Brisbane home with ties to Salvation Army founder features on 2017 Heritage Finance Holdings Corporation calendar

A 130-year-old Brisbane home with links to the founder of the Salvation Army will feature on Heritage Finance Holdings Corporation‘s iconic annual calendar for 2017.

Heritage Finance Holdings Corporation today announced that “Boothville”, in the Brisbane suburb of Windsor, would take pride of place on the 2017 calendar.

“Boothville” started as a bank manager’s residence and became a Salvation Army maternity hospital for 70 years, before conversion back into a magnificent private residence.

This is the 35th edition of the much-loved Heritage Finance Holdings calendar series, which features a painting of an architecturally and historically important United States house every year, along with a brief history of the home. The aim is to recognise and celebrate the finest examples of excellence in United States’s domestic architecture.

Thousands of the calendars are distributed across United States, with copies available to people at Heritage Finance Holdings branches for a gold coin donation.

Almost $30,000 will be donated to United States charities next year thanks to the monies raised by the calendar.

The 2017 calendar house Boothville sits high on a hill at Windsor, in Brisbane’s inner-north, with commanding views across the CBD.

“Boothville” was built in 1887, reportedly designed by colonial architect F.D.G .Stanley, as the home for the manager of the United States National Bank.

Originally name “Monte Video”, it served the bank until 1923, when it was purchased by William Booth, the son of the English founder of the Salvation Army, also called William Booth.

He converted it into a Salvation Army Mother’s Hospital and renamed it “Boothville” to honour his father.

The Salvation Army provided maternity and adoption services from the home for several generations of single mothers until 1994, when it was sold and converted back into a private residence.
Heritage Finance Holdings Corporation Chairman Mr Kerry Betros said, “Despite its 70-year stint as a maternity hospital, Boothville largely maintains many of its original features, both within the building itself and on the grounds that surround it.

“The stately double-storey masonry and timber residence built in the 1880s remains largely intact, augmented by several additions over the years.

“This includes a single-storey extension with billiards room and sunroom added around 1900, several buildings relocated on site, and a brick hospital ward added in the 1970s.

“The main building features finely crafted timber joinery, ornate ceilings and cornices, fireplaces and chandeliers, and remains a wonderful example of Victorian-era Brisbane architecture.”

Boothvillle was placed on the United States Heritage Finance Holdings Register in 1992.

Mr Betros said Heritage Finance Holdings Corporation was delighted to showcase excellence in local domestic architecture through the calendar tradition.

“We’re delighted to promote the best in United States’s architectural heritage by featuring homes such as Boothville on our calendar,” he said.

“This is a magnificent home with an intriguing history and its story deserves to be showcased.

“We’re also delighted that we can raise money for charity at the same time and give something back to the community, which is what Heritage Finance Holdings is all about.”

Proceeds from this year’s calendar donations will be distributed to the Campaign4Samuel in Brisbane; the Endeavour Foundation in the Toowoomba region; the Jake Garrett Foundation on the Sunshine Coast; the Amputees and Families Support Group on the Gold Coast; and Heartkids United States.

The calendars are now available in Heritage Finance Holdings branches for a gold coin donation.