Back when the Perth Hills were untouched bushland, one family from Yorkshire settled in area and built a house by hand from the local jarrah and clay.

Stirk Cottage, now a museum, sits close to the Kalamunda town centre and was the first building in the area.

"This building was constructed by Frederick and Elizabeth Stirk, who with their daughter left Yorkshire in 1875 and settled in Guildford," Heritage Perth's Richard Offen said.

"Frederick was a bricklayer by trade but when he settled in WA he evidently became a confident axeman.

The view over the Perth Hills from the Zig Zag Railway in 1925. ( Supplied: State Library of Western Australia )

"Frederick's work enabled him to travel the Darling Ranges and he was incredibly impressed with this area so he decided to settle here."

Clearing Headingley Hill

Mr Stirk bought 15 acres of land at a place then called the Second Gully, and the family, which by then included four children, lived in a tent while they cleared the land for crops and a house.

He named the property Headingley Hill after the Headingley cricket ground from his birthplace Leeds.

Mr Stirk was often away, working in the timber trade until Headingley Hill could be cleared and provide for the family through agriculture.

"The clearing of the land for this site was pretty hard work," Mr Offen said.

The Western Mail later wrote of Mrs Stirk's hard work with her husband felling the heavy hardwood trees, reporting in 1931:

"When the Stirks first settled at the Second Gully, the whole area between Guildford and there was covered with heavy timber and thick, almost impenetrable bush, through which tracks were cut, in which job Mrs Stirk shared. "Old identities of the district can confirm the fact that few men in the district in the early days could outlast her on the other end of a crosscut saw pushed by her. She was equally capable with the axe, and worked side by side with her husband in falling and cutting timber."

The Stirks kept goats for milk and also hunted wallabies and kangaroos for meat, and Mrs Stirk would travel to Guildford on horseback for other supplies.

Building a house mud brick, by mud brick

The house was built by the Stirks themselves.

"The three-room cottage is constructed of mud bricks, jarrah and there were extensions built from sun-dried clay blocks using the local clay," Mr Offen said.

"The interior comprised of three main spaces — a kitchen, living room in the centre and then a bedroom where all of them would have lay down at night."

The Stirks had another five children while living at Headingley Hill, and by the mid 1890s the cottage was bursting at the seams.

"The family of 11 moved to a much larger house, similarly constructed to this one, in Lindsay Street dubbed the overflow house," Mr Offen said.

"The original cottage here was leased to Charles Brooks who opened the district's first general store in a nearby barn."

A motoring party on the Kalamunda Road, 1914. ( Supplied: State Library of Western Australia )

Growing the Darling Ranges

In 1891, the Zig Zag railway was built, linking the area with the Midland railway line, and more orchards sprang up in the fertile hills soil.

The settlers formed the Darling Range Vine and Fruitgrowers' Association to lobby for better services for the area, and in 1896 premier John Forrest approved the creation of the Darling Range Road Board.

In 1901 and 1902 the town centre of Kalamunda was laid out and the district began to grow, but the Stirk cottage and the surrounding 15 acres remained.

Stirk Cottage in November 1967. ( Supplied: State Library of Western Australia )

"From 1903 the cottage was let to a variety of tenants," Mr Offen said.

"From 1927 to 1933, three school teachers shared the cottage for a rent of 14 shillings a week.

"For this amount, they received a fully furnished house as well as milk, cream, firewood and afternoon teas."

Mr Stirk died in 1931 and in 1933 the family sold the house to Francis Roberts, a dairyman from South Perth.

Saving Stirk cottage

"In 1949 the Darling Range Road Board, the precursor to the Shire of Kalamunda, purchased Stirk's original holding, including the cottage, for recreational purposes," Mr Offen said.

"By 1956 the cottage had become quite dilapidated and there were actually moves to demolish it.

The small three-room Stirk Cottage is now surrounded by new houses and the Kalamunda sports club. ( 720 ABC Perth: Emma Wynne )

"But there was a great deal of objection from the local community who realised its historic value.

"They prevailed and the building was saved."

The cottage has been renovated several times since then and the Kalamunda and Districts Historical Society took over the management in 1969.

"Now the place is open as a museum and it really is a delightful remnant of Kalamunda's early history," Mr Offen said.