Photo by Michael Gardner. All rights reserved. Used with permission

Callender House: 355 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill. Brisbane, Queensland

This little pair of attached houses dates back to 1863 and was designed by the reknowned local architect Robert Smith Dods¹.

Originally each house was comprised of five rooms and a kitchen.² The building later became known as Callender House and had long been associated with members of the church.

Architecturally, its unusual symmetry is notable along with its solid brick facade, something rare in Brisbane residential buildings. This begins with the shared chimney at the very top with its central positioning contrasting with the wide expanse of the corrugated iron roof. The concave style of the verandah roof gives the houses the appearance of one with only the partitioning and the doorways at opposite ends revealing it is in fact two. The simple five post upper storey and balustrades gives way to a complex arrangement of wooden lattice, curve brackets, drops and criss-cross balustrade typical of the early Queenslander style, providing ample shade to the entry.

In 1925 it became the headquarters of the Brisbane Theosophical Society, which it remains to this day.

Conservation works were undertaken in the 1980s and it was officially added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

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