MODEST fibro, timber and tin shacks perched on stumps virtually on the water's edge with magnificent, uninterrupted views. That's the lingering memory many people have of the classic, no-fuss Queensland beach house.

But those humble fibro shacks have all but disappeared from the coastal landscape, levelled by the development juggernaut in which more and more people have taken up residence at the beach permanently – not just for occasional weekends and annual holidays.

In the early days of European settlement in Queensland, only the wealthy could afford to build holiday residences, complete with servants' quarters, by the sea.

As building costs reduced during the Depression and cheap waterfront land became available, many families built their own small holiday cottages or fishing shacks, often over a succession of visits, bringing a greater egalitarianism to beachside communities.

Fibro-asbestos sheeting, which became popular in Australia by the late 1920s and was manufactured in Queensland by James Hardie and Wunderlich from the 30s, was an obvious choice for casual seaside dwellings.

It was cheap and easy to use by an owner-builder, it didn't need painting and it was durable in salt and sea air.

Aesthetics weren't always important for a holiday house, certainly not as important to people as their main home in the suburbs, according to historian Dr Thom Blake who has been researching the history of beach houses in Queensland for the National Trust.

In the 1950s the proliferation of beach shacks prompted an architect to describe pre-high rise Surfers Paradise as "an ugly conglomeration of badly designed, unpainted fibro buildings with smelly septic systems".

Before fibro changed the urban landscape it was timber which dominated. The suburbs were crammed with spindly timber houses on stumps with noisy iron or tin roofs and broad verandas evocative of tent flaps.

Collectively these timber homes were known as Queenslanders and they set the state's architecture apart from the rest of Australia's in the late 19th and early 20th century. They began springing up in numbers in the cane fields of north Queensland and around Brisbane when new steam sawmills made timber a more economically viable building material than brick.

Why the stilts? There were various reasons. The further from the ground, the builders reasoned, the further pesky termites would have to burrow before they could wreak havoc in a house's softwood floorboards and frame.

The metal ant caps added to the top of the stumps weren't expected to completely stop the termites, just make their presence easier to detect.

People also built high to capture afternoon sea breezes, to give a sense of privacy and security, extra storage space underneath their main living areas and a measure of protection against the occasional flood.

Plus building on stumps did away with the need for expensive foundation work on sloping blocks.

There was also some thought among cane planters in the north that they'd be able to avoid low-flying insects like midges, and the mosquitoes which hung around stagnant pools of water.

But anyone who's lived in a Queenslander will know that mozzies will find their way in, no matter how high you are.

A multi-million-dollar mansion on the ocean front at Mermaid Beach.

Queenslander houses were never one specific style. Many evolved over the years: roof lines changed, open verandas were closed, elements were taken from American plantation homes and the California bungalow style.

But they shared the common characteristics of elevation, light frames, verandas, metal roofs, timber and decorative touches.

Queenslanders started to go out of vogue after World War II, due to a combination of war-time austerity, the availability of fibro, slate and other materials, new building regulations and a fondness for low-set brick veneer and tiles found elsewhere in Australian suburbs.

But they've enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years, with many old homes being painstakingly restored and new houses built along traditional lines.

With the exorbitant price of coastal land, beach houses are no longer plain, sparsely decorated shacks used exclusively by one family and their friends for fun on weekends and annual holidays.