Yalcongreen

Valentine Hesse, a resident of Bulimba, bought the property on 20 March 1872. He also subdivided the land though he only lost 8 perches from his purchase. A new title for Resubdivision 1 of Subdivision A of Portion 123 was issued to Hesse on 22 September 1887. At that time, Hesse was listed as a resident of Coorparoo. Unfortunately, the editions of the Queensland Post Office Directories that were published between 1874 and 1887, show no listing for Valentine Hesse.

On 3 November 1887, Hesse sold the property to the Metropolitan Freehold Land and Building Company, This land-development firm subdivided Hesse’s land into suburban blocks in preparation for a land sale. The company created the Croydon Park Estate that offered house blocks for sale along Bennett’s Road and Macdonald, Watson and Lloyd Streets. Auctioneer G.T. Bell conducted a land auction on 17 December 1887 but the first block was not sold until 27 March 1888.  Subdivisions 105 to 109 plus subdivision 112, on which “Yalcongreen” was placed, were not sold until 26 June1922, when Edith Margaret Comfort purchased the site. She was the wife of William Edward Comfort.

But “Yalcongreen” had already been built by the time that William and Edith Comfort bought the property. This residence is first listed as a postal address on Bennett’s Road, Coorparoo in the 1896-97 edition of the Queensland Post Office Directories. Harold Barraclough was listed as the person living at “Yalcongreen” at that time. In the following (1897-99) edition of the Queensland Post Office Directories, the residence is listed as vacant. Then in the 1900 edition, William Comfort is shown to be the new resident.

It would appear that the Metropolitan Freehold Land and Building Company built “Yalcongreen” circa 1895, as a rental property. William and Edith Comfort would have been tenants until 1922, when they were finally able to afford to purchase their home. They had acquired the house plus 2 roods and 25 perches of land. On 10 December 1923, they disposed of Subdivision 112 to Martin Burke. This left them with 2 roods and 9 perches of land. On 15 September 1950, the Comforts further reduced their land holdings by selling Subdivision 109 to James Francis McCann. During the 1930s, the Comforts further subdivided their land in preparation for a land sale. A 24-perch block described as Resubdivision 2 of Subdivisions 105-108. A 1938 sewerage map of Coorparoo identifies the Comfort’s residence as “Yalcongreen”.

“Yalcongreen” finally passed from the hands of the Comfort Family on 4 July 1945, when William David Ramage purchased the property. On 30 June 1952, the Brisbane City Council granted Ramage permission to convert “Yalcongreen” into flats. The Queensland Housing Commission currently owns the property. The Brisbane East Branch of the National Trust of Queensland identified it as a place of local heritage significance.

1. Brisbane City Council, Properties on the Web, website, post-1946 building cards

2. Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs.

3. Brisbane City Council Sewerage Maps

4. Rechner, Judy (comp.). Where have all the creeks gone? Camp Hill Heritage Drive Tour, Brisbane: Brisbane East Branch of National Trust of Queensland, 2001

5. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.

6. John Oxley Library, Brisbane Suburbs – Estate Maps

7. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1868-1949