Rechner cottage is not the only pug building in Light Pass. Luhr’s Cottage across the road is a fine example of a fully restored pug cottage. And then there is this one – The old dunny on the Polst property… A wonderful piece of early architecture!
L Grope, in Reminiscences Of Old Stockwell, explains how the outhouse came to be built……
“There was great excitement in our grandparent’s home at Light Pass. In a few weeks’ time two Polst ladies from America would be paying them a visit, and there was much to get ready.
The five Polst sisters were concerned about such mundane things as what to wear and what to cook while the American visitors were with them, but their Dad had a much more basic concern. how on earth would they manage with all these females and only one toilet? Some drastic action was called for. What Grandpa needed was a private little dunny which he could use without fear of being disturbed by strange visitors from America.
No sooner said than done. Grandfather build himself a dunny in a secluded spot behind the machinery shed. It consisted of rough slabs of timber, plastered over with a mixture of clay (a technique known as pug). He carefully fitted it out with a suitable seating arrangement and a metal spike to hold the small pieces of newspaper that served as toilet paper (and reading material) in those far-off days.
Grandfather’s dunny still exists, even though it is beginning to show its age. It is a reminder of the days when toilets were strategically situated at some distance from the house, and were defiintely NOT en suite! “
