, including the Montville Village Square (loss of community space), Altitude (design) and the Chapel, Café Gallery development at 161 – 167 (traffic access and parking).

Three business men drove this development: John Hargreaves; Ian Russell and Ron Geyl. With the decline of the guest houses of Montville, John Hargreaves responded to a need to provide accommodation for visitors and to cater for their evening meals by building the Montville Mountain Inn and Restaurant (now the Montville Café, Bar and Grill).

Montville Cafe Bar Grill 2017

Ian Russell responded to a need to offer buildings for commercial use while Ron Geyl tapped into the burgeoning tourist market. All three sought to maintain the historic, village atmosphere of Montville with Ian Russell and Ron Geyl becoming politically active within the Montville Village Association to influence the conservation of Montville’s character. In 1997, the Montville Village Association negotiated with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to develop and install a streetscape design to enhance the character of Main Street as an historic, village precinct.

For better or worse, Montville is now locked into limited development – restricted to Main Street under the South East Regional Plan. Even so, the people of Montville have made their wishes very clear. Three times they have successfully fought against large scale commercial development which would impact negatively on their village. They expect the legacy of the last 50 years of development to be respected and honoured, not only by future developers, but also by future council planning officers. Recent, bureaucratic “we know better than you what is appropriate for Montville” expressions are of concern after a number of recent planning decisions ignored community feedback.

MONTVILLE DEVELOPMENTS 1970 – 2019

Building/Property	Main St Address	Developer	Year	Purpose	Comment
The Tavern	58 – 62		1990s	Hotel	Controversial Not Approved (Now Hoffman Close)
The Dome	86 – 90	R & R Hayes	1972	Tourist Attraction	Now Derelict
Altitude	94 – 96	Purcell Family	2015	Accommodation + Restaurant	Controversial (Community Objection Denied)
The Links	116		2005	Golf Course	Controversial Not Approved
Montville Mountain Inn	118	John Hargreaves	1982	Accommodation
Montville Mountain Inn Restaurant (Now the Montville Café Bar and Grill)	126	John Hargreaves	1982	Hospitality
Top of the Range	130	Pottingers	1970s	Restaurant + Commercial
Mayfield	127 –133	John Hargreaves	2009	Accommodation + Hospitality + Commercial
Bala House	146	Phillip Harrison	1995	Commercial + Accommodation
Montville Village Square	168 –170	Bannerman  & Rogers	1996	Commercial	Controversial
Proposed Shopping Centre down from school	161 -167	Halcagni  Pty Ltd	Circa 1993	Commercial	Controversial Not Approved
Poets Cafe	161 -167	Ron Geyl	Circa 1997	Hospitality
Chapel/Café/Gallery Expansion on site	161 -167	Ron Geyl	Circa 2016	Weddings + Hospitality	Controversial
Connemara Cottage	172	Joe and Sue Delaney	1984	Commercial + Hospitality + Accommodation
Eastnor Terrace	174	Ian Russell	1989	Commercial + Accommodation
Montville Chalet	176	Bob and Joan Allen	1991	Commercial + Accommodation
The Bower Bird	178	L. & G. Farmiloe	1998	Commercial + Accommodation	Moved from 31 Western Ave.
Montrose	180	Helen Price-Dinning	1990	Commercial + Hospitality + Accommodation	Waterwheel
The Witch’s Hat	182	J. & R. McDonald	1993	Commercial + Accommodation
Belvedere	184	A. Tilt	1996	Commercial
Cadman Cottage	186	Ron & Petro Geyl	Circa 1995	Commercial
Rose Cottage	188	B. & S. McKlaren	2002	Commercial
Camphor Cottage	190	Ian Russell	1981	Commercial
Heritage House/ Montville Mews	192	H. & R. Outteridge	1995	Commercial + Accommodation
The Clock Shop	194		1980s	Commercial
The Information Centre		Maroochy Council	Circa 2005	Tourism
The Green House	200	Ian Russell	1984	Commercial	Moved from 124 Western Ave.
Banksia Place	202		1995	Commercial
The Pottery	171 -183	Dennis Ilott	1998	Commercial + Hospitality	Replaced old pottery
The Rangers	Western Avenue	Ian Russell & Jack Hayden	1988	Sub-Division
Russell Family Park	Behind Main St.	Sunshine Coast Council	1999	Recreation	With input from the MVA

Thanks to Jenny Tatton and Montville Realty for their invaluable assistance in compiling this table.

There are some gaps in this table and maybe some errors. If you can fill/correct them please email Cate Patterson – research@montvillehistory.org.au