Book probes into guest house peak

By Melissa Donchi
HEALESVILLE has always been popular with the tourists but a new history book explains why the town’s popularity may have peaked more than a century ago.
Local historian Bryn Jones has published a book on the history of guesthouses in Healesville to track the beginning of the development and the gradual decline of Healesville as a tourist destination.
Free from City Cares: The Story of Healesville Guest Houses tells the story of the guesthouses which were pivotal to it.
According to Mr Jones, Healesville’s popularity as a tourism destination peaked in the 1920s when there were approximately 75 guest houses catering for an influx of tourists.
“Healesville was the most important tourism venue in Victoria because of its location, its attraction of countryside and its proximity to Melbourne,” Mr Jones said.
“It gradually developed a reputation from the turn of the century as the place to visit.”
Eventually other places caught up and the number of guesthouses has gradually diminished.
“Social habits changed and the arrival of the motorcar after the Second World War made other places more accessible and Healesville less desirable.”
The book includes more than 350 photographs and illustrations and anecdotes from the guests who stayed about events that took place.
Free From City Cares: The Story of Healesville Guest Houses by Bryn Jones is available from 12 December from the Visitor Information Centre, Judith Eardley Save Wildlife Association, Healesville Newsagency, Healesville and District Society Office and from Bryn Jones on 5962 4697.