Bellevue Homestead
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Bellevue Homestead is a heritage-listed homestead currently located in
Coominya Coominya is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Somerset Region in South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane and approximately from Wivenho ...
,
Somerset Region The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, northwest of the City of Brisbane. The region is centred on the town of Esk, which also serves as the council seat. Somer ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. It was built from to . It was added to the
Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...
on 21 October 1992. The Bellevue property was the western part of the original Wivenhoe Run established in the 1840s which covered on the western side of the
Brisbane River The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...
valley. A large portion of this land is now part of the Wivenhoe Dam. The homestead was restored by the
National Trust of Queensland National Trust of Queensland is a membership-based community organisation to "promote the natural, Indigenous and cultural heritage" of Queensland. It was founded in 1963. It is a member of the National Trust of Australia, which federates the ...
between 1975 and 1980 after moving the buildings from the banks of the Brisbane River to the nearby town of
Coominya Coominya is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Somerset Region in South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane and approximately from Wivenho ...
to avoid being flooded.


History


19th century

In 1848, John Stephen Ferriter and Edmund Blucher Uhr squatted on close to limits of convict colony of Moreton Bay and called it Wivenhoe Run after the town in England. They grazed sheep and built two single roomed huts. The eastern hut was called Wivenhoe Homestead and the western slab hut was called Bellevue Homestead. The following year Wivenhoe lease registered in
New South Wales Government Gazette The ''Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales'', also known as the ''New South Wales Government Gazette'', is the government gazette of the Government of New South Wales in Australia. The ''Gazette'' is managed by the New South Wales ...
. A lease was purchased by Major William North Senior and son, Lieutenant Joseph North, of Fairney Lawn in 1858. Joseph North and wife lived in Wivenhoe Homestead and William North and wife lived in Bellevue Homestead hut. Soon after acquiring Wivenhoe, William North Snr established a section as Bellevue Station, on which he ran sheep. In 1868, on the Bellevue portion, the Norths built a four-roomed family residence and a Governess' residence with school room, guest bedroom and head stockman's room. An old slab hut was retained as the kitchen in a service wing. Outside bathrooms and toilets were built. In 1868–1869, the
Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
resumed the eastern half of Wivenhoe Run for subdivision and closer settlement, but the Norths were allowed to keep the lease of western half, the Bellevue Selection, under pre-emptive selection rights. Livestock was changed from sheep to cattle in 1870. In 1872, the Bellevue lease was purchased by Alexander Dunbar Campbell and John Hay. Five Deeds of Grant were issued. The earliest sections of Bellevue Homestead appear to date from the 1870s. None of the 1860s buildings have survived, with the older parts of the present homestead most likely constructed after the North family transferred the Bellevue leasehold to Campbell and Hay in 1872. 1880 saw the Certificate of Title purchased by Henry Grosvenor Simpson, Bellevue, and Alexander Dunbar Campbell from Sydney. Campbell became the sole owner in 1883; however, Henry Simpson and wife lived at and managed Bellevue Station from the 1870s to the 1890s. The Simpsons' three children were born at Bellevue Homestead. In 1884,
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...
MLA, who lived in Clifford House,
Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...
, and owned Cecil Plains and several other cattle properties, purchased Bellevue for his son, George Condamine (Con) Taylor and his wife Edith Maud (née Harris, born at
Newstead House Newstead House is Brisbane's oldest surviving residence and is located on the Breakfast Creek, Queensland, Breakfast Creek bank of the Brisbane River, in the northern Brisbane suburb of Newstead, Queensland, Newstead, in Queensland, Australia.T ...
in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
in 1865, daughter of George Harris MLC). Two years later the
Brisbane Valley railway line The Brisbane Valley railway line was a railway connection in Queensland, Australia connecting Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, west of Brisbane, to the upper Brisbane River valley. Progressively opened between 1884 and 1913, the railway provided ...
extended from Lowood to Esk with a goods platform station built at the entrance to Bellevue cattle station. In 1887, Evelyn Maud Condamine Taylor was born at Bellevue Homestead followed by Cecile Taylor's birth at Bellevue Homestead in 1891. During the Taylors' occupancy, the 1893 Brisbane River flood washed away the mud walls of Bellevue Homestead. The walls were then clad outside with cedar
weatherboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding (construction), siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Cla ...
s and inside with hoop pine boards covered with hessian ( scrim) and wallpaper. Joan Taylor was born at Bellevue Homestead in 1897. On 6 February 1899, Con Taylor died at the homestead.


