Magnificent Minden home features on 2019 Heritage Bank calendar

23 November  2018

A magnificent Minden home that began life as a Methodist Church manse in Brisbane, and has also been a Catholic school and a restaurant, will take pride of place on the 2019 Heritage Bank Calendar.

The featured home on the 2019 calendar will be “Penola” at Minden, a familiar name to people who’ve driven between Brisbane and Toowoomba over recent decades. That’s because the home operated as the Penola Restaurant from its prime location atop the Minden Range for almost 25 years.

This will be the 37th edition of the annual Heritage calendar, which every year features a painting of an architecturally and historically important Queensland house, along with a brief history of the home.

The aim is to recognise and celebrate the finest examples of excellence in Queensland’s domestic architecture.

Thousands of the calendars are distributed across Queensland, with copies available to people at Heritage branches for a gold coin donation. Around $25,000 will be donated to various charities next year thanks to the monies raised by the calendar.

Penola has become a Minden landmark but boasts a rich and varied history, starting in the Brisbane suburb of Nundah.

Penola was built in 1914 as a single-storey Methodist Church manse in Nundah.

The Catholic Church purchased the building in 1963 and it became St Joseph’s Catholic School, named “Penola” in honour of the South Australian town where St Mary McKillop once lived.

In 1978, the house was cut into five sections and transported to Minden, where a second storey was added underneath the main building. For many years, it operated as a restaurant, but has also been a nursery, antique shop and function centre.

In 2005, current owners Ron King and Frank Comuzzo bought Penola and set about restoring the home’s grandeur and glory. 

Penola’s top level is the original structure and has six large bedrooms, wrap-around verandas accessed via beautiful French doors, a family bathroom, formal lounge room, hallway and sitting room. The restoration has preserved the wide wooden floorboards, 12 and a half foot ceilings, and full length sash lead light windows.

The bottom level features recycled timber and fittings from an old ambulance station in Ithaca, Brisbane, with a modern kitchen, lead light front door, extra bathroom, open plan living area and office.

CEO Mr Peter Lock said Heritage was delighted to showcase excellence in local domestic architecture through the calendar tradition.

“We’re thrilled to promote the best in Queensland’s architectural heritage by featuring homes such as Penola on our calendar,” he said.

“This home has an amazing history and has undergone so many transformations to become the striking residence it is today.
 
“The story of Penola is as interesting as the home’s architecture itself.

“We’re absolutely delighted we can highlight this home’s story and raise money for charity at the same time. 

“Giving back to the community is a cornerstone of Heritage’s identity. Our annual calendar is not only prized by so many of our customers, it also gives a boost to deserving charity and community organisations.”

Proceeds from this year’s calendar donations will be distributed to Wynnum Manly District Meals on Wheels; disability services provider YellowBridge in Toowoomba; women’s support service Laurel Place on the Sunshine Coast; homelessness assistance provider A Touch of Hope on the Gold Coast; and neonatal death charity Sands.

You can get your copy of the calendar from any of Heritage’s 60 branches across southern Queensland from Tuesday, 27 November.