Ninney Rise at picturesque Bingil Bay north of Mission Beach in northern Queensland was built c. 1960 by artist and environmentalist John Horatio Busst, using locally made bricks and locally sourced bamboo.
He lived in the house with his wife Alison until his death in 1971.
It was from here that Busst master-minded a passionate, determined and ultimately successful campaign to protect Queensland's Great Barrier Reef and its tropical rainforests from development and mining pressures and exploitation.

Ninney Rise and its grounds are located on what had been part of a 160-acre (65 ha) block first taken up in the name of Sidney B Cutten in 1884.
The Cutten family were the area's first non-Indigenous settlers and became well known horticulturists. (
They built their family home, Bicton House, on the site now occupied by Ninney Rise, retaining it until the late 1930s).
This is incorrect 'Bicton' was on the southern side of Bingil Bay.
The original home at Ninney Rise was built by the Alexanders (Cutten's cousins) The home was used as a boarding house for many years.
There was never a house on the spot where the Busst home was built.

Mission Beach, Bingil Bay, and Dunk and Bedarra Islands remained relatively undeveloped during the first half of the twentieth century, due to their isolation and frequent destructive cyclones.
These factors ensured that the area retained much of its outstanding natural beauty which, along with idyllic accounts from Queensland author Edmund James Banfield, attracted artists and naturalists to the area including John Busst and his sister Phyllis, who leased the south-eastern corner of Bedarra Island in 1940 and later purchased almost the whole island (apart from 15 acres (6.1 ha) owned by artist Noel Wood).

John Busst's interest in art, architecture and advocacy began in his youth, which he spent in Victoria.
After attending Wesley College, he studied at Melbourne University.
He then shared a house with Arthur Munday and future Prime Minister Harold Holt, before Busst and Munday studied art with draughtsman-turned-painter Justus Jorgensen, who was influential in Melbourne art circles.
In 1934 Busst followed Jorgensen to Eltham, an outer suburb of Melbourne, which had attracted artists since the early 1900s, to help build the community of painters, sculptors, musicians and crafts-people later known as Montsalvat.
Their architectural vision included the use of natural and local materials, such as pise de terre and mud bricks.
As one of Monsalvat's builders, Busst acquired skills in creative and organic building.
This artistic background and its associated philosophies influenced Busst's building practices when he moved to north Queensland with his sister in 1940: his first house (since demolished) on Bedarra Island being constructed with hand-made mud bricks.

After 1947 Busst subdivided his Bedarra Island land and sold 86 acres (35 ha).
Phyllis returned to Melbourne and John married Alison Shaw Fitchett who joined him on Bedarra in the early 1950s.
In 1957 John and Alison Busst sold their home on Bedarra Island and moved to Bingil Bay on just less than 10 acres (4.0 ha) which extended to the beach with views over the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef.
They also acquired portion 19V to the north, a 154-acre (62 ha) block that included extensive areas of tropical lowland rainforest and the rocky headland known as Ninney Point.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s the Bussts erected a new residence on the site.


John Busst designed their new home to be strong enough to withstand cyclones, and utilised locally sourced materials.
He employed a local builder to erect the shell of the building using bricks from the Silkwood Brickworks, and then used bamboo, an exotic that had been planted in the district in the nineteenth century, to create decorative ceiling features, architraves and fittings throughout the residence and to make furniture.
Patricia Clare, who visited the Busst's new home at Bingil Bay in the 1960s, later wrote:
"The white house stood on its own cliff, the rainforest behind it, and in front the sa
Ninney Rise at picturesque Bingil Bay north of Mission Beach in northern Queensland was built c. 1960 by artist and environmentalist John Horatio Busst, using locally made bricks and locally sourced bamboo. He lived in the house with his wife Alison until his death in 1971. It was from here that Busst master-minded a passionate, determined and ultimately successful campaign to protect Queensland's Great Barrier Reef and its tropical rainforests from development and mining pressures and exploitation.
Ninney Rise and its grounds are located on what had been part of a 160-acre (65 ha) block first taken up in the name of Sidney B Cutten in 1884. The Cutten family were the area's first non-Indigenous settlers and became well known horticulturists. (They built their family home, Bicton House, on the site now occupied by Ninney Rise, retaining it until the late 1930s). This is incorrect 'Bicton' was on the southern side of Bingil Bay. The original home at Ninney Rise was built by the Alexanders (Cutten's cousins) The home was used as a boarding house for many years. There was never a house on the spot where the Busst home was built.
Mission Beach, Bingil Bay, and Dunk and Bedarra Islands remained relatively undeveloped during the first half of the twentieth century, due to their isolation and frequent destructive cyclones. These factors ensured that the area retained much of its outstanding natural beauty which, along with idyllic accounts from Queensland author Edmund James Banfield, attracted artists and naturalists to the area including John Busst and his sister Phyllis, who leased the south-eastern corner of Bedarra Island in 1940 and later purchased almost the whole island (apart from 15 acres (6.1 ha) owned by artist Noel Wood).
John Busst's interest in art, architecture and advocacy began in his youth, which he spent in Victoria. After attending Wesley College, he studied at Melbourne University. He then shared a house with Arthur Munday and future Prime Minister Harold Holt, before Busst and Munday studied art with draughtsman-turned-painter Justus Jorgensen, who was influential in Melbourne art circles. In 1934 Busst followed Jorgensen to Eltham, an outer suburb of Melbourne, which had attracted artists since the early 1900s, to help build the community of painters, sculptors, musicians and crafts-people later known as Montsalvat. Their architectural vision included the use of natural and local materials, such as pise de terre and mud bricks. As one of Monsalvat's builders, Busst acquired skills in creative and organic building. This artistic background and its associated philosophies influenced Busst's building practices when he moved to north Queensland with his sister in 1940: his first house (since demolished) on Bedarra Island being constructed with hand-made mud bricks.
After 1947 Busst subdivided his Bedarra Island land and sold 86 acres (35 ha). Phyllis returned to Melbourne and John married Alison Shaw Fitchett who joined him on Bedarra in the early 1950s. In 1957 John and Alison Busst sold their home on Bedarra Island and moved to Bingil Bay on just less than 10 acres (4.0 ha) which extended to the beach with views over the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef. They also acquired portion 19V to the north, a 154-acre (62 ha) block that included extensive areas of tropical lowland rainforest and the rocky headland known as Ninney Point. In the late 1950s or early 1960s the Bussts erected a new residence on the site.

John Busst designed their new home to be strong enough to withstand cyclones, and utilised locally sourced materials. He employed a local builder to erect the shell of the building using bricks from the Silkwood Brickworks, and then used bamboo, an exotic that had been planted in the district in the nineteenth century, to create decorative ceiling features, architraves and fittings throughout the residence and to make furniture. Patricia Clare, who visited the Busst's new home at Bingil Bay in the 1960s, later wrote:
"The white house stood on its own cliff, the rainforest behind it, and in front the sa
Ninney Rise