It is not exactly an Agatha Christie whodunnit but there are similarities – there’s a detective on the case, a creepy rundown old house, the ghost of an old woman who suffered a mysterious and grisly death, clues dug up from the past, and a jaw-dropping reveal in the third act.
And it started a little like this …
Dawn’s earliest tendrils of light claw towards the abandoned farmhouse. They touch the peeling, powdery white paint of its exterior walls where they have been relentlessly causing it to dry, to curl and flake away. It is in that quietness of first light that the culprits arrive. Their hands hidden in gloves.
Armed with crowbars, hammers and sharpened chisels, they move cautiously over the verandah’s rotting boards. Once inside the dilapidated, vine-riddled old Queensland homestead they waste no time … they raise their weapons and attack! With steely determination they strike again and again, knowing that once this is over, nothing will ever be the same again.
Time passes. When they are done and the dust has settled, they head out front again. Looking back, there before them stands a beautifully restored 1870s homestead – a now-straight roofline of tin; spotless new glass in the sash windows; white iron balustrading gleaming in the sun …
The House Detective – aka Marianne Taylor – has worked out whodunnit. She couldn’t be happier that Willards Homestead at Birkdale has been brought back to life.
Her denouncement? Those responsible are Redland City Council, Baroque Group Pty Ltd, and Australian Heritage Specialists (AHS).
Council contracted local restoration company Baroque Group in late 2023 to undertake the restoration of the heritage-listed farmhouse and outbuildings along with consultants AHS. Work was completed in January this year, with the next steps being the installation of a temporary amenities block and some exquisite and extensive landscaping. It will open to the public later this year.
Ms Taylor, an architectural historian highly experienced in heritage strategy and management, said Willards Farm had been “beautifully” restored and renovated.
“It was in a really bad condition for a long time. It was overgrown with vines and it was boarded up,” she said.
“(Council) recognised not only how significant it is to the local area but also to the history of Queensland.
“They’ve followed heritage best practice in terms of as much as necessary but as little as possible.”
Ms Taylor – who, as The House Detective, researches the history of houses and buildings for a living – first inspected the homestead in March 2021 (GO HERE to see her 2021 video), and then again earlier this year after the restoration work was complete.
A video of her tour of the restored Willards Farm (GO HERE to see her 2025 video) is currently showing at Council’s Visitor Information Centre, Middle Street, Cleveland, where artefacts found during the renovation work are on display along with activities for children to inform them of the history of Willards dairy farm.
The found artefacts – or clues dug up from the past – include a toy farmer figure from the 1920s-1940s, a swatch of knitted fabric, old bottles and shards of green glass.
“It’s so important to retain and look after these old places because essentially they’re a portal to the past,” Ms Taylor said.
“It’s so great that Redland City Council has come in and ensured that (Willards Farm) will be around for another 160 years at least.
“It’s such a little house, but it can tell big stories and it is evidence of so many aspects of our history here in Queensland.”
PART OF OUR HISTORY
Willards Farm – which was entered into the Queensland Heritage Register on 8 March 2022 by the Queensland Heritage Council – is one of the oldest surviving farms and residences on Redlands Coast.
The site of the homestead was registered in 1865 to James Willard (who arrived at Moreton Bay from Plymouth in 1858) and Mark Blundell. In the same year, James and his brother Edward were granted a timber licence to clear trees on the property.
While the exact date is uncertain, it is thought that original owners James and Margaret Willard built the house in stages circa 1876 as this was when James took out a mortgage on the land.
The homestead and outbuildings were built using bush carpentry techniques, evidenced by adzing and hand-saw marks that are still visible today on the rough-hewn timber slabs in the milking shed. Timber for its construction was felled on site and included white beech, swamp beech, cedar and pine.
The Willards ran a dairy farm on the property, which was also known as The Pines, until the mid-1920s. The property changed ownership a couple of times after 1933 before Rosemary Cotton and her husband Doug bought it in June 1941. However, only a few years later the Commonwealth asserted possession over a large portion of the property to establish a radio communications facility to be built by the US Army as World War II raged. It was later transferred to the Australian Postmaster-General’s Department for use.
