Glass House Mountains is widely considered the regional name for the rail towns of the former Caloundra City Council from Beerburrum to Landsborough but officially, it is the district from Beerburrum to just north of Glass House township, Coochin Creek on the eastern side of the highway and the northern tip of Bribie Island, west to the back of Mt Beerwah.
The area is a patchwork of farms, state forest and national parks all within the shadow of the 13 volcanic peaks of the Glass House Mountains, the subject of great aboriginal legend, named by Captain Cook in 1770.
It is also the southernmost part of the Sunshine Coast, or about halfway to Brisbane. With its proximity to major road and rail networks it has, not surprisingly, become a popular residential area for city commuters.
Trains from stations at Beerburrum and Glass House are an easy hour’s ride to the city and the old Bruce Highway is an efficient link to the four lanes of the M1.
The little township of Glass House Mountains is the main entry point for tourists wanting to explore the surrounding mountains by road and foot. Its value to tourism is recognised by the scattering of B&Bs and a tourist information centre.
Surrounded by farms, particularly pineapples, avocados and macadamia nuts, it was previously more important as a loading centre for farmers. Glass House is still often described as a village, as even though there has been a lot of residential development in the past two decades, (the population doubled between 1991 and 2006) it has held on to its country feel and rural landscape.
Some of the credit for that must go to the old Caloundra City Council which set out to ensure that townships retained their identity and did not melt into one long urban strip from Beerburrum to Landsborough. The Glass House district has a land area of 29,674 hectares with just 0.16 people per hectare at the 2006 census.
Summing up: Glass House offers country liveability and affordability on a wide choice of allotments from urban to large and small acreage, all within an hour of Brisbane and 30 minutes of the coast. It is also handy to fishing and crabbing in Pumicestone Passage and bushwalking in the mountains.
