Cairnsville
- 600259
- 41 Balfour Street, New Farm
General
- Classification
- State Heritage
- Register status
- Entered
- Date entered
- 21 October 1992
- Type
- Residential: Detached house
- Theme
- 6.4 Building settlements, towns, cities and dwellings: Dwellings
- Architect
- Gailey, Richard
- Builder
- Le Brocq, Charles
- Construction period
- 1889, Cairnsville (1889c - 1889c)
- Historical period
- 1870s–1890s Late 19th century
Location
- Address
- 41 Balfour Street, New Farm
- LGA
- Brisbane City Council
- Coordinates
- -27.46394474, 153.04021095
Map
Street view
Photography is provided by Google Street View and may include third-party images. Images show the vicinity of the heritage place which may not be visible.
Significance
Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.
A late example of the Colonial Gable style and includes unusual features such as a substantial staircase and the rounded roofs of the dormers.
One of a number of moderate sized timber houses built in New Farm in the late nineteenth century as rental accommodation for the professional classes.
Associated with Richard Gailey, Albert Victor Drury and Governor William Cairns.
Criterion DThe place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.
One of a number of moderate sized timber houses built in New Farm in the late nineteenth century as rental accommodation for the professional classes.
Criterion EThe place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
A late example of the Colonial Gable style and includes unusual features such as a substantial staircase and the rounded roofs of the dormers.
Criterion HThe place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland’s history.
Associated with Richard Gailey, Albert Victor Drury and Governor William Cairns.
History
Cairnsville is a single-storeyed timber house built in 1889. It was designed by Richard Gailey, the notable architect, for Charles le Brocq, a prominent builder, local landowner and floating baths proprietor who retained the house as a rental property for professional tenants.
Its first occupant was Albert Victor Drury, a brother of Edward Drury, the general manager of the National Bank of Queensland. He was the clerk of the executive council from 1867 to 1904, and private secretary to Governor William Cairns from 1875 to 1877. Drury named the house in memory of this recently deceased governor.
In 1897 Drury left Cairnsville, which has had a number of owners and tenants in succeeding years, including a period as a boarding house.
Description
Cairnsville is a gable roofed, single-storeyed timber house of the colonial era, with a kitchen wing extending off the rear. It sits on timber stumps which are lowset at the front, but highset at the rear.
The corrugated iron roof features two dormer windows with semi-circular tank roofs, as well as a window in each gable. The verandah across the front and down the right side of the house has timber posts with cast-iron balusters, brackets and valances. The entrance is marked by a fretwork pediment, beyond which is the panelled front door with leadlight fan and sidelights.
French doors with shutters open out from the rooms onto the verandahs. A large drawing room and dining room, linked by folding doors, are located on the right side of the central hallway, and three bedrooms are on the left. A substantial staircase leads to two attic bedrooms. The kitchen and other service rooms are located in the highset wing at the rear. The subfloor of this wing has been enclosed in brick to create a poolside entertainment area.
