History

The Prev, formerly known as The Kellerberrin Preventorium and St Joseph’s Preventorium, was built from 1926 to1928. It was built by the Kellerberrin Hotel’s publican of the day Mr. Stuart Patterson and gifted to the Catholic Church to be used as a Preventorium.

The following information is drawn from the Annual Reports of the Child Welfare Department: The Preventorium provides for the “sick and under-nourished children of families in poor circumstances, to permit them to recuperate under ideal conditions. Children are taken from 5 to 12 years of age for 6 months. There is accommodation for 16 boys and 16 girls. The institution is under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph.”

It is understood that during the early 1920’s Mr Stuart Patterson visited the USA, where the use of Preventoriums  was quite widespread. Following his time in the USA Mr Patterson built the Kellerberrin Preventorium, the first of its kind in Australia, with a second built in New South Wales in the 1930’s.

The Kellerberrin  Preventorium housed children until the mid 1970’s, when the Catholic Church made a decision to cease operation at this site. In the early 1990’s it was purchased by Mr & Mrs Arthur  Green, who set about restoring much of the internal building and restructuring the grounds. During this time The Preventorium was known as Shilo Lodge.

In November 2003 The Preventorium was purchased by the current owners James and Pauline Scott, whose vision it was to continue the restoration work and operate a visitor facility. During its time as The Kellerberrin  Preventorium, local people referred to the property as The Prev, hence this was the registered name chosen by James and Pauline.

The Prev is a complex of buildings, with wings to the main building and a unique Classroom leading to a large wooden deck for outdoor entertaining. The grounds of five acres contain a number of outhouses, some animal houses and a tennis court with a compacted termite mound surface.  The garden boasts an avenue of Canary Island Date Palms, a large Moreton Bay Fig and a collection of trees and large shrubs popular in the first half of the twentieth century. There is also a well established, productive orchard of citrus and stone fruit trees. The Prev is set at the base of the Kellerberrin Hill and is within walking distance of Kellerberrin Hill Lookout, the town centre and the cemetery.