William Grigor's House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids William Grigor's House |
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William Grigor's House, 2008
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| Location | 19 Gloucester Street, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | late 1860s |
| Official name: 19 Gloucester Street | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 30 July 1993 |
| Reference no. | 600308 |
| Significant period | 1860s-1880s (fabric) 1860s (historical) |
| Significant components | kitchen/kitchen house, attic, residential accommodation - maisonette/s / duplex |
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William Grigor's House is a special old home in Spring Hill, Brisbane, Australia. It's a "semi-detached" house, meaning it's one of two homes built side-by-side that share a wall. This house was built a long time ago, in the late 1860s. Today, it's protected as a heritage site because it shows us what homes were like in Queensland's early days.
History of William Grigor's House
William Grigor's House is a stone house built in the late 1860s. This was when Spring Hill was first growing into a suburb of Brisbane. The house was built for William Grigor, who came to Australia from Scotland in 1855.
In 1867, William Grigor and his business partner, James Low, bought land next to each other on Gloucester Street. They then built a pair of semi-detached stone houses on their properties.
Before this, in 1862, Grigor, Low, and William Pettigrew started a business together. Grigor and Low moved to Mooloolah to work in the timber industry. They would cut down timber and float it down the river to Brisbane. In 1863, William Grigor married Mary Fenwick. They continued to work in the timber business with the Low family.
Around 1868, their business faced money problems and might have ended. James Low and his family moved to land near the South Maroochy River. This area was later called Yandina. In October 1868, William Grigor bought land in Beerwah. He started building Bankfoot House there. He hoped it would be a stop for the Cobb and Co coach route between Brisbane and Gympie.
When Bankfoot House was finished, Mary Grigor joined William. They opened an inn where people could stay. It was also a post office and a place for Cobb and Co coaches to change horses. Mary might have stayed at the Spring Hill house while Bankfoot House was being built.
The Gloucester Street property stayed with the Grigor family and their descendants for over 120 years. For most of that time, it was rented out to others. In the 1980s, the house was carefully restored. Workers tried to make it look as much like the original house as possible.
What William Grigor's House Looks Like
William Grigor's House is a small house, also called a cottage. It is made of a type of stone called Brisbane tuff. It has sandstone around the windows and doors. At the back, there is a two-story section made of brick and stone. The roof is very steep and made of corrugated iron. It has a small window that sticks out from the roof, called a dormer window.
There is a timber verandah (a covered porch) with a corrugated iron roof at the front. This verandah looks out onto Gloucester Street. The house is one of a pair of semi-detached cottages. It sits on a slope that goes down towards the east.
The house has a simple rectangular shape. On the ground floor, there are four rooms off a central hallway. Upstairs, there are two more rooms. A small room made of timber and corrugated iron connects the main house to the back section. This back section used to be the kitchen, with another room above it.
The verandah is a bit higher than Gloucester Street. You can reach it by stone stairs. It has wooden posts and a wooden ceiling. The dormer window above has a sloped roof. The gutters are half-round and have decorations at the corners. A stone and brick chimney rises above the roof.
The windows are made of wood and slide up and down. They have many small glass panes. The windows and doors have textured sandstone frames. There are two wooden rails next to the eastern attic window. These might have been used to lift things. The back section of the house has a corrugated iron roof that joins its neighbor's roof. A small brick and corrugated iron outhouse (an outdoor toilet) is located next to the kitchen.
Inside the cottage, the walls and ceilings are made of plaster over wooden strips. There is simple wooden trim throughout the house, much of it made of cedar wood. This includes deep window frames and mantelpieces (shelves above fireplaces) in two of the ground floor rooms. There's also a wooden door with slats in one room. Steep stairs lead to the attic rooms, which have cupboards. The back kitchen section has an old stove and steep stairs with a special shutter door above them.
William Grigor's House is a rare example of a home from the 1860s in the inner city. The inside of the house is still very much like it was originally. The outside also looks mostly the same. It helps to show what the street looked like around the turn of the 20th century.
Why William Grigor's House is Important
William Grigor's House was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 30 July 1993. This means it is officially recognized as an important historical place. It meets several important standards:
- It shows how Queensland's history developed.
The house helps us understand how Spring Hill grew into a suburb of Brisbane. It shows the pattern of early settlement in the area.
- It is a rare or special part of Queensland's history.
This house is one of the few stone houses from the 1860s in Brisbane that is still mostly complete. It is a rare example of a semi-detached home from that time.
- It shows the main features of its type of building.
The house clearly shows what a stone house from the 1860s in Brisbane looked like. Its appearance also adds to the beauty of Gloucester Street. This look is valued by the community.
- It is important for its beauty and design.
The house shows the main features of an 1860s stone house in Brisbane. Its look and feel contribute to the streetscape of Gloucester Street. This is something that the community values for its beauty.
