Beach Huts
Beach huts or bathing boxes are small wooden buildings located on the foreshore. They are usually brightly painted with timber framing, weatherboards and corrugated iron roofs.
The bathing boxes found on the Victorian coastline are over a 100 years old and apart form the fresh paint are just as they were when first built to accommodate bathers by providing a place to change.
Bathing boxes were introduced throughout the world soon after the First World War and are today an important and significant part of Australian historical culture.
Bathing boxes located on Port Phillip Bay and Western Port in Victoria, are distinct in their appearance that showcases Victorian architectural features from the bygone era. The bathing boxes at Brighton are as they were over 100 years ago, there are no amenities such as running water and electricity.
The Victorian beachscape is littered with more than 1800 bathing boxes and boatsheds. The Mornington Peninsula Shire has 800 of the bathing boxes and boatsheds under its jurisdiction.
There are fees that you incur by being the owner of a bathing box or boatshed. The bathing boxes and boatsheds are erected on land owned by the Crown and owners need to pay council rates, a boatshed / bathing box licence fee and a public liability insurance premium.
Beach Huts in the UK
Beach huts in the UK and Europe are plentiful with more than 20,000 located throughout the region.
First introduced for morality reasons they have come back in vogue in recent years with many people buying beach huts as an investment.
Once unpopular, these beach huts now will see an average price of £80,000 paid for them to change ownership. You can buy a beach hut in the £20,000 range with some being as high as £140,000. Prices did peak a few years ago at £160,000. Depending on where you live you can buy a house for far less than that.
The origins of the English beach huts followed the First World War. Prior to the war, beachgoers would enter the water in bathing machines. A bathing machine was nothing more than a horse drawn carriage that obviously gave the user maximum privacy. After the war attitudes changed with men and women allowed to bathe at the same beach, this resulted in many seaside councils erecting beach huts for people to use.
Beach huts were constructed from many different materials and items after the First World War with residence on the Isle of Wight using redundant railway carriages as beach huts.
Beach Huts and bathing boxes are not the same as boatsheds. They are simply to provide a place to change into your swimming gear while many owners have installed cooking facilities such as a gas burner barbecue they do still remain very much as they did when they were first introduced.
While beach huts and bathing boxes have retained their original appearance, the wooden boatsheds have become modernized with many owners taking the opportunity to modernize their home away from home by adding running water, electricity, insulation, furniture and cooking facilities to make their stay on the river, lake or bay an enjoyable one.