For the past several years the Queensland branch of the National Trust have held a Great Houses of Ipswich event to acknowledge and allow people to view the amazing houses the Ipswich suburbs are home to and famous for. In previous years houses that have been generously opened by their owners to the public have included:
Lakemba
The Chestnuts
Karragaroo
Gooloowan
Toronto
Booeebie
This year on the 7th of May from 10am – 3pm the National Trust has partnered with local owners to open three amazing houses in Ipswich and the surrounding suburbs. They include:
Notnel, 6 Burnett Street, West Ipswich
Gooloowan, 43 Quarry Street, Ipswich
Bellevue Homestead, Coominya Connection Road, Coominya
For a small donation of $5.00 per person per house you can view the beautiful majesty that is Gooloowan, fall in love with the pleasant and old world charms of Notnel, and catch a glimpse of the past at Bellevue Homestead. These funds are used most graciously by the National Trust so that they may continue the role they have undertaken in Queensland since the 1950s of protecting and conserving Queensland’s natural, cultural and indigenous heritage. These much needed funds also assist the National Trust in owning, managing and upholding the integrity of over 300 heritage places. As an organisation the National Trust also provide National Trust heritage listed house owners with the advice and support needed to conserve the original integrity of their house and property in perpetuity.
If you feel you might be interested in visiting these wonderful aspects of Ipswich’s heritage, here is just a taste of the history they contain:
Notnel, 6 Burnett Street, West Ipswich
– Built in prior to 1863
– One of Ipswich’s oldest brick houses
– Situated on a large block with rolling hills and hidden gardens
– Built for Mr David McLaughlin, who was a well-known local Ipswich builder
– In 1872 the house was sold to John North
– The home at this time had ten rooms
– In 1907 it was sold to a local dentist
– Sold to George Hawley in 1934
– The name ‘Notnel’ is believed to be Lenton spelt backwards, which was the name of the street on which George Hawley had lived in England
Gooloowan, 43 Quarry Street, Ipswich
– The land was purchased in 1862 by the famous Ipswichian Benjamin Cribb
– In 1864 construction commenced on the house
– Gooloowan is an aboriginal word meaning ‘house on the hill’
– The house originally had nine rooms
– A white marble mantelpiece brought over from Italy existed in the drawing room
– The top floor of Gooloowan once had two bathrooms, one for the males and one for the females
– The house remained in the Cribb family for more than 124 years.
Bellevue Homestead, Coominya Connection Road, Coominya
– Bellevue Station was built in the 1840s in the Wivenhoe area with pise, a rammed earth technique
– The Bellevue Station was purchased by Joseph North and his family 1849
– It was purchased by Alexander Dunbar in 1872
– James Taylor acquired the property in 1884. He was also the owner of Newstead House in Brisbane
– James Taylor was a member of the Legislative Assembly in Queensland from 1860 – 1870
– It later became a one of the most prized Hereford Studs in Queensland
– The famous Bellevue Homestead gardens contained a variety of Frangipani, Jacaranda, Fig, and Camphor Laurel trees
– During the 1893 floods the house was completely inundated
– The Bellevue Station was said to have been built of Chamferboard on the site
– The Bellevue homestead was comprised of 30 rooms at this time, which included a school classroom
– In 1975 on the building of Wivenhoe Dam, Bellevue Homestead was to be flooded
– The local branch of the National Trust assisted in moving of the homestead to a new site in Coominya to prevent the loss of the homestead
– The removal and reforming of the homestead was complete in 1980
– The final work was completed on the garden which was redeveloped on the new site, and reflected the same layout and included the same tree varieties.
Gooloowan, Quarry Street, Ipswich 1970 – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich