Day Dawn, the house at Chauncy Vale

Day Dawn, the house at Chauncy Vale, is of particular interest as the home of distinguished children's author, Nan Chauncy (1900 - 1970).

This house was built mainly in slipform concrete by Nan's father and her brother Jan, between 1916 and 1918. It was later extended by Nan and her husband, Anton, in the 1940s and 1950s.

The furniture in the house is that which was used by the Chauncys in the 1960s. There was, and still is, no electricity, but the family enjoyed the simple and frugal life there and much of Nan's writing was inspired by the cottage's bush setting.

A large fenced garden in front of the house contains typically hardy introduced shrubs and plants such as iris, lilac, rosemary, broom and large beds of daffodils. A big pine tree at the corner of the veranda was planted by Nan's family to commemorate the end of the First World War.

In their early years of married life at Chauncy Vale, Nan and Anton extended the original property to include the large area of creek, cave and forest habitats which they then acted to protect by having it proclaimed a private sanctuary.