AUCTION OF A LIFETIME

Antiques and collectables go under hammer

AFTER 40 years of storing family heirlooms and collecting antiques, Toowoomba man Ken Bullen (right) is heading for a sea change and moving his family to the Sunshine Coast.

The deputy chair of the Toowoomba Turf Club has bought a horse and cattle stud near Beerwah and so is offering up for auction over the next two weekends a myriad of antiques and collectables collected over the past 40 years.

Some items such as a horse-drawn cart date back to early last century.

And, the family home in Middle Ridge, which has been sold, has a story all of its own.

‘‘ I THOUGHT IT WOULD JUST NEED A LICK OF PAINT AND WE’D MOVE IN BUT IT TOOK US SEVEN YEARS TO RENOVATE.

ANTIQUES and collectable enthusiasts can snap up a range of bargains with a myriad of household and Australiana collectables to go under the hammer over the next two Sundays.

Toowoomba Turf Club deputy chair Ken Bullen is moving his family to the Sunshine Coast where he has bought a horse and cattle stud.

For the past 40 years, Mr Bullen has acquired an extensive range of antique vehicles and equipment from horsedrawn wagons and sulkies to hand chaff cutters to old bottles, tin cans and tea chests to a Singer treadle sewing machine and even a ship’s bell.

All will go under the hammer at the family home, which has recently been sold, at 1A Dorge St, Middle Ridge, this Sunday from 11am.

The items for auction can be viewed tomorrow afternoon with bidding on Sunday.

Then, next Sunday (October 21) Mr Bullen will put up a wide range of antique furniture for auction at the Clifford Park Racecourse from 11am.

Furniture includes a 12-seater late Victorian dining table with cedar chairs, C1900 grandfather clock, Victorian sideboards, mahogany chaise lounges, bookcases and other polished household items.

Some of the items date back to the days when Mr Bullen’s family owned Bellevue Homestead

KEN BULLEN

where Wivenhoe Dam now stands.

“It’s a bit sad to be leaving really but it’s a lifestyle change,” Mr Bullen said.

“We’ve bought a pretty good horse and cattle stud near Beerwah and so we’re moving the family there.

“We’re still keeping our business here though.”

The Bullens have already sold their large home which was moved on site in 1999.

“It used to be the Southern Cross clubhouse at Mt Lofty,” he explained.

“We had to move here in four parts.

“I thought it would just need a lick of paint and we’d move in but it took us seven years to renovate and then we lived in it for 12 years.”

Photos: Bev Lacey These antique lounge chairs will form part of the huge auction of furniture and antique collectables to be held at the Toowoomba Turf Club next Sunday (October 21).

Photos: Bev Lacey BACK TO THE FUTURE: Ken Bullen with one of the horse-drawn carts that will go under the hammer at auction on Sunday.

Singer sewing machines used to be a must-have in every Australian home and this one could return to a home after auction.

This 12-seater late Victorian dining table with 12 cedar dining chairs will go under the hammer on Sunday next week.