For Rowan Stuhmcke, building has always been more than a job – it’s a family legacy spanning three generations in Beaudesert.
Across hundreds of projects throughout Queensland, Rowan’s work has left a lasting mark, but it’s the buildings he helped create in Beaudesert that remain closest to his heart.
Early days
Born in Lutwyche, Rowan was raised in Gordon Park alongside his five siblings.
He remembers an active childhood spent exploring creeks, playing football and cricket and adventuring through Hickey’s Paddock at Stafford.
When he was 14, the family moved to Veresdale after purchasing a dairy farm.
Rowan dreamed of becoming a farmer and entered the workforce at 15, working on the Clark dairy farm at Laravale.
However, drought forced the family to move from their farm a year later, prompting Rowan to return to town and join his father in the building trade.
Working under the name WF and RG Stuhmcke, the father-and-son duo built dairies and other structures throughout the Beaudesert district.
In 1952, Rowan’s first building job was constructing a small shop for Bill Craft on the corner of Brisbane and Edward Streets.
The family business later took him to Redcliffe and Woongoolba before he returned to Beaudesert in 1966.
While the family owned a sugar cane and dairy farm at Woongoolba for four years, Rowan continued working in construction whenever he could.
Over a career spanning more than 45 years, he learnt far more than carpentry.
“When I was building, we did everything,” Rowan said.
“I did say to Dad once, ‘why do we dig the holes and put the stumps in, build the house, put the roof on, run the gutter, do the plumbing out in the country?’ and so on.
“[He said], ‘you can’t go to these cockish places if you can’t do the lot’.”
A new chapter
A building job would ultimately introduce Rowan to the love of his life.
Pat approached him about building a laundry at her North Maclean home, and the pair soon struck up a connection.
They married on the property in 1973 and later welcomed their daughter, Tracey, giving another sibling to Rowan’s first four children Karen, Brett, Garth and Michael.
After several moves throughout south-east Queensland, Rowan and Pat purchased their Kerry property in 1984, where they have lived ever since.
It was a home Rowan already knew well.
Back in 1968, he had worked on the house, building a laundry extension for the previous owners.
When he learnt it was for sale years later, he knew it was the perfect place for them.
More than buildings
Rowan has remained active in the community through organisations including the Kerry Memorial Hall committee, Beaudesert and District Restored Auto Club and Beaudesert Bowls Club.
Since retiring in 2000, he has enjoyed restoring vintage farm wagons and wooden buckets, preserving a piece of rural history he remembers from his younger days.
The Stuhmcke building tradition continues through his son Garth, marking three generations of builders in Beaudesert.
These days, Rowan is happiest at home with Pat and enjoys a slower pace of life.
