120 Flinders Parade Sandgate

This large timber residence was probably constructed around 1894 as an investment property for William Lovell, a Sandgate resident and landowner. Sandgate had become a desirable seaside holiday destination for Brisbane residents following the opening of the railway line in the 1880s and the house, fronting Flinders Parade, was in a particularly appealing location. It was leased for several years before George and Louisa Colvin purchased the property in 1909. Known as ‘Ashwell’ by 1912, it was the Colvin residence before it was sold to Richard Early in 1922, who renamed it ‘Hoya’, then ‘Restville’. In 1935 the property was again sold after the death of Early and his wife Bessie, and converted into five self-contained flats. This Federation timber dwelling, featuring prominent verandahs which take advantage of its seafront position, reflects the residential growth of Sandgate and the appeal of waterfront Flinders Parade in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.