Guest Speaker Report
by
Rotarian Peter Douglas
Wednesday 11 February 2009
Our guest speaker was Rotarian Trevor Duxbury who spoke about‘Broughlea’. Trevor was introduced by President Grahame.
‘Broughlea’ is a two storey Victorian Italianate style house which is owned by Trevor and his family and is located at 82 Abbotsford Road, in the Strathfield municipality.
Trevor purchased the property in 1996 and began a lengthy restoration of the property soon after. In 2001 the house won a Strathfield Council Heritage Conservation Award and is one of the important historic properties which contribute to the character of the Abbotsford Road heritage conservation area.
To start with Trevor gave us the background to the area in which the house is located. In 1878 the section of the Underwood Estate known as the Homebush Village was subdivided. This area includes Abbotsford Road, Burlington Road, Bridge Street, Coventry Road, Meredith Street, The Crescent and Homebush Road.
‘Broughlea’ which is one of the few remaining two storey brick Victorian Italianate style houses in Abbotsford Road was built in 1882 for Horatio Aylward who was a Sydney based solicitor. When Aylward built the house it was called ‘Rhodanthe’ Trevor highlighted the various owners up until the time he purchased the property in 1996. In recent times these included in 1968 Don Talbot, the then Australian swimming coach and more recently Dr John Mason with whom former Rotarian Brain Hennell was in partnership.
When Trevor purchased the property it was not in the best condition and had been modified and altered in many ways including a stucco finish. Removal of the stucco revealed much of the original building and the styles which were in vogue at the time of the original construction. Trevor with aid of photos and drawings and the assistance of an architect and capable tradesmen has been able to restore the property to what is now current.
After questions from the members Trevor was thanked by President Grahame
Reference http://www.strathfieldhistory.org.au/Broughlea.htm or click image above