Currajong

This is one of a number of houses comprising the National Trust of Australia (Queensland’s) Townsville headquarters. Currajong is a large single storeyed timber residence which was built in 1888 for Alfred MacKenzie, the manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank. The house was initially situated on the road to Charters Towers, along with other fashionable suburban villas of the late 19th century. The house changed hands a number of times and during WWII was requisitioned by the RAAF as a Medical Receiving Station. It was used as a convalescent home for soldiers wounded at Milne Bay. In 1952, the house was purchased by the Redemptorist Fathers for use as a monastery. Then the property was transferred to the Sisters of Mercy in 1955 for use as a convent. They developed the Mater Hospital on the site surrounding Currajong. By 1978, planned hospital expansion encroached on the house site and it was scheduled for demolition. The National Trust, with some government funding, relocated the house to a new site in Castling Street, West End, where it has developed a historical village. It has now been interpreted and furnished in a style reminiscent of an affluent 19th century family.