Pieter Gutter’s family speak out about future of East Ballina’s bespoke ‘windmill house’

“It was a privilege to grow up there, and experience everything that came along with it. When the house got sold, we took certain things... but we haven’t decorated our houses like Grandpa did.”

The 'windmill house' at 58 Shelly Beach Rd, East Ballina, is set to be demolished soon by its new owners.

Family of the late Pieter Gutter, who for decades decorated his home at East Ballina, have spoken about the artist’s legacy and the future of the building.

The home at 58 Shelly Beach Road has been earmarked for demolition, with a development application currently with Ballina Shire Council for its bulldozing.

Alstonville resident Anton Gutter, Pieter’s son, said the family understood the house will be gone and they were okay with it.

“It would be nice if there was an opportunity (for some of the art) to be preserved, but as a family we understand that you have to be philosophical about things and realise that some things are just not going to stay on forever,” he said.

“It’s not a pleasant feeling to think that it’s going to disappear, but you have to be philosophical about it.”

Lismore resident Lachlan Gutter, Anton’s son, also grew up constantly seeing cars and tour buses pulling up in front of the house to take photos.

“It was a privilege to grow up there, and experience everything that came along with it,” he said.

“When the house got sold, we took certain things from the property, like some mosaic status, little lighthouses and ornaments, but we haven’t decorated our houses like Grandpa did.”

The 'windmill house' with its bespoke letterbox at East Ballina.

Anton said the family had kept many special memories about Grandpa Pieter and the house.

“There is a photo of Lachlan when he was a small boy wearing a bicycle helmet in what can only be described as very dodgy scaffolding on high parts of the house, helping my father put tiles on the house. It’s a lovely memory for us,” he said.

“The last letterbox my father made coincidently is a very similar shape of the house I’m living in, in Alstonville, a little timber cottage, and I have it at the front of the house.”

Anton said his father had a creative flair and loved people stopping to admire his work.

“There was a lady who asked for permission to have her wedding photos in the front lawn,” he said.

“He was tickled to think about that. It made him very happy.”

Mr Gutter grew up in the home, with his brother and sister.

“My father emigrated from Holland in the 1950s, he met my mum and they got married in Sydney. My sister and myself were both born in Sydney, and we moved to Ballina in 1962,” he said.

“They bought that house at the beginning of 1963 ... I lived there for about 57 years.”

Pieter Gutter became a truck delivery driver for a company in Ballina, his son explained.

“He used to get all the tiles remnants that they would otherwise throw out,” he said.

“He put them underneath the house.

“Then he was put on a pension because of stress, so he then decided that he would tile the house. You could say it was therapeutic for him.”