20th century

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Bellevue Homestead was the social centre of the district. At its peak, c. 1910, the station comprised over , with a Hereford stud of national renown. The property remained in the extended Taylor family until the early 1950s. In 1901, widow Edith Maud Taylor married Charles Lumley Hill,
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...
, owner of several large cattle properties in Queensland,
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
and
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. Between 1902 and 1904 the Lumley Hills established a
Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British List of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It was the result of selective breeding from the mid-eighteenth century by a few famil ...
stud by purchase of the Durandur stud, which dated back to the first imports of Herefords to the Cressy stud in
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
. In 1903–1904 the Lumley Hills extended the homestead, adding a new dining room, guest suite, and servants quarters. Earlier sections of the house were renovated also. In 1905, the name of Bellevue railway station and post office changed from Bellevue to Coominya. Charles Lumley Hill died in 1909. Nephew, Colin Hill, continued to manage Bellevue property until 1925. The modification of the guest house and service wing occurred in 1920 for a visit by HRH Prince Edward, Prince of Wales. In 1925, Edith Maud Lumley Hill died and was buried in
Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...
, Brisbane. In the same year Bellevue was purchased by her daughter, Mrs Evelyn Watt (née Taylor) of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. In 1950, Evelyn Watt died. Christopher Alexander White and son purchased the property the following year, only to quickly sell it to Kenneth McLean. In 1953, the Hereford stud was sold. Bellevue was purchased by Valentine and Mary Crowe in 1965. In 1975 Bellevue was resumed by the Queensland Co-Ordinator General, as part of the Wivenhoe Dam project. In the same year the homestead and associated buildings were acquired by the
National Trust of Queensland National Trust of Queensland is a membership-based community organisation to "promote the natural, Indigenous and cultural heritage" of Queensland. It was founded in 1963. It is a member of the National Trust of Australia, which federates the ...
, and between 1975 and 1980 were removed to nearby Coominya township, established in 1905 on part of the Bellevue selection. The Trust is restoring the complex to its 1904–1910 appearance. From 1980 to 2004, the National Trust opened Bellevue Homestead to the public for tours.


21st century

Between 2004 and 2007 Bellevue Homestead was purchased and operated by Ken and Tanya Bullen from Toowoomba. In 2007, Bellevue Homestead was purchased by John and Laurel Dingle from Coominya and was operated by them until the sale of the property to the current owner (Christina James) in 2019.


