[1] The date of completion of Harlaxton House is uncertain but in a letter written to Katie Hume, dated 23 November 1869, Mrs Gregory refers to "The Hermitage", presumably where she was writing, as being "within a mile of the house Frank Gregory is building on the Range and which they are to occupy next March".

Mrs Gregory was the sister of Walter Hume who later became the Commissioner of Crown Lands on the Darling Downs.

The Register of the Queensland Parliament, 1860–1927 states that Gregory resigned as mining Commissioner for Stanthorpe in November 1872 to take over the administration on the Estate of his late friend William Beit, and the family moved to Westbrook.

In 1874 Francis Thomas Gregory was listed in the Post Office Directory as a Justice of the Peace, Darling Downs.

Information in files of the National Trust of Queensland claim that, in 1877, Gregory was the financial agent for trustees of Beit (Westbrook) and Tooth (Clifton).

[1] Harlaxton was originally known as Irishtown, as a number of Irish settlers stayed in the completing the new Main Line railway between Ipswich and Toowoomba.

[1] After the death of Gregory in Toowoomba on 23 October 1888, Harlaxton was sold to Anne and William Herbert Francis Perry in April 1891.

Information from Trustees Quarterly Review, April 1912 states that:[1]...A number of important property sales have taken place in Toowoomba during the last few months.

[1] Harlaxton House is a low-set, single-storey stone residence built on a hill side with views overlooking the Toowoomba Range.

The stone gets its strong dark red colouring and its unusual texture from the presence of iron-oxide and clay.

[1] The original section of the house is an L-shaped plan and is surrounded on two sides by a verandah with a separate roof, supported by slender timber posts with decorative cast iron brackets.

The shorter section of the roof which covers the foot of the "L" plan has a steep gable at the rear which houses an attic.

The interior is of a simple design with two large central rooms connected by doorways at the rear, both having two sets of French doors leading to the front verandah.

[1] The timber addition at the rear of the original house consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom with two external toilets, and a laundry.

After entering the property via Munro Street, the drive loops around in front of the house on a wide terrace dug into the hill side.

Part of the drive, on the Prince Street side, is no longer apparent due to the construction of a modern road.

Harlaxton House is significant as an elegant example of well-to-do domestic building from the 1870s, reflecting the wealth and status of a prominent figure in Toowoomba, a major regional centre in colonial Queensland.

[1] The location of Harlaxton House demonstrates the importance of topography for early settlers when they were choosing a suitable site on which to build.

Harlaxton House is aesthetically significant due to its location and its well balanced design and verandahs which take advantage of the views of the Toowoomba Range.

[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.