Glen Lyon is a heritage-listed

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

at 34 Glenlyon Drive, Ashgrove,

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainl ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It was built from 1876 to 1877. It is also known as Marist Fathers Monastery. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

StateLibQld 1 103615 Alexander Stewart at Glen Lyon, Ashgrove, ca

This two-storeyed residence, the second oldest in the Ashgrove area (after the so-called 'Granite House' in nearby

St Johns Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west f ...

), was erected in 1876-7 for Alexander Stewart, a partner in the merchant firm of Stewart &

Hemmant Hemmant is a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Hemmant had a population of 2,385 people. Geography Hemmant is by road east of the Brisbane CBD. Hemmant is bounded by the Brisbane River to the north and Bulimba ...

. It was the centrepiece of a estate acquired by Stewart in 1875 and 1876. The property, which extended along both sides of

Enoggera Creek Enoggera Creek is a creek which flows through the City of Brisbane in South-East Queensland, Australia. Geography Enoggera Creek rises in the suburb of Enoggera Reservoir on the D'Aguilar Range and flows into the Brisbane River (becoming B ...

, was named Glen Lyon after Stewart's birthplace in Scotland (

Glen Lyon Glen Lyon ( gd, Gleann Lìomhann) is a glen in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland. It is the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and runs for from Loch Lyon in the west to the village of Fortingall in the east. This glen was also kno ...

). Probably designed by architect

James Cowlishaw James Cowlishaw (19 December 1834 – 25 July 1929) was an architect, businessman and politician in Queensland (initially a colony, then a state of Australia from 1901). Early life Cowlishaw was born in Sydney, where he was educated at St. J ...

, the original plans were modified when financial considerations forced Stewart to have a more modest residence erected. At Glen Lyon, Stewart created a country estate. Within a few years the property contained a dairy herd, fowl runs, duck pond, an orchard and vegetable garden and an assortment of outbuildings. A well was sunk, detached servants' quarters and a dairy were constructed at the rear of the main house, and a coachman's cottage, known as the Lodge, was erected near

Waterworks Road Waterworks Road is an arterial road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is currently signed as State Route 31 for its entire length. Waterworks Road transports traffic between the Brisbane central business district and western suburbs such ...

. An avenue of

bunya pine ''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Austral ...

s, which still stand, was planted the length of the front drive (now Glenlyon Drive). The present entrance gates are not the original; wrought iron gates set in pillars of granite, which formerly fronted Waterworks Road, have been removed to Stuartholme Convent. A detached billiards room was constructed in the 1880s or early 1890s, and the grounds around the house were landscaped. Steps led from the billiard room to a tennis court. Estate Map of Glenlyon Gardens Ashgrove Brisbane Queensland

Estate Map of Glenlyon Gardens Ashgrove Brisbane Queensland

Alexander Stewart died in 1918 and the property was subsequently sold. Most of the estate was purchased by developer T M Burke who gradually subdivided it as the Glenlyon Estate. In March 1924 the house and of surrounding land were purchased by

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Brisbane and covering the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Part of the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical ...

for a Catholic seminary. From about 1927 the house was rented to the New Zealand province of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers), who purchased it in 1930. The Marist Fathers sold Glen Lyon and it currently functions as a private residence.

Description

StateLibQld 2 207569 Glen Lyon, a residence in Ashgrove, 1931

Glen Lyon is a large two-storeyed brick residence which is rendered to resemble

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. It has a hipped tiled roof, which originally was clad with slates. Wide

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

hs on three sides at both levels are ornamented with

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

balustrading A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its co ...

and

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

s. At the front and north-eastern side, sets of white marble steps with

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

s lead to the lower verandah, which is paved with black and white marble.

Bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

s to both levels on the front elevation have wide rectangular sashed windows, and the front entrance incorporates side panels and a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. Kitchen and bedroom wings at the rear enclose a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

containing a well. Marble fireplaces are a feature of the interior, and the joinery is mainly of oak. Hand-painted decoration is visible on one of the ceilings. An elaborate stained glass window above the central staircase bears the motto of the first owners –

Semper fidelis ''Semper fidelis'' () is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal" (Fidelis or Fidelity). It is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, usually shortened to Semper Fi. It is also in use as a motto for towns, families, ...

(always faithful) – but the lion's head family crest formerly located beneath this has been replaced by depictions of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

and

Child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

. Adjacent to the residence is a chapel which was formerly a billiards room, gun room and cellar. It is a small rendered brick building with a corrugated-iron hipped roof,

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

s, and arched

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

es. Most of the windows contain stained glass. The detached brick dairy is externally intact, but has been converted into a toilet block. The former servants' quarters remains, as does the well. The house and outbuildings remain on a much reduced site of approximately 0.78 of a hectare.

Heritage listing

Glen Lyon was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. Glen Lyon is one of the earliest residences in the Enoggera Creek area, and is closely associated with the development of the suburb of Ashgrove. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Glen Lyon is a rare and substantially intact late 1870s country house with associated outbuildings and gardens, and an avenue of trees.

References

Attribution

External links

* {{cite news , url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23138671 , title=BRISBANE'S HISTORIC HOMES. , newspaper=

The Queenslander ''The Queenslander'' was the weekly summary and literary edition of the '' Brisbane Courier'', the leading journal in the colony—and later, federal state—of Queensland since the 1850s. ''The Queenslander'' was launched by the Brisbane New ...

, date=7 May 1931 , accessdate=16 November 2014 , page=46 , via=National Library of Australia — newspaper article about Glen Lyon by

Florence Eliza Lord Florence Eliza Lord (1879–1942) was a journalist in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She is best known for her long-running series of articles on ''Brisbane's Historic Homes'' in The Queenslander newspaper. She sometimes published under the pse ...

Queensland Heritage Register Ashgrove, Queensland Houses in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Houses completed in 1877 1877 establishments in Australia