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