A sprawling heritage home with its own art gallery is for sale, offering buyers the opportunity to own a slice of Sunshine Coast hinterland history.
Originally built in 1897 by the Smith brothers, the home at 40-42 Post Office Road, Mapleton, sits on 4211sqm of landscaped grounds atop the Blackall Range.
Known at St Isidores, the home spans 355sqm internally and features five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a double lock-up garage with workshop, pool and parking for more than five additional vehicles.
Beyond the main residence, a purpose-built gallery space currently used as a private art gallery provides additional versatility and could be repurposed as a large home office, studio or guest accommodation.
Agent Amber Werchon, of Amber Werchon Property, said properties of this nature rarely became available.
“Large hinterland estates with heritage character, two titles and this level of restoration seldom become available on the Coast,” she said.
“The hinterland market is tightly held, particularly for properties with this level of land, history and architectural detail. When a property like this comes up, it naturally attracts significant attention.”
Inside the home, rooms carry their own character and names, including the Conversation Pit, Reading Room, Chatsworth Room and the Snug, reflecting the home’s long history as a place for conversation, reading and entertaining.
The home is being sold fully furnished, with historical photography and memorabilia collected by previous owners over generations remaining with the property.
“It is very difficult to find a property that offers the history, scale and condition that this home does,” Ms Werchon said.
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The current owners have spent the past 25 years restoring and protecting the home, ensuring it can stand strong for generations to come.
The home retains architectural elements including pressed metal ceilings and wainscoting, decorative timber fretwork transom panels, coloured glass sidelights, ornate architraves and polished timber floors.
While the home has been structurally reinforced with more than 80 steel stumps, some historical imperfections were intentionally retained to preserve the authenticity of the original building.
Original details include hand-etched rose glass architraves, Victorian scroll fretwork, lead lighting windows and one stained-glass window understood to have been crafted by nuns for the Catholic Church in the early 20th century.
The gardens feature a variety of outdoor seating areas, manicured hedges and a circular pergola that gives the property a European garden atmosphere.
Mature trees including pines, camellias, jacarandas, palms and century-old figs frame the estate, while a sweeping cobblestone driveway lined with historic oak trees leads to the elevated Queenslander.
The home was also recognised for its architectural significance in the Heritage Building Society calendar of historic homes in 2002 and 2003.
The Smith brothers were early citrus farmers who helped shape the Mapleton district, with William James Smith recognised for naming the township during the late nineteenth century.
Historic photographs from the early 1900s show the property surrounded by the family’s citrus orchards, which once covered much of the surrounding range.
Adding to its heritage credentials, two Governors of Queensland, 120 years apart, are recorded in photographs as having visited the estate.
The residence later became home to the Catholic Church in the 1920s, where it was renamed St Isidores after the patron saint of farming, before returning to private ownership.
