The name Monsignor John Hawes may mean more to those of us that live in the Midwest of Western Australia than those who don’t. 

Simply because this man known as Dean Hawes or Reverend Hawes, when he first came to serve in the Geraldton Diocese, left such an indelible and architecturally beautiful legacy on this landscape it is hard not to know who he was and be familiar with at least one of his buildings.

Perenjori, Morawa, Mullewa, Yalgoo, Northampton, Nabawa, Geraldton, Carnarvon, Yalgoo all have a Church a Chapel a Convent or a Cathedral either designed and constructed or just designed by this quite amazing man.

    As a newly trained Catholic Priest who was also an architect, sculptor and artist he arrived in 1915 and during his 25 years in the area was instrumental in about 25 or more constructions of which most are still standing and in good repair.

    During the first years of his posting he became friends with the store keepers in the small mining town of Yalgoo and their names were Caleb and Catherine Williamson.

Caleb and Catherine had purchased the Pastoral lease called Melangata, which is about 70km north of Yalgoo, some years previous which didn’t have a homestead that was suitable for their family of eight. So knowing of Dean Hawes skill as an architect the Williamsons commissioned him to design a homestead for the property and what a design it turned out to be and today Melangata Homestead is the only still privately owned residential building designed by Monsignor John Hawes in Australia and one of only a few in the world.

    Up until now Melangata Homestead, because of the fact it is a private residence, has rarely been open to the public but that has now changed as we now offer homestead dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation for adults only to enjoy a genuine station experience.

The Homestead has Four guest rooms There is the King Room, Large Queen, Standard Queen and the Twin single.

The Homestead accommodation will only ever have six-eight guests at a time so everyone can enjoy their experience without getting in each other’s way.

A three course home cooked meal is served to guests in the dining room each night and the lounge is full of comfy chairs, books to read, games to play or just a chat and a nightcap in front of the open fire.

Breakfast is a continental served in the dining room although a good hearty country cooked breakfast can be arranged.

As well as the Homestead accommodation we have a camp ground set up with unpowered sites amongst the trees near the shearing shed  and there is room for all sized camping set ups from a swag to a fifth wheeler we have plenty of room for all.

A communal meeting place with wood fired BBQ and fire pit is available to use, flush dunnies and always hot showers plus a space cleared for use if the weather turns inclement inside the shearing shed.

The communal fire pit is where I also hold my camp oven cooking classes for groups of guests keen to learn how to make a delicious meal in the outdoors.

We have decided to keep the shearers quarters like they originally were, complete with original shearers cots for anyone who is camping and the weather becomes nasty they can have a dry place to sleep.

For more kitchen facilities there is the original cookhouse at the shearers quarters. 

We have also introduced our Bell tent Village that is a short walk from the homestead and utilises the bathroom and cookhouse/kitchen facilities of the shearers quarters there is a gas burner and old wood stove to cook on a fridge and power points to charge camera batteries to take plenty of photos, a book exchange and plenty of games to play.  

    I conduct an Historic tour of the Homestead each day with morning tea of scones Jam and Cream at 10am 

There are many interesting places to visit with in an hour and a half’s drive from the homestead.

Dalgaranga Homestead and Dam, Dalgaranga Meteorite Crater and, the claimed to be second largest Monolith in Australia, Walga Rock which is home to an extensive Aboriginal Art Gallery.   

The historic Gold mining towns of Cue, Mount Magnet and Yalgoo are also just down the road.

    The bird life on Melangata is amazing and so far there have been 65 confirmed and recorded different species of bird on the property and that is mostly just around the homestead.

    So whether you are keen on a room in the homestead or you would like to camp or get a group together for a camp oven cook up then Melangata Station Stay is the place for you.

 For any other information regarding accommodation or cooking classes please phone the station on 99637777, if I don’t answer then please leave a message so I can get back to you.

 Or email me at melangatastationstay@gmail.com

Or message me through the Melangata Station Stay Instagram or FB page once you have liked it.

Or through the web site www.melangatastationstay.com.au

So even though we are a happily mobile free zone there are still lots of ways to get in touch. We look forward to having you come and stay and enjoy the place we love.

 

Please note.

We do not allow visiting Pets eg Dogs and Cats ect.

We also do not allow free range of the station.