Description

Bellevue Homestead is located opposite
Coominya railway station Coominya railway station is central to all activities in historic Coominya village, located in the Somerset Region of South East Queensland. Coominya village, a township of approximately 467 persons is located in South East Queensland approxima ...
, close to the original entrance to the property. It consists of three interconnected dwellings with an attached service wing and separate farm buildings. The main farmhouse and guest house face northeast and are encircled by verandas, with a spine of kitchen, stores, servants' hall and laundry attached at right angles, forming a T-shaped plan. A cottage, previously a school house and governess' residence, is attached on the south-east forming a southern courtyard, and a row of barns and stables is located on the southwest. All buildings, with the exception of the hay loft, are single-storeyed and sit on timber stumps. The main house comprises two chamferboard buildings which have
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
hipped roofs and are joined by an enclosed verandah breezeway. The older main farmhouse has a projecting
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
to the southwest and northeast entrances with a decorative timber barge board,
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...
and
finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...
, and timber shingles are visible under the corrugated iron sheeting. The plan consists of three bedrooms and a drawing room or parlour with a central hall. The side verandahs have been enclosed to expand the rooms through large archways, the northwest being enclosed with very wide cedar chamferboards. Some rooms are in the process of restoration and show different layers of the building's fabric, including pit sawn framing with mortice and tenon joints and hand-finished lining boards. Decorative features include painted woodgrain in the hall, hand painted wall paper, pressed metal ceilings in the drawing room, carved timber fireplace surrounds,
casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...
s, some of which have coloured glass inserts, step out bays and pressed metal window hoods. The attached guest house (a 1903-1904 extension) has a projecting gable porch to the northeast with decorative timber arch
brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
, barge board, finial and diagonally boarded gable. The verandahs have
dowel The dowel is a cylindrical shape made of wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is long and called a ''dowel rod'', which are often cut into shorter ''dowel pins''. Dowels are commonly used as structural reinforceme ...
balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
, lattice valance and timber arch brackets. The plan consists of a dining room, a
smoking room A smoking room (or smoking lounge) is a room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking, generally in buildings where smoking is otherwise prohibited. Locations and facilities Smoking rooms can be found in public buildings such ...
and a two-roomed guest suite. These are accessed from an enclosed verandah entrance hall with entrance doors at both ends with sidelights and
fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...
of etched coloured glass. All rooms have fretworked cedar
ceiling rose In the United Kingdom and Australia, a ceiling rose is a decorative element affixed to the ceiling from which a chandelier or light fitting is often suspended. They are typically round in shape and display a variety of ornamental designs. In mode ...
s. The dining room has a metal-lined wine store cupboard and its walls are panelled in cedar with silky oak inserts to a dado with full length vertical tongue-and-groove hoop pine boards above and along the ceiling. The tiled fireplace has a carved timber surround, and all timber is oiled/stained. The dining room also has remnants of gas fittings from the time the Homestead made its own gas from carbide, and remnants of electrical fittings from the time the Homestead generated its own electricity. All rooms have step out bays with timber shutters and internal doors have fanlights. The service wing consists of a kitchen that was originally a single-roomed slab hut, now weather-boarded on three sides but retaining the original adze-trimmed split slab wall on the fourth side, to which have been added extensions of a store, food preparation room, servants' dining and entertainment hall and laundry. The kitchen has a corrugated iron gable roof with a verandah to the courtyard, and a scullery attached to the back and three pressed metal ridge ventilators. Timber shingles are visible under the corrugated iron sheeting and the interior has single-skin cedar board walls and a large brick fireplace with wood-burning stove, hot water donkey and a charcoal grill with dripping collection tray. A modern kitchen has been installed in one room. On the other side of the courtyard facing the service wing, the cottage has an L-shaped plan and consists of a series of rooms added at different times. The weatherboard building has a corrugated iron gable roof with a bay to the northwest, surmounted by a gable, and verandas northeast and northwest. A row of weatherboard farm buildings with corrugated iron gable roofs is located to the southwest. The farm buildings consist of a meat room, coach house,
tack Thermoproteati is a kingdom of archaea. Its synonym, "TACK", is an acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), the first groups discovered. They ...
room, five slip rail stables and a two-storey hay loft. The stables have sawn cross cut timber and earth floors. The grounds include a circular drive with gardens to the north, overlooking a private dam positioned the same distance that the Brisbane River was from the house at its original location. The floor plan of the restored homestead is shown below.


Heritage listing

Bellevue Homestead was listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...
on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. An example of a large, evolving timber homestead complex, illustrating in form, fabric and decoration the lifestyle of the turn-of-the-century Queensland squattocracy. Association with early European settlement of the Brisbane River Valley and the development of the pastoral industry in Queensland. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Surviving evidence of timber building techniques from the 1870s. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. An example of a large, evolving timber homestead complex, illustrating in form, fabric and decoration the lifestyle of the turn-of-the-century Queensland squattocracy. The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. Surviving evidence of timber building techniques from the 1870s.


See also

The Somerset Region contains a significant number of large residences in the Brisbane Valley that have been restored to their original state when built in the 19th century. Many are still lived in and can be visited as a part of the living history of the early settlement of Queensland. In addition to the Bellevue Homestead at
Coominya Coominya is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Somerset Region in South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane and approximately from Wivenho ...
, other restored dwellings in the Somerset region are the Esk Heritage (Lars Anderson) House in Esk, Caboonbah Homestead, the home of Henry Plantagenet Somerset, Cressbrook Station at Toogoolawah, continuously owned by the McConnell family from the early 1840s to the present (not open to the public), Ringsfield House in Nanango,Nanango
. South Burnett Tourism. Retrieved on 1 January 2013.
Stonehouse in
Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...
and the Convent, now the Heritage Centre, at Yarraman.


References


Attribution


External links

{{Commons category-inline, Bellevue Homestead Homesteads in Queensland Queensland Heritage Register Coominya, Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Somerset Region