Middenbury House, Heritage-listed house in Toowong, Australia
Middenbury House is a single-storeyed rectangular brick building at 600 Coronation Drive, Toowong, set on elevated ground above the Brisbane River and wrapped by verandahs on three sides. Eliza Mary Rogers bought the just-over-6-acre (2.4 ha) parcel between Moggill Road and the river in 1865 at £100 an acre, and the villa was built in 1866.
The building was completed in December 1866 for Eliza Mary Rogers and reflects the earliest phase of suburban villa development during Brisbane's rapid expansion. It emerged at a time when city growth was opening new residential areas like Toowong.
The name Middenbury was given to the villa by Eliza Mary Rogers, a widow from West Sussex who bought the 6-acre riverside parcel in 1865 for £100 an acre. Her son Lewis Gardner Rogers, a first-class revenue clerk in the Queensland Treasury, lived and worked in Brisbane at the time, and she was advertising for domestic servants in Milton by February 1864. From 1957 the ABC used the former villa mainly as office space.
The location sits on elevated ground in an established residential area, which means it is easily visible and accessible. The best time to visit is during daylight hours to fully appreciate the architectural details and surroundings.
The house hosted the first official ABC television broadcast in Queensland during November 1959, with more than 300 people attending. This event makes it a significant landmark in the history of Australian television.
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