Fernleigh, Cleveland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fernleigh, Cleveland |
|
|---|---|
Fernleigh, 2014
|
|
| Location | 73 Shore Street East, Cleveland, City of Redland, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s–1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | c. 1860s |
| Official name: Fernleigh | |
| Type | state heritage (built, landscape) |
| Designated | 11 March 1994 |
| Reference no. | 601374 |
| Significant period | 1850s-1880s (fabric, historical) |
| Significant components | garden/grounds, residential accommodation – main house, kitchen/kitchen house, views from, trees/plantings |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
Fernleigh is a special old house in Cleveland, Australia. It's a heritage-listed cottage located at 73 Shore Street East. This charming timber home was built around the 1860s. It has been recognized for its historical importance and was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on March 11, 1994. Fernleigh is a great example of the early buildings in the Cleveland area.
Contents
The Story of Fernleigh
Fernleigh is made up of a timber cottage and a separate timber kitchen house. It stands in an area of Cleveland Point where many of the first buildings were constructed. William Taylor and his family lived here from the early 1880s after he retired from his business in Brisbane.
Cleveland's Early Days
In 1851, the first land was sold in Cleveland. People were very excited about it! At that time, Ipswich was a strong competitor to Brisbane. Both towns wanted to be the main port for Queensland. Cleveland was supported by people from Ipswich and the Darling Downs region.
The land where Fernleigh stands today was bought by three important men in 1851.
- Jeremiah Scanlan was a hotel owner in Brisbane.
- Robert Cribb was a baker and a politician who owned a lot of land.
- William Augustine Duncan was a journalist from Sydney. He became the customs officer in Brisbane.
It's not completely clear if Mr. Cribb or Mr. Duncan built Fernleigh. But both men were very interested in Cleveland's future. They followed the debate about which town would become the main port.
A Holiday Home
By the late 1850s, Brisbane was chosen as Queensland's main port. Cleveland became a bit more isolated. It then grew into a popular holiday spot for people from Brisbane. Another popular holiday town was Sandgate, north of Brisbane.
Many local people believe Fernleigh was built in the 1860s. They think it was a holiday house for William Taylor. He had arrived in Brisbane in 1849. The Taylor family's first official connection to Fernleigh was in 1879. That's when William Taylor's daughters, Ellen, Ann, and Elizabeth, bought some of the land.
The Schoolhouse Kitchen
In 1879, William Taylor bought the old Cleveland State School building. He paid nine pounds for it! It's thought that he moved this building to Fernleigh. It then became the kitchen house for the cottage. Before it was a school, this building was a small shop or cottage in Cleveland. It was bought by the Board of Education in 1868. It opened as the first Cleveland State School in April of that year.
William Taylor bought the last piece of land for Fernleigh in 1882. He moved into Fernleigh around the same time he retired in the early 1880s. He lived there until he passed away in 1895. The house stayed in the Taylor family until the 1960s. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there were plans to turn the house into apartments. However, the current owners bought Fernleigh in 1987.
What Fernleigh Looks Like
Fernleigh is a single-story timber house. It faces Shore Street East and has a great view of Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Island. It also has a separate kitchen house.
The Main House
The main house has a corrugated iron roof that slopes on two sides, called a gable roof. In recent years, an attic space has been added inside the roof. It has large windows on both the front and back. The house stands on timber and concrete stumps. It has a timber fence around the bottom.
Verandahs (porches) go all around the house. They have corrugated iron roofs and timber posts. The outside walls are made of weatherboards. The windows are made of cedar wood and some have timber shutters. There are also some newer silky oak windows in one room. Part of the verandah has been closed off to create a bathroom and storage room.
Inside, the house has four rooms and a hallway in the middle. A staircase has been added to one room to reach the attic bedroom. The walls and ceilings are made of unpainted beech wood. The floors are polished beech wood. There's a brick fireplace in one room, which used to be covered in plaster. The attic has been lined with hardboard and has a pine floor.
The Kitchen House
The kitchen house is located south of the main house. It is connected by a covered walkway. It also has a corrugated iron gable roof. Verandahs are on three sides of the kitchen house. One wall is made of weatherboard and has a space for a stove. Like the main house, it stands on timber and concrete stumps. Part of the verandah has been closed off to make a bathroom. One wall of the kitchen house is made of split logs placed upright. Another wall is made of vertical timber boards.
Inside, the kitchen house has two rooms separated by a timber wall. The ceiling is boarded, and the walls are lined with hardboard. It mostly has sash windows.
The Grounds
There is a new weatherboard garage with a corrugated iron roof near the back of the property.
The garden at Fernleigh is lovely. It includes:
- A very large Fig tree.
- Two big Candle Nut trees near the driveway.
- A Macadamia Nut tree and a Black Bean tree.
- Large Eucalypt trees.
- Many smaller shrubs and flowering plants.
The front boundary has a timber fence with a timber pergola over the entrance gate. The other boundaries have wire fences.
Why Fernleigh is Important
Fernleigh was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on March 11, 1994, because it meets several important criteria.
A Glimpse into History
Fernleigh helps us understand how Queensland's history unfolded. The kitchen house was once the first Cleveland State School. This shows how buildings were sometimes moved and reused in the past. Fernleigh is also on land that was part of the very first land sales in Cleveland in 1851. This helps us see how Cleveland grew and developed.
A Classic 1860s Home
Fernleigh is a great example of a simple timber house from the 1860s. It has a main part with four rooms and a separate kitchen house. This design was common for homes of that time.
Beautiful and Historic
The timber buildings and the well-established garden at Fernleigh are very beautiful. They add to the historic look of Cleveland Point.
A Special Place for the Community
Fernleigh is one of the few buildings left from Cleveland's early development in the 1860s. Because of this, it has a strong and special connection with the local community. It reminds people of the town's past.
