Booval House

About

Booval House is a heritage-listed detached house at 14 Cothill Road, Booval, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1857 by William Hancock and extended in 1896 to a design by George Brockwell Gill. It is also known as St Gabriel's Convent. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992.

Booval House is a two-storey brick house built in the 1850s for George Faircloth, manager of the Bank of Australasia in Ipswich. The builder was William Hancock and the architect was probably William Wakeling.

In December 1859, Faircloth stated in a testimonial that architect William Wakeling had been engaged by him privately, as well as being engaged for supervision of St Paul's Anglican Church. This private commission was most probably Booval House.

The house was completed by at least 20 December 1859 when Queensland Governor George Bowen stopped there for refreshments and a change of clothing at the start of his first visit to Ipswich. It was the first major house in the Booval area.

In October 1853, Faircloth was transferred to Ipswich to pen the first 'northern' branch of the Bank of Australasia. He purchased Booval Estate lands consisting of 310 acres (130 ha) from Charles Daveney in February 1856. The title purchase was from the colony of New South Wales. Queensland had not yet become a colony itself. The country estate was 3 miles (4.8 km) from Ipswich Town.

In the 1850s, Faircloth had invested in Moggill Coal Mine, in collaboration with John Panton, Henry Buckley, Louis Hope and Frederick Bigge. Flooding and exhaustion of coal led to closure of the mine and the company was wound up in 1861.

This may have been a factor in Faircloths's later loss of Booval House, but perhaps of greater significance was his dealings as bank manager. In 1855 he was cautioned by the bank's superintendent because he had exceeded the bank's lending limits. This related especially to lending money to Joseph Fleming, the founder of a large industrial village ( Bremer Mills) on the Bremer River at Bundamba. By 1859, Fleming had borrowed 30,000 Pounds, half of the bank's cash. In 1860, Faircloth was 'warned' again by the Superintendent but Faircloth continued to provide advances. By December 1861, the cash account at Ipswich had run up to £ 200,000. By July 1862, Faircloth was dismissed, resulting in the loss of his 900 Pounds salary. Fleming's Mills were sold by the Bank of Australasia.

Of note is that Faircloth mortgaged Booval Estate to the (then) Bank of Queensland in 1860.

In the early 1860s, many Ipswich people started cotton plantations to take advantage of a worldwide shortage caused by the American Civil War. Faircloth grew cotton on much of the 40 acres (16 ha) surrounding his house. Adjacent to his land was that of the Ipswich Cotton Company under its chairman John Panton; Faircloth sold portion of his farm, in 1861, to the Ipswich Cotton Co which had 100 acres (40 ha) under cultivation and exported its first 30 bales in July 1862. However, cotton did not fulfil its early expectations and many companies and individual growers lost money.

Booval House was auctioned in 1868 under instructions from the liquidators, the Bank of Queensland.

The purchaser was William Welsby, a local builder (and father of author Thomas Welsby ).

The 1868 and 1874 auction notices provide invaluable records of the property at those times.

Welsby died suddenly in 1873. The property was auctioned in 1874, and the purchaser was John Ferrett, the former Trustee of Ipswich Cotton Co. Ferrett had opened a coalmine, the Radstock Pit at Woodend in the 1850s and later had an interest in the adjacent Woodend Mine. He also appears to have continued farming to some extent at Booval House.

Booval House was advertised for rent in 1884, the reason uncertain. According to Ferrett family records, the Ferrett's moved to another residence at Brisbane Road, Ipswich, closer to Ipswich Town. After John Ferrett died in 1894, control of the property passed to his nephew Harry who was also involved in coal-mining in the Bundamba area, financing the Borehole Mine. In 1896, architect George Brockwell Gill called tenders for a timber extension to the rear of the house and a new iron roof.

Booval House remained in the Ferrett family until 1921 when it was sold to the Catholic Church. After standing empty for several years, it was renovated and reopened in 1930 as St Gabriel's Convent for the Sisters of Mercy. A convent school was built adjacent to the house.

Following termite damage in 1946, the verandahs were altered and brick supporting columns were built. A brick extension containing a chapel and bedrooms was added in 1969. The number of sisters declined in the 1980s and the house was empty for some time, then was sold in September 1997.

Booval House was purchased by gynaecologist Dr David Baartz in 2018. The chapel was restored to its Catholic heritage and blessed by Father James O'Donoghue of St Mary's Church, Ipswich, as the Chapel of John Paul the Great. Renewal of the gardens has been undertaken to carry on the legacy of this historic Ipswich residence. [ citation needed ]

In July 2021, Dr Omar Mansour, an Ipswich surgeon purchased Booval House. [ citation needed ]

After acquiring Booval House from Dr Baartz, to establish as a family home, Booval House underwent some modifications to cater and comfort a young growing family. Minimally invasive ducted air conditioning [ citation needed ] was installed in the main house, solar panels added to the steep carport roofs, and a pool at the eastern end of the property.

Booval House is a two-storey brick building with a steeply pitched hipped roof clad in corrugated galvanised iron and with a separate skillion roof over the verandahs on three sides. All of the verandahs, both ground level and upper floor, were enclosed with louvres and fibro and aluminium cladding by the Sisters of Mercy. In 1997 when conservation commenced, except for some unusual, original tapered timber columns on the upper level and a few original hidden balusters, all of the original architectural detail had been removed.