San Michelle

This substantial timber house was designed by Brisbane architect, Hubert George Octavious Thomas, circa 1902 as his own residence. He named it ‘Nanteos’ after a Georgian mansion near his birthplace of Aberystwyth, Wales. Thomas emigrated to Brisbane in 1883 where he set up his architectural practice. He was particularly known for his specialty of ‘villa residences’ but also designed commercial buildings like the Imperial Swimming Baths at South Brisbane (1888-89) and the original two storey bandstand in Moora Park, Sandgate (1897). Thomas died in 1922, a man well known for his architectural work as well as for being a founding member of the St David’s (Welsh) Society of Brisbane. He was president of the Society when he died at his home in Adamson Street. The house has undergone various alterations over the decades, including the widening of the north-east verandah into a ‘part octagon’ circa 1936, and, in 2004, the addition of an octagonal extension in the south-eastern corner.