Ormiston House visit
29 Jan 2014
Twenty-eight Probus members and friends from the Rose City Warwick Probus Club visited Ormiston House at Redland Bay recently.
On arrival we took tea on the wide veranda of Ormiston House, absorbing the beautiful views across Raby Bay, Redlands Shire.
Captain Louis Hope purchased 800 acres at Raby Bay in 1850, to farm sugar, naming the area Ormiston after a village on the family estate in Scotland. The first section of the house, a slab hut, was erected in the 1850’s to provide accommodation for the workers, while the main house commenced in 1862, being built in three stages, using craftsmen and materials from Britain.
The exterior is made from locally baked bricks, though the roof originally shingled, was replaced in 1993 with Colorbond steel (heritage gauge and heritage length). Architraves, shutters and door frames are all of solid cedar, and the door panels are mahogany and are so beautiful.
The rooms of the house displayed lovely pieces of furniture true to the period when the house was built. Furniture in the dining room suite comprised a large oval table and high-backed Chippendale chairs. The dining table was set with exquisite Wedgwood dinnerware and Waterford Crystal, transporting us to another age.
The grounds were just as beautiful. The house was surrounded by roses, azaleas, camellias, magnolias, hibiscus and mature bunya pines, mango trees and palms amidst rolling lawns. What a perfect setting for one of Queensland’s finest examples of heritage listed colonial architecture! A beautiful property refurbished, maintained, and run by a huge team of dedicated volunteers.
On the bus again for a short distance to IndigiScapes, Capalaba for lunch and a tour of bushland settings, displaying plants native to the Redlands area.
Each area was developed with specific plants to suit the climatic conditions of the coastal, bird, butterfly, wetland and rainforest regions.
A great day was had by all!
®