179 Brighton Road, Sandgate

This house was probably built circa 1910 by Lawrence Murphy, a prominent Brisbane contractor, as his retirement house. The land had been owned by Joshua Jeays from 1859 and reserved for Sir Charles Lilley’s marine residence, but it was sold as part of the Lilley Estate in the early 1900s, the residence never having been built. The large allotment, purchased by Murphy in 1908, fronted what was then called Deagon Street, opposite the lagoon reserve and perched on a cliff-top overlooking the Sandgate seafront. Murphy was residing in the house by 1912 and remained there until his death in 1928. The property remained in the family until it was subdivided and sold in the late 1950s. The house is a striking residence set back from the road, featuring a hipped gable roof, timber lattice screen to the verandas, a brick chimney and dormer windows.