The Cottons farmed their portion of the land for many decades, with the property being sold several times following Rosemary Cotton’s death in 1979.
The wider estate is often associated with a local identity referred to by locals as ‘the goat lady’. Isabelle Alcock lived alone as a squatter on the Commonwealth land for some 60 years until her death in 2019, aged 84.
She cared for cattle and sheep and a small herd of goats on the property, which she vigorously defended from trespassers.
Willards Farm was bought by Council in 2016. The purchase followed community concern that the site was subject to a development approval for subdivision into residential allotments.
Locals have always held a strong connection to Willards Farm and that has only strengthened after it came into public ownership and started its journey to full restoration.
Division 10 Councillor Paul Bishop acknowledged the heritage significance of Willards Farm and its structures as a “portal into our pioneer past” saying it “remains anchored in its historic context on the pastoral estate 150 years after establishment”.
“The Birkdale Precinct is quite a remarkable property which offers our community many more layers of value and significance than appears at first glance,” Cr Bishop said.
“It has a wealth of stories, lessons and knowledge to impart, including stories of connection with First Nations People and South Sea Islander labourers. It also is a place that remains uniquely undeveloped due to its incredible history, which can be enjoyed, treasured and celebrated by generations to come.”
According to The House Detective, giving access to the community and visitors, means that the Willards, Cottons and Isabelle Alcock stories live on.
“By sympathetically incorporating existing heritage features into new endeavours like this one, we can pay tribute to our history while also celebrating the next chapter in their story,” Ms Taylor said.
PART OF THE PRECINCT
Situated on Old Cleveland Road East, Willards Farm will be one of the main attractions on Birkdale Community Precinct.
The 62-hectare precinct – designed for and by the Redlands Coast community – will feature seven hubs:
- Cultural Hub – a meeting point and launching pad for all the precinct offers
- Willards Farm Food Hub – a celebration of farming heritage with the restored Willards Farmhouse, classic gardens and space for outdoor food markets, restaurant, café and cooking school
- Innovation Hub – an exhibition space showcasing the future of farm methodologies and techniques, agricultural technology and food production
- Entertainment Hub – multiple outdoor spaces for local performers and touring artists as well as BBQs, picnic areas, oversized games and outdoor movies
- Communications Hub – memorial and contemplation space paying homage to war and peace-keeping services, anchored by the former World War II Radio Receiving Station
- Recreation, Resilience & Adventure Sports Hub – Redlands Coast’s first public lagoon, whitewater centre as well as an adventure playground and running track
- Conservation Hub – 2.8km of walking trails, interactive tours, wilderness experiences and enhanced koala habitat.
The Willards Farm display can be viewed at the Redlands Coast Visitor Information Centre. For opening hours and more information go here: Visit Redlands Coast – Visitor Information Centre
For more information about Willards Farm and Birkdale Community Precinct, go here: Create | Birkdale Community Precinct | Your Say Redlands Coast
PART OF THE MYSTERY
Are there any actual murders, mysteries or mayhem in Willards Farm’s history that may need unravelling by The House Detective or another sleuth? The answer is “well, at least not that anyone is aware of”.
This article’s opening statement does raise one more question though – Is the place haunted?
Hmm. Possibly.
According to notes taken by a Birkdale Progress Association member during a Redland Museum history lecture about Willards Farm on 25 March 2009, the homestead may not be as empty as it appears.
“A woman was killed by the front door. The elderly lady, almost blind … walked into the front (heavy) solid door which caught her on the forehead between the eyes,” read the notes, before adding that she was now the home’s “only ghost. Though (you) feel strange things in the house.”
Whether that is true or not, let’s just say that the only spirit Council can confirm, is that the spirit of Willards Farm and its rich and fascinating history is well and truly alive again.
