Merrilands

In 1888 two of these blocks were purchased by Otto Henrich Roggenkamp. Roggenkamp was born in 1837 in Prussia. He migrated to Queensland in the early 1860s, probably with his two brothers, Martin and Christopher. He married Catharina in 1865. A son, Otto Martin was born in 1866 but he died a year later. A second son was born in 1868. Otto and his family then returned to Prussia and a daughter, Anna, was born in 1871. The family returned to Queensland in 1878 with their fares partly paid by the Queensland government under a scheme to attract migrants. They went to live at Warwick, possibly with Otto’s brother, Christopher. Christopher had a well-established photographic business while the other brother Martin had a photographic studio in Toowoomba. When Otto was naturalised in 1880, his occupation was recorded as painter.

In 1888, while renting and working as a painter in Victoria St, Spring Hill, Otto bought two allotments in the Cremorne Estate at Woolloongabba. From 1894 to 1899 Otto H. Roggenkamp, painter lived in Boundary Street, Spring Hill. In 1900 the house in Maynard St was built and he lived there with his family until his death. The house comprised a core of four rooms with verandahs on three sides, a kitchen at the rear and a maid’s room. It was somewhat more substantial that the basic worker’s cottage of the era. The finishes and detailing indicate that Otto went to some expense with the construction of his house as evident in a range of features: the decorative semi-circular pediment above the main entrance, the generous width of the front stairs, cast-iron balustrading, the main door with decorative sidelights, the marble chimney piece with ceramic tiles, stencilled decoration in the hallway, window and door joinery, and window and door fittings. Befitting his Prussian origins, Otto called the house Hamburg Villa. 

Otto died in 1919, aged 83 years. The house and property was transmitted to Mary Edith Duthie, widow of Maynard St jam manufacturer James Duthie in 1920. Catherina continued to live in the house until her death in 1923. The house then passed to their widowed daughter, Anna Margaretha Catherina Thomson. Anna Thomson owned the house until her death in February 1956. The property was then jointly purchased by Alexander and Olga Zaharoff and their son-in-law and daughter Boris and Tatiana Miros. The house was occupied by Alexander and Olga who were Russian émigrés from Harbin in China. They were forced to flee China in the early 1950s after Mao Zedong’s rise to power. Alexander was a Professor of Engineering at Harbin University. In Australia he worked in the mining industry for a period at the Cracow gold mine in the north Burnett region. Since the 1920s a large Russian community had lived in and around Woolloongabba and hence it was not unexpected that the Zaharoff’s purchased this house.

Alexander died in 1963 and Olga continued to live in the house until 1986. The house was then purchased by Christopher and Kathleen Fitzgerald. The Fitzgeralds named the house Merrilands.

The house is of timber construction with corrugated galvanised iron roof. The exterior is clad with chamfer boards and the interior lined with beaded tongue and grooved boards. The main access is wide timber stairs that lead to a small porch at the front of the verandah. Above the porch is a semi-circular pediment with decorative timber work. A verandah extends along the front, eastern side and part of the rear. The front and sections of the side and rear have the original cast iron balustrading with timber rails. The main entrance is distinguished by clear finished red cedar joinery. The side panels and fanlight comprises patterned glass. Beyond the main doorway is a short hallway leading to the main living room. On each side of the hallway are bedrooms. A distinctive feature of the lounge room is the marble chimney piece with decorative tiles. A study/library (room 3) is located next to the living room. Beyond the lounge room is the kitchen/family room. An original brick fireplace is located back to back with fireplace in the lounge room. Internal stairs in the kitchen provide access to the second storey. 

Attached to the eastern verandah is an 1990s addition comprising bedroom and en suite. The original verandah remains as a breezeway. The rear yard comprises a concrete driveway, swimming pool and several mature camphor laurel trees. An unusual feature of these trees is that their growth appears to have been managed and show evidence of coppice management. The trees and other vegetation provide an important setting for the house.

1. Thom Blake ‘Merrilands’ (formerly Hamburgvil) 46 Maynard Street, Woolloongabba – Assessment of Cultural Heritage Significance. (2011 Report for T & M Florin)

2. Brisbane City Council AncestryLibrary.com

3. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

4. Queensland Certificates of Title

5. Queensland Post Office Directories

6. Digitised newspapers and other records. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper