Shafston House from The Sydney Street Ferry terminal

Shafston House South Brisbane;

It is also known as Anzac Hostel, Ravenscott, and Shafston International College. (which is what it is today)

Shafston House comprises a group of buildings constructed between 1851 and the 1930s, set in substantial grounds with frontage to the Brisbane River. The main house was constructed in several stages between 1851 and 1904

Charles and Mary Foster bought the property in 1883, and are reputed to have demolished the original structure and commissioned FDG Stanley to design a new house on the land. This was the basis for the Gothic structure that stands there now.

The house has a varied history with multiple uses.

After WWI, the property was acquired by the Commonwealth who renamed it Anzac House, using it as a repatriation hospital until around 1969. Here is a photograph of Shafston that was taken in 1930

After 1969, the property was used by the RAAF as offices and a mess, and a lot of internal restructure occurred at that time.

The two cannons in the foreground are reputedly part of Thursday Island's 19th century defence.

 

Sketched in my A3 Holcroft Sketchbook Lamy Pen and Watercolour.