Fairholme

Mowbray Terrace was created as one edge of the subdivision and sale of the land of Reverend Thomas Mowbray quite some time after his death in 1867. Mowbray had owned a substantial amount of land in what is now East Brisbane from the 1850s and his home ‘Riversdale’ was on the site of what is now Mowbray Park. In the 1880s his widow, Williamina Mowbray, sold some of his estate which was then resold as the Mowbraytown and Heathfield Estates forming the rectilinear streets and small suburban subdivisions now evident between Lytton Road and Mowbray Terrace. 

Williamina Mowbray sold the elevated land to the south, Eastern Suburban Allotments (ESA) 124 and 125 from the beginning of 1880 in larger parcels of over 40 perches (1,011 m2). Duncan Sinclair, draper and general importer, bought five acres (just over 2 hectares) of subdivisions one and 118 of ESA 124 in April 1881. Sinclair built his house ‘Fairy Knowe’ on the corner of what is now Lomond Tce and Rosslyn St by 1883 on the southern slope of the most elevated part of his land. ‘Fairy Knowe’ became one of the social hubs of early South Brisbane with numerous garden parties and social events. 

Part of Sinclair’s land in the vicinity of Elfin St was advertised for sale in 1888, at the time when Brisbane was experiencing a property boom and East Brisbane was being transformed from a semi-rural area into a residential suburb. As early as 1889 eminent Queensland architectural firm, John Hall & Son was designing houses on the Fairy Knowe Estate, East Brisbane, with another put out to tender in 1899. By the end of the nineteenth century East Brisbane boasted a substantial state school (1899 QHR 601476), the Mowbraytown Presbyterian church designed by A.B. Wilson (1899 QHR 601219), as well as at least a dozen architect-designed houses.

Following Duncan Sinclair’s death in June 1900, trustees began selling his land. His widow, Isabella Sinclair retained the use of the house ‘Fairy Knowe’ for the remainder of her lifetime. Reginald John Webb purchased almost half an acre (approx. 1783 m2) at the corner of Mowbray Terrace and Sinclair Street in March 1911. Reginald Webb, a dentist, had married Miss Hilda Kennedy two years earlier and had been living in Gloucester St, Highgate Hill in a house also called ‘Fairholme’. In June 1912, the Brisbane Courier reported that “Mrs. R. J. Webb has moved into her new residence, Mowbray–terrace, East Brisbane, and consequently will not be at home until the first Wednesday in July” (BC 19/06/12, p. 17S). Further “superb allotments” of the Sinclair lnad were sold in 1912. Land in the vicinity of the residence ‘Fairy Knowe’ was sold as the ‘Fairy Knowe Estate’ which offered as 63 allotments described as “absolutely the pick of East Brisbane … commanding unequalled views” and “every convenience – the tramline, gas and water”.

The Webb’s new house, on what is now 77 Mowbray Terrace, joined a growing number of large, attractive, architect-designed houses on large allotments along this high section of Mowbray Terrace, once known as ‘Sinclair’s Hill’. 

By 1913 five homes had been erected in the block between Rosslyn and Sinclair Streets. These were ‘Craigroy’ built for William Dick, ‘Scotby’ (c.1910) for Josiah Henry Hancock, ‘Mia Mia’ for Harold C. Quodling, ‘Craig Royston’, now known as ‘Huon House’ for William Suthers, with Reginald J. Webb in residence at ‘Fairholme’.  ‘Scotby’ is also a local heritage place.

The coming of the electric tram to Woolloongabba/East Brisbane in 1897 had facilitated further residential development in the area. It was extended in 1901 travelling along Elfin and LaTrobe Sts to Lytton Rd and Norman Park making East Brisbane a quick and convenient trip to the city centres of South Brisbane and Brisbane City. By the second decade of the twentieth century, Mowbray Terrace between Elfin St and Stanley Tce was lined with fine houses with St Benedict’s Catholic Church, designed by G.M.H. Addison in 1917, across the road from the Webb house. 

Reginald John Webb and his family lived in the house, on what is locally known as ‘Pill Hill’ for the number of doctors’ residences, until his death in 1962. The property was left to his son and daughter, and was transferred to his daughter Audrey Dawson and her husband Kenneth in 1965. 

This remarkably intact residence, continuing to be used as a private residence, on a large allotment edged by rock embankments holds commanding views in all directions, with outstanding views to the city, Woolloongabba and the Brisbane River.

Fairholme is located towards the front of a large allotment to take advantage of views towards the Brisbane River both to the northeast and northwest with the elevated boundaries being high rock embankments formed when the hill was cut for Mowbray Terrace. There is a large area to the eastern side which formerly held a tennis court but is now part of the grounds which contain some mature plantings. Tall palm trees at the front boundary, which do not obscure views, mark the front border of the property.

The entry staircase is a prominent feature of the front elevation with a large weatherboard gable with an attractive decorative screen. Stairs from both sides join on a central landing and then a single staircase leads to the front verandah through an entrance with decorative joinery. The front door of the house is flanked by built-in timber pews and the central hallway has a prominent fretwork panel containing the initials of the original owners. The internal rooms have original VJ walls and most rooms have decorative pressed metal ceilings and original pressed glass panes in the double-hung sash windows.

The house is remarkably intact and appears in good condition except for general maintenance, such as painting.

1. Roy Baker, East Brisbane heritage walk: Brisbane River to Mowbray Terrace (1998)

2. Brisbane East Branch of the National Trust of Queensland

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

4. Detail Plan Number 357, 1922

5. The Brisbane Courier, The Queenslander.

6. Queensland Post Office Directories

7. Brisbane City Council aerial photographs, 1946, 2001, 2009

8. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web