Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Federation 1890-1914
Style
Queenslander
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Residence 'Cleona'
Cleona
Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Federation 1890-1914
Style
Queenslander
This three-storey timber residence was constructed for painter Ernest Kunze and his wife Elizabeth circa 1902 as a rental investment property. By the early twentieth century, Highgate Hill, and particularly Dornoch Terrace, was emerging as a desirable area for the middle class and ‘Cleona’ would have proven a wise investment for the Kunzes. The property continued to be rented out and remained in the ownership of Elizabeth Kunze until her death in 1940 when it was transferred to members of her family.
Lot plan
L1_RP11806
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Timber
Criterion for listing
(A) HistoricalInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L1_RP11806
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Timber
Criterion for listing
(A) HistoricalInteractive mapping
History
This timber residence was built circa 1902-3 and was named 'Cleona'. It was constructed on a 32 perch block, then owned by Elizabeth Kunze, probably as an investment property. Elizabeth Kunze was the wife of Ernest Hugo Kunze, a painter.
Elizabeth Kunze acquired title to the property in November 1899 after it was transferred as part of the subdivision of 3 roods 8 perches owned by Alexander Ralston. It appears that Elizabeth Kunze was related to the Ralston family. At the same time Elizabeth Kunze acquired the property, the other subdivisions were transferred to Catherine Ralston, and Isabella and Alexander Ralston.
Alexander Ralston was a carpenter and may have built a number of investment houses. The house, named 'Cleona', first appears in the Post Office Directories in 1903, as the home of James Clark. The following year James Clark and James P Clark are listed as the occupants. The occupants changed in the late teens and 1920s as new tenants occupied the house. In the 1920s, 'Cleona' was the home of Edwin Goertz, a respected Brisbane banker whose family continued living there after his death in 1929. The property remained in the ownership of Elizabeth Kunze until her death in October 1940. Ownership then passed to Ernest R Kunze and Frank V Kunze.
At the time the house was built, this northern side of Dorno ch Terrace was established as a desirable address. During the 1880s, Dornoch Terrace was home to people such as Simon Fraser, MLA, auctioneer, Reginald Hard of the Lands Department and the manager of Brisbane company, Quinlan Gray and Co. By 1902 the northern side of the section of Dorno ch Terrace between Carlton Terrace and Hardgrave Road was lined with substantial houses. The southern side of Dornoch Terrace remained undeveloped until around 1910.
Even a more modest house such as 'Cleona', located as it was amongst the larger houses which lined this northern side of Dornoch Terrace, would have been a good investment, both as an appreciating property and certainly as an attractive rental proposition. Its construction reflects the further development of the northern side of Dornoch Terrace in the early years of the twentieth century and the development of the street as a desirable residential address.
Description
This residence is a three-storey dwelling built onto an escarpment. It has a pyramid corrugated iron roof, with a separate stepped roof verandah at the front ofthe house and a street facing gable projection to the left of the entry. A chimneystack rises from near the centre of the roof with decorative corbelling.
The corners of the gutters have galvanised iron acroteria, which also decorate the gutters, and fascias that extend past the lower edge of the gable roof to wrap around and enclose the bottoms of the bargeboards. The gable end has a collar tie, diagonal patterned battening infill and a finial. Corbelling also decorates the gable under the extended fascias and collar tie. Acroteria decorate the generous convex hood that shades a set of casement windows within the gable end.
The verandah has a balustrade that was cast by "Brisbane Lace and Gates" in 1989. The side windows of the house have convex hoods with decorative iron brackets. Casement windows exist in what were the lower kitchen, the infill verandah and servants room of' the house. A rendered concrete pier and metal fence, that was erected in 1989, encloses the front of the property.
Statement of significance
Relevant assessment criteria
This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:
References
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Brisbane City Council Water Supply & Sewerage Detail Plans
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Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.
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Environmental Protection Agency
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JOL Estate Map Collection and photographic collection
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Lawson, Ronald 1973, Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia
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McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895
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Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)