Linstarfield

Clayfield has always attracted prominent public, business and professional men, who have built for themselves charming homes, surrounded by delightful lawns and gardens. And it is for this reason that Clayfield has always been regarded as one of the most beautiful suburbs of Brisbane.

Linstarfield is situated on land which was part of the five and three quarter acre parcel purchased in 1877 by Francis Spence, a bookbinder employed at the Government Printing Office.  Spence lived at his Clayfield property, which he named Liddleton, for many years, gradually reducing the size of his holding. Members of the Spence family continued to live on the land they retained on Alexandra Road until the 1910s. The original Spence home does not appear to have survived.

In 1917 two acres of Spence’s original holding on the corner of Alexandra Road and Enderley Road were purchased by Florence May Rylance, wife of Percy Douglas Rylance. Rylance was a well known Brisbane socialite and mine owner.  The Rylances built a house on the two acre site which they named Queenwood. Postal and electoral records indicate that the Rylances occupied their new home by 1917. 

The house, which originally addressed Alexandra Road, was built in the Federation style popularised in the 1890s and early 20th century.  It originally had a terracotta tiled roof with gable finials which has, at some stage, been replaced with corrugated iron. Other Federation style features of the house include a five-sided bay window in the front (eastern) elevation, restrained timber verandah balustrading, slender columns dividing the façade into bays, deep verandahs, large simple roof planes and prominent gable verges. The house was originally on stumps with lattice screens underneath but the lower level has now been enclosed to provide car accommodation. Photographs dating from circa 1920s show the timber stained in the fashion of the times and the detailing painted white. The overall impression was one of restrained simplicity, similar to the Federation Bungalow style of the 1910s described in Appely et al’s Identifying Australian Architecture.

In 1919, the two acre property was sold to Henry George Noble, another prosperous mine owner. Once again, registration of the title appears to have lagged behind possession of the property as, according to the Noble family, Henry Noble’s brother organised the purchase of the house during the honeymoon of Henry and Agnes Noble in September 1918. The Nobles renamed the house Linstarfield, creating the name from three of their racehorses – Lincome, Snowstar and Fieldacre.

From 1919, several other blocks surrounding the house were purchased by HG Noble’s wife, Agnes. This gave the Nobles almost six acres of land between Enderley Road, Sefton Road and Alexandra Road including much of Francis Spence’s original holding. 

After immigrating as a child from England in the 1870s, H.G. Noble started his own business in Brisbane as a forwarding agent and cartage contractor in the 1890s. At the time that he purchased the Enderley Road property, HG Noble was enjoying the height of his business success after acquiring several collieries. His company employed over 400 people and was one of the biggest producers of coal in Queensland. 

The Nobles were active in Brisbane “society”. HG Noble was on the Committee of the Queensland Turf Club, a foundation member of the Brisbane Club and a Brisbane City Council alderman in 1909-10. He and his wife were also foundation members of the Royal Queensland Golf Club. HG Noble was appointed Vice-Consul for Finland in Queensland in 1920. He died in 1934. The Nobles’ four children were all born at Linstarfield. They were delivered by Dr Thelander who lived at nearby Rangemoor in Adelaide Street East.

While living at Linstarfield, the Nobles employed several people to help take care of the family and the property. These included a nurse for the children, a cook, a housemaid, a gardener and a chauffeur.  A small timber building on the western side of the house served as quarters for some of the staff. The children’s nurse lived in the house and some staff may have lived off the site. The former staff quarters has survived but has not been inspected internally. It is possible that it was built by the Percy Rylance prior to the sale of the property to HG Noble.

HG Noble’s wealth allowed him to make significant improvements to Linstarfield. According to the history published by the Noble family, these included the construction of a purpose built stable complex ((known as The Lodge), for the family’s racehorses, with accommodation for the trainer and stable staff. An electrical plant was built to supply the entire property with electricity. A landscape gardener from Melbourne oversaw the development of the grounds which included a lawn tennis court, putting green, large rose gardens and a fish pond complete with a bridge leading to an island. HG Noble also built a large billiard and smoking room on the northern side of the house and a private kindergarten near the northern boundary, known as Chellwood. The billiard room was demolished by a later owner, but the school has survived (with some alterations) and is now a private home in Sefton Avenue. 

