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Queensland Government announces $5.8 million to protect Brisbane’s earliest home

The Queensland Government will invest $5.8 million to help protect Brisbane’s oldest surviving European home, Newstead House.

Newstead House, which is 173 years old, is an iconic landmark and the funding will help ensure it continues to be protected.

The $5.8 million will help conserve Newstead House, its collection, and the former historic electricity substation that is also on its grounds.

The Queensland Government committed this funding to ensure Newstead House continues to be protected and preserved for generations to come.

Newstead House, which is a house museum and open for the public to visit, was built as a privately-owned cottage in 1846, and significantly renovated in 1867.

It has a collection of nearly 3000 items and is located on the grounds of Newstead Park. Also located on the Park’s grounds is Substation No 5, which was built in the 1920s to help power the city’s tramway system.

Newstead House, Newstead Park and the substation were also among the first of the state’s historic places to be entered in the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

The $5.8 million in funding would go towards maintenance, replacing the roof, and repair works associated with drainage, timber, painting and wallpaper, and protecting the collection.

The funding was announced while the city is hosted Brisbane Open House, which celebrates Queensland’s historically built places and architecture.

The weekend allowed people to explore 73 of Brisbane’s best heritage buildings, the largest number ever listed on the program.

Brisbane Open House gives the public an opportunity to appreciate our city’s built environment, and to broaden our own awareness and knowledge of the city’s structural design, beauty and history.

Newstead House continues to be a focal point for Brisbane’s Open House celebrations, and the funding will ensure this will continue.

Brisbane’s Open House complements other annual Open House events throughout Queensland that are held on various dates, including at Maryborough, Toowoomba, the Gold Coast, Bundaberg and the Sunshine Coast.

For more information about Newstead House, visit newsteadhouse.com.au

For more information about Brisbane Open House, visit brisbaneopenhouse.com.au