ONE of the oldest houses in Kalbar has been moved to the heart of town, with plans to restore it.
The house, built in the 1880s, was moved from Munbilla Road to George Street next to another heritage home known as Chant’s Cottage.
The cottage was originally owned by Franz and Jacob Surawski in the 1880s.
In the 1970s the cottage was bought by Leonard Ishmael and Isabel May Chant.
White Chapel and Black Hall co-owner April Cornwell, who now owns both houses, said having two historical buildings would help retain some of the town’s history.
“There was a whole lot of talk that they wanted to get rid of it but the actual fact is they approached me and asked if I thought I could buy it and keep it in Kalbar,” she said.
Ms Cornwell said she wanted to honour the Munbilla Road house’s former owners Kate and Vinc Herrmann by naming the homestead Herrmann House when restored.
“I’ve moved houses and have done renovations before so for me it’s not daunting at all and my vision is that it’ll be in the town for another 100 years,” she said. “It will be another shining star on the main street.”
Ms Cornwell said she would keep history alive.
“I feel really quite honoured that I could help to create something, a centre piece, for the town and for them to be proud of,” she said. “We are in a highly disposable society where we knock down things and forget and I love that we can preserve it and be here for another 100 years because they don’t make houses like this anymore.
“I like to think that I snatched it from demolition or being forgotten and be reinstated in the books today.”
Mr Herrmann said the home once belonged to Lutheran Minister, Pastor Windolf.
“I have lived next to it all my life until my wife and I bought it in 1978,” he said. “We’ve had it for 40 years and we used to have tenants living in it all the time but now we want to focus on other things.”
Mr Herrmann said it was passed down through generations in the Windolf, Degener, Koch and Cliff families before he owned it but now was the time to move on.
“We wanted to sell it to good people because we didn’t want to see it demolished and seeing what April and Paul (Cornwell) have done with the White Chapel, we knew the end product ... would be good,” he said.
The Surawski family also donated land for Saint Boniface’s Church.
Jocelyn Garcia
Jocelyn is a journalist at the Redland City Bulletin, covering education issues and school stories. She was a former journalist at Beaudesert Times, reporting about crime, schools and agriculture.
Jocelyn is a journalist at the Redland City Bulletin, covering education issues and school stories. She was a former journalist at Beaudesert Times, reporting about crime, schools and agriculture.
