I just stumbled across this superbly presented Federation house in East Brisbane that is currently listed for sale. It appeared in The Weekend Australian Magazine of 13 April.
The house, Eastwood, was built in 1908 for Llewellyn Stephens, a Brisbane lawyer and council alderman. It was designed by the distinguished architect Robin Dods, who must have done a good job because three short years later he was engaged to design nearby Kitawah for the same client.
The Stephens family was prominent in Brisbane. Llewellyn's father Thomas Blacket Stephens was himself an alderman and mayor as well as being elected to the Queensland parliament. His business interests were diverse, evidenced by his owning of a tannery at Ekibin and the newspaper The Brisbane Courier.
Llewellyn's older brother William took over the family interests after their father's death, and he was instrumental in the construction of two other fine residences that we have seen on these pages, Waldheim and Cumbooquepa.
About Eastwood, the newspaper piece says "Shifted to one side of its sizeable block to make way for townhouses, the owners set about restoring four-bedroom Eastwood to as-new 1901-style. They used the plans of the architect, Robin Dods (1868-1920), whose designs still pervade the city in the form of homes, schools, hotels, churches and public buildings." The photographs for the real estate advertising are spectacular.
Click here for a Google Map.
tff