Glengallan Homestead is a listed historic monument in south-east Queensland, Australia. Building started in 1864 and modifications and additions continued until 1904. It was listed as historically important in 1992, slowly restored and opened to the public. This photo was taken when I visited in 2003.
The valley under Mount Marshall was part of the area discovered by explorer Allan Cunningham and taken up by graziers interested in its rich open grasslands. It is to the west of the Great Dividing Range, with Cunningham finding a way through from the coastal fringe in 1827. At the time there was no understanding of the way the indigenous population had managed these apparently natural grasslands by contolled burning.
As land taken up by colonists (known as squatters) before 1868 (when there was a change in the law about who had rights to the land), Glengallan was theoretically one of the best resourced properties in the district, with a claim to the best water sources and grass. But time after time wealthy owners went bust and it ended up delapidated and abandoned in under a century. By 1949 some of the nicer fittings had been stripped out and sold, and the house was been used to shelter goats and poultry.
The building's heritage value is its rarity as a two storey stone homestead. Most farm houses in the area were much simpler single storey timber structures. The quality of the design and execution of the original building also contributed to its perceived historic value. It is also quite an early example of colonial history in the area, and connected to some of the big players in the white settlement of the Darling Downs.
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2 comments:
I've always wondered, does the verandah typically go around all four sides of these houses? You may recall that my knowledge of Australia is pretty much limited to Arthur Upfield mysteries, and many of those are set on a remote station. I never pictured any homestead this imposing.
It is not uncommon for the verandah to go around all four sides, especially in the north. Glengallan is rare for being 2 storey, and stone. Normally homesteads are single storey and wood.
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