Oakwood Motel

The Oakwood Motel was originally built in 1932 by Dougal and Andrew Duncan as a roadhouse, extended in 1935 with a two-storey ballroom, and subsequently altered and extended throughout the later 20th century. It comprises a single-storey, originally five-bay (now six-bay) rectangular block, extended eastward and wrapped around a two-storey, five-bay ballroom addition. The building’s design evokes a Swiss chalet or log cabin style, characterized by a profusion of dormer gablets and rustic timber cladding. Some gablets feature small triangular coloured glass lights and Art Deco glazing. The rear block is completely encased in decorative rustic timber and bark cladding, incorporating random and geometric designs, occasionally punctuated at ground floor by naïve floral panels, with plain weatherboarding to the front of the single-storey bays. The building sits on a painted concrete base with incised decoration resembling tree trunks.

The principal south elevation features projecting bays from 1932, now clad in weatherboarding, with blocked replacement windows below six dormer gablets. A late 20th-century projection adjoins the formerly piended east end, wrapping around the corner and extending across the east elevation. A door is situated in the outer left bay, featuring a painted glass panel. The west elevation retains the log work cladding. The gabled first floor of the two-storey ballroom rises above the single-storey bays and preserves decorative log work on all elevations.

Original tripartite casement windows with coloured leaded glazing are present on the first floor of the ballroom; some have been replaced or damaged. Small triangular windows within the gablets are also decoratively glazed. Modern plate glass glazing is used on the single-storey south and west elevations. The roofs are covered in slate, with decorative terracotta ridge tiles and apex finials.

The interior displays decorative leaded and coloured glass in internal windows and doors, including an Art Deco ‘BALL-ROOM’ panel above a screen door. The ground floor is open-plan, with Art Deco-influenced detailing such as square piers and light fittings. The first-floor ballroom features a coved ceiling and metal ties. Small bar areas are located on each floor, with small decorative windows and some rustic timberwork.

A separate single-storey bungalow, weatherboarded with bipartite windows featuring multi-pane upper lights, includes a brick mural stack and a corrugated iron roof.