[1] The house was completed by at least 20 December 1859 when Queensland Governor George Bowen stopped there for refreshments and a change of clothing at the start of his first visit to Ipswich.

In the 1850s, Faircloth had invested in Moggill Coal Mine, in collaboration with John Panton, Henry Buckley, Louis Hope and Frederick Bigge.

In the early 1860s, many Ipswich people started cotton plantations to take advantage of a worldwide shortage caused by the American Civil War.

After John Ferrett died in 1894, control of the property passed to his nephew Harry who was also involved in coal-mining in the Bundamba area, financing the Borehole Mine.

In 1896, architect George Brockwell Gill called tenders for a timber extension to the rear of the house and a new iron roof.

After standing empty for several years, it was renovated and reopened in 1930 as St Gabriel's Convent for the Sisters of Mercy.

[citation needed] In July 2021, Dr Omar Mansour, an Ipswich surgeon purchased Booval House.

Minimally invasive ducted air conditioning [citation needed] was installed in the main house, solar panels added to the steep carport roofs, and a pool at the eastern end of the property.

All of the verandahs, both ground level and upper floor, were enclosed with louvres and fibro and aluminium cladding by the Sisters of Mercy.

[1] At ground floor level, the original main core of the house is made up of four rooms, a central hallway and a staircase.

[1] Original skirtings, architraves, French doors and some cornices have survived and are of painted timber in simple design.

There is evidence of original ceiling hooks, and the box room contains an access manhole and a ladder leading down to an underground cellar approximately 5 by 5 metres (16 by 16 ft) in size.

The kitchen wing was added in 1896 and is a single storey hipped-roof timber-frame structure with a large brick fireplace/range at the southern end.

[1] All of these rooms were further subdivided by the convent, mainly to create more 'cells' for the Nuns, and this resulted in original timber being sawn to allow new walls or storage.

[1] with electrical wiring laid across the ceilings Verandahs at the lower level have been enclosed with facebrick walls and banks of louvre windows.

At the upper level, the undersill has been clad with fibro and weatherboards and windows of obscure coloured glass extend full length above sill height.

Some original (but badly damaged by later work for the convent) octagonal tapered timber posts remain visible from the inside and there is a triangular pediment placed centrally on the northern facade.

A substantial two-storey brick chapel has been constructed in 1969 to the east of the main building and is linked to the north-east verandahs at both upper and lower levels.

[1] Approved conservation work undertaken 2015/16 resulted in the removal of the top level walkway, such that the original house is now free-standing again.

The roof line was altered and includes a 40* pitch, with a very functional verandah added to the northern side of the chapel.

Outbuildings included a rudimentary shed and fernery to the southeast of the grounds and a modern carport on the south-western corner.

[1] During conservation, this old shed was removed and replaced with an approved garage and garden workroom wing, built quite compatible with the original house.

The Cothill Road boundary fence line was partly a recent and poorly growing acalypha hedge with some remnant arrow head pickets.

Although the exterior has been altered, its general form and massing and its surrounding garden exhibit aesthetic characteristics valued by the community.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.