Bulimba House

The oldest stone house still standing in Brisbane.

Built in 1849-1850 by early settler Andrew Petrie, this fine hand crafted Tudor style stone manor is one of Brisbane’s earliest surviving homes.

In mid-1849, early Queensland pastoralist David McConnel purchased 173 acres (69 hectares) of land on the angle of the Brisbane River approximately five miles downstream from Brisbane Town. Local Aborigines named the area Tugulawa or Toogoolawah which means ‘shape of heart’. At the time, McConnel was still residing at Kangaroo Point. In the second half of 1849, he commissioned builder Andrew Petrie to construct the house at Toogoolawah. The house was the first masonry Tudor style homestead in the Brisbane region.

Stones used to build the house were quarried from the nearby river and Moreton Bay cedar was used in both the structure and the finishes.

Initially it stood alone as part of a 220 acre riverine farm growing experimental cash crops of maize, barley, wheat, oats and yams under the supervision of owner and pastoralist David McConnel. McConnel and his wife Mary moved to Toogoolawah in December 1849. They stayed in the detached service wing until the completion of the main house. By 1852, the residence used the name Bulimba, an Aboriginal name meaning place of the magpie-lark or peewee.

Strategically located in the centre of the property, Bulimba House has a sweeping panoramic view in every window. Moreover, the home has been the centrepiece of the farm which, aside from cash-cropping also operated self-sufficiently with a dairy herd, numerous livestock and poultry, kitchen garden, and extensive orchard.

In its early years, the estate employed 80 to 100 men.

McConnel encouraged his workers to establish their own farms, selling them small portions of the Bulimba property.

Unfortunately, due to Mary McConnel’s ill health, the property was sold in February 1853 to pastoralist Donald Coutts for £5,000. The McConnels then returned temporarily to Britain.

The house went on to appeal to a number of notables including Arthur Moore, Premier of Qld from 1929-1932, who bought the house in 1935.

Today, Bulimba House remains to be the oldest stone-built house in Brisbane. The property is still a private family home on a much-reduced site of 0.65 hectares.

Location: Bulimba, Brisbane Year: 1849-1850