Coronet Court Flats

Coronet Court Flats

A great Saturday afternoon it was.

Coronet Court Flats

The fourth Saturday of April saw a huge gathering of history buffs assemble at the Merthyr Road Uniting Church Centre to hear owner, Tamsin O’Connor tell all about her New Farm icon, Coronet Court Flats.

 Located on a very appropriate corner block overlooking New Farm Park, Coronet Court imposes itself, majestically displaying many of the art deco features that have brought so much joy to those that follow that particular art form.
 
The presentation was superb. The audience was quite spellbound for the duration of Tamsin’s brilliantly assembled preparation, which featured both images and stories about the background to the Building, where it fitted into her long standing family presence and then ensuring its preservation for all to enjoy, forever.
 
Extracts from the local Brisbane daily, “The Courier Mail”, an edition dated November 17, 1933, were shown revealing some delightful snippets, very local and informative in nature.
 
Much of that article is repeated here. A full DVD of the afternoon is available from the NF Historical Society, with details on their website or contact on 07 3254 1449 or via email at newfarmhistory@yahoo.com
 www.newfarmhistorical.org.au
Coronet Court Flats

 

CORONET FLATS -  FEATURES NEW TO BRISBANE – Strength, Beauty and Dignity !

Within a few days, the Coronet Flats, New Farm will be completed. This three-storied, brick structure of nine flats has been so designed that tenants can appreciate to the full, views of the park opposite, the river nearby and the distant suburbs. The services provided included a central hot water system and ample refrigeration space in each Flat.
 
At the corner of Brunswick Street and Elystan Road, New Farm, in one of the most picturesque parts of Brisbane, a building with the architectural dignity of a mansion has raised its height. The construction of the Coronet Flats was the inspiration of Mr. M. Strickland, a Melbourne business man, who formed the opinion that Brisbane was lacking in up-to-date, well serviced flats, such as exist in the southern capitals. After much searching for a suitable site and after preparing plans and specification, he let a contract to Mr. T. Larking, with whom he collaborated.
Coronet Court Flats

 

ARRESTING LANDMARK

Today, the almost complete building is a landmark that arrests attention from afar. It would be difficult to identify the building with any type of architecture, because Mr. Strickland aimed at evolving a plan to suit the climate and to meet the desires of flat-dwellers in the matter of a pleasing outlook. Generally the walls are not straight; there are angles in front elevations to accommodate bays that will catch the prevailing breezes and which will afford sweeping views of the landscapes almost to the extent of a semi-circle.
 
Standing at these bays and looking through the windows one sees the beautiful park opposite, to the right a picturesque view of the river reach, backed by the wooded heights of Hawthorne and Balmoral, and to the left is a panorama stretching out into the northern suburbs.

New Farm Park HistoryNew Farm Park History

Convenor and Editor - Ross Garnett

New Farm Park History

Welcome to another year with the New Farm and Districts Historical Society. www.newfarmhistorical.org.au

This Society is dedicated to collecting, recording and archiving the landmarks, events, people and places of New Farm, of which there are so very many. This part of Brisbane is simply different. It inspires, it attracts attention and deserves to be shared.

We continue to be pleased with the current momentum of the Society. Monthly Meetings continue to attract big crowds, due mainly to a selection of truly talented, skilled and interesting Guest Speakers. In recent times, we've  hosted Tony Dempsey, the owner of the NF gem, "Amity House' and the December Meeting just past, has continued the vein. The Meeting was typically well supported by our largest crowd "since records were kept". The afternoon tea part of the day continues to please us all. More and more Society members and their guests are spending an inceased amount of time mingling, relaxing and enjoying the day.

Our adjacent Report (part), of the December Meeting, together with some fine pics. sums up the afternoon.

New Farm Park History

The day also featured a spectacular address by Faye Schutt on matters surrounding General Douglas MacArthur’s role and presence in wartime Brisbane. A very complete slideshow of pictures acquired by the MacArthur Museum, here in Brisbane, kept everyone enthralled.

My recollections of the snippets included: the narcissus-like approach adopted by the General, when it came to his Army Cap. Seemingly whilst in Brisbane, it got a little wet and without proper remedial treatment, it shrank a little. Horror, horror ! Replacements were made and flown in, his vanity caused ongoing consternation within the ranks.  

Some enjoyable Lennons Hotel moments also came to light.

New Farm Park History

An old picture of the AMP Building was shown and was followed by some most interesting commentary. The entire Building was seconded by the Americans, with the operations of the Insurance giant confined to the Ground Floor.

The Society finished 2008 on a high note with the publication of “Reflections on New Farm”, the biggest selling book Mary Ryan Bookshop, in the New Farm Village has ever stocked. 2009 appears to following the trend with high expectations coming from our current release, "Tides of Teneriffe".

As you know, two thousand copies of "Reflections" were printed – yes 2000 ! This was real venture in faith by the Committee, a decision that has more than vindicated by the remarkable sales to date. After less than 3 months, around 1500 books have been sold. We thank those who continue to support the Society by “gossiping the good news” about the Book and those who sell them on our behalf. In particular, we are grateful to Chris Purdy and the staff at Mary Ryan in New Farm, for their enthusiastic recommendation of the book to their customers. We have adopted the same marketing thrusts with our new release.

As a small group of volunteers, we could never have tapped into the markets the book has now reached.  We still have Bookmarks and Order Forms that you could use to spread the news about the bookAs a small group of volunteers, we could never have tapped into the markets the book has now reached.  We still have Bookmarks and Order Forms that you could use to spread the news about the book.

We are also grateful for the support, at no charge to us, from local media outlets “Village News” and “The Independent” as well as radio stations.

The Society, www.newfarmhistorical.org.au has many of its Newsletter items featured elsewhere on this Site, including the April 2009 issue.

 

New Farm Park History

This Society is well placed to oversee:

  • Monthly forums and speakers on a range of topics.
  • A Monthly Newsletter.
  • Historic walking Tours as needed.
  • Providing volunteer staff each week to our New Farm Office to answer questions from the Community.
  • Fundraising for other local community groups

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NEW FARM & Districts HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC

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