Shafston House provides an exclusive ceremony site, landscaped gardens and sandstone outdoor terrace offer stunning views of the Brisbane River.
Completed in 1851, Shafston House is one of the earliest surviving houses in Brisbane and a landmark to the people of the city. It is the third oldest house in Queensland, after Newstead House built in 1846 and Bulimba House built between 1849 and 1850.
The story of Shafston begins when construction started on a single story cottage known as Ravenscott, built by a clergyman, the Reverend Robert Creyke. In 1852 Henry Stuart Russell, a prominent grazier and Member of Parliament, purchased the property as a home for his family. Russell made significant changes to the building and renamed it Shafston House after the birthplace of his wife who was from Jamaica in the West Indies.
For over sixty years Shafston House continued as a family home and during that time further alterations were made including the porch, bay windows, verandahs and the attic. Many prominent citizens of Brisbane lived at Shafston House. These included the Hon. Louise Hope who introduced the growing of sugar cane to Australia, the Hon. Gilbert Elliot the first Speaker of the Queensland Parliament and a number of other solicitors and doctors.
In 1915 the property was leased to the Creche and Kindergarten Association as a teacher training centre and this is when Shafston House first began use as an educational institution. The first Kindergarten Training College in Queensland operated there until 1918.
Following the end of World War I there was a shortage of hospitals to accommodate totally and permanently incapacitated servicemen. The Australian Government acquired the property and several outbuildings associated with the repatriation hospital were constructed, including an open-air ward in 1919 (now a Library) and the orderlies’ quarters in 1928 (now a Student Activity Centre). The Property was renamed ANZAC Hostel and is well known for this development and application during both the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Anzac Hostel received its first patients on 19 July 1920 and functioned as a repatriation hospital until c1969.
In 1937 the East Brisbane Postal Depot was constructed for the Postmaster General’s Department in the southwest corner of the property (now Classrooms).
In 1969 ANZAC Hostel was closed and the Royal Australian Air Force used Shafston House as their Brisbane City Headquarters until 1987. The main house was used as an administrative headquarters and mess and as offices for the RAAF police. A Movement Control Centre was established in the ward block (now Library); the headquarters of the Queensland Air Training Corps was located in the former kitchen block (now Teacher’s resource and copy room); the RAAF Public Relations and Photographic Section was accommodated in the former postal depot (now classrooms); and the former orderlies building (Student Activity Centre) had been converted into a tavern.
In 1978 the cultural heritage significance of Shafston House was recognised by its inclusion in the Commonwealth Register of the National Estate and in the 1980s conservation work was carried out on the main house.
Shafston House returned to its former use as an educational campus and was restored to it’s former glory and grandeur in 1995 with the establishment of Shafston International College. Overseas students enrolled to take advantage of this unique and picturesque campus and since that time over 60,000 students have walked the halls of Shafston.