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A rare slice of early South Australian settlement will be auctioned at Charleston on Friday 30th November 2012, with the release of Blackford.
This unique two-storey Georgian home has been in the Newman family since it was built by the town’s founder, Charles Newman, in 1855. Newman (b. March 9, 1821, d. September, 1900) sailed on the barque Katherine Stewart Forbes from Gravesend, Kent, England on July 27, 1837, and 82 days later arrived at Holdfast Bay. Incredibly, he was just 16, and the youngest to make the journey alone.
Blackford is a classic, State heritage-listed heritage dwelling, built to the specifications of one in Blackford, Somerset. It was the first English-style home in this part of the Adelaide Hills with others based on German heritage. It presents superb fine craftsmanship with its Jarrah floors, Baltic pine windows and rare Queensland cedar doors.
The home features a traditional kitchen with Jarrah beams, adjoining family room, an office/bedroom downstairs, and two spacious bedrooms upstairs leading to a split-level where there are another three bedrooms.
But perhaps the most stunning feature is a huge dining room with a 16ft gable ceiling made from Baltic pine. Stand out features include the large fireplace with Jarrahdale slow combustion heater, built-in cupboards in the arches and a quaint corner-piece with 26 drawers once used as a sewing cupboard. The dining room offers the serenity of country living embossed in history.
At the front of the home is a classic English garden design with its symmetrical pathways and a large bluestone fence, which is also heritage-listed. The huge trees by the driveway together with sensational views of the adjoining vineyard and tranquil outlook over a large dam, makes this property unique in every sense of the word.
According to the State Heritage Authority of South Australia, Blackford is typical of the farmsteads built in the British Isles during the 18th and early 19th centuries, which began to separate their houses from the other farm buildings on the property. A report added: “It demonstrates important aspects of the evolution or pattern of the State’s history, as it represents the settlement of the Charleston area in 1839 in the early years of colonial South Australia.”
Renovations on this 155-year-old home steeped in history are not complete, making it an ideal investment for those with the special character of Charles Newman and who are keen to write a new chapter in the history of Charleston.