Glenfield for sale! 

The first project undertaken by the Endangered Houses Fund is now on the market

Image: The west elevation of Glenfield, Paolo Busato, 2008

Last chance to see before it is sold! Glenfield is currently on the market for sale via expressions of interest and the HHT is opening the property for inspection. Details are:

Property address: 88 Leacocks Lane, Casula

Opening times: 

Saturday, 28 May 2011 between 
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm


Wednesday, 1 Jun 2011
 between 11:00 am - 12:00 pm


Saturday, 4 Jun 2011 between
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm


Wednesday, 8 Jun 2011
 between 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Please go to www.kenjacobs.com.au for further details regarding the sale

Built by Dr Charles Throsby in 1817, Glenfield at Casula is arguably the most intact house from the Macquarie period that survives in New South Wales. No other house and its outbuildings remain in such original condition. Glenfield is one of a group of first generation properties built along the escarpment between Liverpool and Campbelltown. Unlike Glenfield, the others – Collingwood, Macquarie Field, Denham Court and Varroville – have been much altered or rebuilt.

Glenfield is a skilfully designed 14-room colonial bungalow with two adjacent frontages. Like many early bungalows, the roof visually dominates the architecture of the house. It was originally covered by finely textured timber shingles, which were replaced in the 1840s or 50s with Morewood & Rogers’s patent galvanised tiles. The extraordinary collection of original farm buildings that remain on the property includes an imposing two-storey coach house, a dairy cottage and the original privy.

The interior of Glenfield contains very fine Georgian joinery including Australian cedar architraves, windows, doors, window shutters, skirting boards and picture rails. The survival of so much of the original fabric is remarkable.
Over the past year conservation work has been undertaken to preserve and restore these features. With the work nearing completion, Glenfield will soon be ready for a new generation of occupants.

Conservation work to the buildings and garden has included structural repairs, new essential services, stone repairs, timber joinery repairs, replastering, painting, reinstatement of the tennis court and new fencing gates, paths, drives and garden beds.

In restoring Glenfield, the HHT made a conscious decision not to refurbish the kitchen or bathrooms. These spaces have been connected to services but will be left to the future tenant to complete.

The HHT will retain the title to Glenfield once the conservation work is complete and sell a long-term lease to the property. The lease can then be on-sold to another party in the future as if the property were freehold.

Following the sale of the lease the public will continue to have the opportunity to view Glenfield on a regular basis.

The lease will be in the form of a single upfront payment and the lessee will be responsible for the maintenance of the property. A maintenance plan for the buildings and the garden, which will assist the future tenant to look after this historic site, is currently being prepared. All funds generated from the completed project will be used towards the conservation of other at-risk heritage properties.

The tender period for the lease will coincide with Furnishing the Colonial Bungalow, an antique sale at Glenfield held by the HHT in conjunction with Warwick Oakman Antiques. The interiors of Glenfield will be ‘dressed’ during the sale to interpret the furnishing of a Macquarie-period bungalow in a manner that respects its history and offers ideas for contemporary living.

Richard Silink
Manager Portfolio Development, Historic Houses Trust
  
About the project
In 2007 the Department of Planning transferred the Glenfield estate to the Historic Houses Trust. The conservation work subsequently undertaken was a collaborative effort between the HHT and a variety of external consultants. The Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust made a commitment to provide the funds to complete the project and the Foundation General Manager, David Hely, devised and implemented a major fundraising appeal. Richard Silink, Manager Portfolio Development, oversaw the project and worked in conjunction with conservation architect Clive Lucas, landscape designer Dr James Broadbent, head contractor Noel T Leach and his talented subcontractors, planning consultant Trevor Sier and Partners, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Liverpool City Council, Simpson Landscapes and the NSW Heritage Office. HHT staff expertise was utilised in a number of areas at Glenfield, particularly that of Dave Gray, Head Gardener, and the garden staff.
Endangered Houses Fund

The Endangered Houses Fund (EHF) is a program of the HHT that identifies significant at-risk properties and saves them from demolition or unsympathetic development. Properties are conserved, protected and then offered back into the marketplace for the use and enjoyment of future generations.

First published in Insites Autumn 2008