Another improvement made to the property by HG Noble was the construction of the sturdy brick and sandstone wall along the Enderley and Alexandra Road boundaries. The wall is interspersed with substantial stone and cast iron pillars linked with heavy chains and extends east from Linstarfield along Enderley Road and into Alexandra Road. It continues until the northern boundary of 102 Alexandra Road which once marked the northeastern corner of Noble’s land. Various changes have been made to some sections of wall that front other properties in Enderley and Alexandra Road, however, the wall still provides physical evidence of the extent of HG Noble’s holding along these frontages.

Photographic evidence reveals that the original entrance to Linstarfield was located on the corner of Alexandra and Enderley Roads. After HG Noble subdivided the land between Linstarfield and Alexandra Road for residential development in the mid-1920s, the current entrance on Enderley Road became the main entry point. The large sandstone piers and iron gates were presumably constructed around this time. Over an acre of land was retained around the house after the subdivision.  As part of the subdivision, Sefton Avenue was created on the northern side of the property.
 
The Nobles sold Linstarfield in 1928 to Alice Russell, the wife of a medical practitioner. In 1946, the house was sold once again, to Charles and Mary Whitehouse. The Whitehouses, who raised a family at Linstarfield, further subdivided the property and planned extensions and renovations to the house using the Brisbane architectural firm of Chambers and Ford.  They also demolished the billiard room, which included a viewing gallery. The home was sold in 1982 after the death of Mary Whitehouse. According to a member of the Whitehouse family, an underground air raid shelter existed near the garage (demolished) facing Enderley Road.

Subsequent owners have made further changes to the residence which have included both extensions and some demolition of the building at the rear  -  (the western side). A pre-1946 garage at the south-western corner of the site was demolished in February 2009. Relatively recent additions such as the two storey addition at the northwest corner (built on the site of the demolished billiard room)and the bedroom/bathroom in the roof space are not considered to have cultural significance. The grounds of the house have been reduced to just over three quarters of an acre (3101 square metres).

Despite these changes, the house is recognisable as the elegant Federation home that was built circa 1916. The appearance of the house is enhanced by the mature street trees – including fig, jacaranda and Poinciana - along the Enderley Road frontage. An attractive mature Poinciana tree is located within the boundary near the entrance gates on the eastern side of the property.

1. Apperly, Richard et al. A pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1989

2. Brisbane City Council Detail Plan No. 336, 1933

3. Brisbane City Archives. Surveyor’s field notebook for detail plan no. 336

4. Brisbane Courier. 30 August 1930

5. Bron, Nicholas. Heritage Study 64-68 Enderley Rd, Clayfield. July 2008

6. Charlton, John and Carolyn Nolan. Stockbroking With the Charltons. Brisbane: JF Charlton, 2002

7. Cock, John, A Question of Style: The life and work of Mervyn Hamilton Rylance, Architect, Queensland University of Technology, B.Arch. thesis, 1995

8. Commonwealth Electoral Rolls. Division of Lilley, 1914-1919

9. Department of Natural Resources and Mining, Certificates of Title and Application records

10. Hogan, Janet, Historic Homes of Brisbane, National Trust of Queensland, 1979

11. John Oxley Library, photographic collection.

12. Linstarfield Architectural Plan. Lund, Hutton, Ryan, Morton Collection UQFL 211

13. Fryer Library, University of Queensland

14. McKellar’s Official Map of Brisbane and Suburbs 1895

15. Noble, Brian. HG Noble and his family. Brisbane: Brian Noble, 1992

16. Pink Un. 9 Dec 1922

17. Queensland Post Office Directories

18. Information kindly supplied by Mrs Barbara Main, phone conversation, 2 July 2009