Addresses

At 198 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005

Type of place

Mansion

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Filigree

Allawah

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This is an image of the local heritage place known as Residence `Allawah'

Allawah

Allawah Download Citation (pdf, 104.12 KB)

Addresses

At 198 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005

Type of place

Mansion

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Filigree

‘Allawah’ was built in 1888 for wealthy Jewish merchant, Leopold Solomon Benjamin on land which was formally part of the Kinellan Estate. This palatial, double-storey masonry dwelling was designed by architect John J. Cohen, a prominent Brisbane architect. It was built in the Victorian Filigree style and reflects the flamboyance of the era. Cohen was credited with designing the former Bellevue Hotel when in partnership with F.F. Holmes. ‘Inglenook’, originally comprising a drawing room, dining room, library, billiard room, six bedrooms, day and night nurseries, kitchen, laundry, stables, included a lawn tennis court and bush-house in the spacious garden. Benjamin sold the property during 1890s financial crisis, and it was later renamed ‘Allawah’ and then ‘Risdon’. It was purchased by the Girls Friendly Society of the Anglican Church during the Second World War for use as a young service-women’s hostel, and was owned by the Trustee for The Girls Friendly Society until 2010.

Also known as

Inglenook, GFS House

Lot plan

L1_SP260178; L2_SP260178; L3_SP260178; L4_SP260178

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Masonry

People/associations

Anglican Church?s Girls Friendly Society  (Association);
 John Jacob Cohen (Architect)

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (G) Social; (H) Historical association

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Also known as

Inglenook, GFS House

Lot plan

L1_SP260178; L2_SP260178; L3_SP260178; L4_SP260178

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Masonry

People/associations

Anglican Church?s Girls Friendly Society  (Association);
 John Jacob Cohen (Architect)

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (G) Social; (H) Historical association

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Statement of significance

Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical

Criterion A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history

as a fine example of New Farm's affluent residential development at the height of Brisbane's 1880s building boom.

Social

Criterion G

The place has a strong or special association with the life or work of a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons

for its long ownership by the Anglican Church's Girls Friendly Society for use as a women's hostel during the Second World War and in the postwar years.

Historical association

Criterion H

The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organization of importance in the city’s or local area’s history

as an example of an 1880s dwelling in New Farm that was built by prominent architect John J. Cohen, who designed some significant buildings in Brisbane.

References

  1. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

  2. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

  3. Brisbane City Council, Sewerage Maps, Detail Plan No 167, 3 Dec 1913

  4. Brisbane City Council, Surveyor’s Notebook, 6 July 1912, updated 6 Feb 1924

  5. Brisbane City Council, New Farm and Teneriffe Hill Heritage and Character Study, Oct 1995, pg 71

  6. Certificates of Title, Department of Environment and Resource Management

  7. Queensland Post Office Directory, 1890; 1891; 1892; 1919-20; 1920;21

  8. New Farm & Districts Historical Society, ‘GFS House’, Moray Street, New Farm, New Farm & Districts Historical Society website

  9. Bennett, H, ‘New Farm from quality street to mixed assortment’, Brisbane Houses, Gardens, Suburbs and Congregations, Papers No 22 Brisbane History Group, 2010 pg. 158-162

  10. Mackenzie-Smith, J., ‘Researching institutions … of Anglicanism’, Brisbane Houses, Gardens, Suburbs and Congregations, Papers No 22 Brisbane History Group, 2010 pg. 217-224

  11. Mackenzie-Smith, J., ‘GFS House, New Farm 1988-1976’, Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal, May 2007, Vol 20, No 2, pg 57-74

  12. Benjamin, G. & Grant, G. Reflections on New Farm, New Farm & Districts Historical Society Inc, New Farm, 2008, pg 127

  13. Schiavo, John, New Farm: a study of land use and settlement to 1999, Brisbane City Council, pg 32

  14. Schiavo, J., ‘A companion to the watercolours of New Farm: An exhibition by Gladys Blundell’, No 18, New Farm & Districts Historical Society, 1998

  15. Watson, D. and McKay, K., Queensland Architects of the 19th Century, University of Queensland Library, St. Lucia, 1994, pg 38-39

  16. Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Buildings of Queensland, Jacaranda Press, 1959, J.J. Cohen in list of early architects

  17. Apperly, R. Irving, R. Reynolds R, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present, Angus & Robertson, 1989, pg 60-63

  18. Brisbane Courier, 24 July 1888, pg 1

  19. Queenslander, 26 Dec, 1891, pg 1242

  20. Brisbane Courier, 11 April 1893, pg 1

  21. Courier Mail, 2 Dec 1942, pg 5

  22. Courier Mail, 26 Jan 1946, pg 6

Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)

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Victorian 1860-1890
Filigree
Mansion
At 198 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005
At 198 Moray Street, New farm, Queensland 4005 L1_SP260178; L2_SP260178; L3_SP260178; L4_SP260178
Historical, Social, Historical association