In May 1875, when both portions were surveyed as part of an application to bring them under the Real Property Act, the land was unoccupied, suggesting that Wilson was not farming here at this period.

Wilston, established in the mid-1870s at the pinnacle of William Wilson's career (during his period as a member of the Queensland Legislative Council), belonged to this tradition.

[1] In July 1876, James Cowlishaw called tenders for a villa residence at Enoggera for William Wilson, which is understood to refer to Wilston House.

Early photographs (circa late 1870s) show a core in face brickwork, with verandahs on three sides (to the west, south and east), a rendered masonry portico to the southern front entrance, a timber section along the north (rear) side of the house with a bay window at the eastern end, and an attached timber kitchen wing at the rear of the main building.

Slightly later photographs, thought to have been taken during the Wilsons' residence and therefore prior to 1885, reveal that the core had been rendered and bay windows to the two front rooms (at the southeast and southwest corners of the house) had been added.

It is understood that the lower terrace contained a croquet or tennis lawn, on which a portable dance floor and marquee could be erected when the Wilsons entertained.

[1] The last event Willam Wilson held was the wedding of his stepdaughter, Margaret Coutts, on 20 December 1884 before heading on a trip to America and to his old home in Ireland.

Wilson may have been experiencing financial difficulties at this period, because in October 1884, title to Wilston House was transferred to Brisbane businessman and politician John Stevenson, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

The grounds contained stables, carriage-house, buggy-shed, harness-room, man's room and hay-house - (possibly housed in one or two structures) - underground tanks holding a domestic water supply, and a flower garden.

(His landlord, John Stevenson, was a director of the Queensland Meat Export and Agricultural Co.)[1] Wilston House remained a rental property in Stevenson's name until 1898, when title to the house on about 27.2 acres (11 hectares) passed to his former business associate Boyd Dunlop Morehead, MLA and premier from 1888 to 1890, founder of BD Morehead and Co, and a former director of the Queensland National Bank.

[1] Local knowledge suggests that the Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V) visited Wilston House with the Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington, during the May 1901 Royal Tour to celebrate Federation.

It is a substantial, single-storeyed, low-set brick residence, principally Georgian in style with vernacular influences in the wide verandahs to all sides.

Wilston House presents a highly intact facade, with a recent kalsomine coating to the exterior brickwork and render and a Welsh slate roof.

On the eastern side of Watson Street, opposite the back gate to Wilston House, is a large, mature Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina) and two other mature trees: a Jacaranda and a Tupelo hybrid (Nyssa spp), which once formed part of the grounds of Wilston House and are understood to be remnants of late 19th or early 20th century planting.

Erected c. 1876, Wilston House is a highly intact, substantial residence, particularly significant for its brick, cedar and slate construction and its Georgian stylistic elements, and important in illustrating the principal characteristics of its type.

[1] The present grounds, and part of what is now Watson Street road reserve, contain many early plantings associated with Wilston House in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including a large Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), a Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina), a Jacaranda and a Tupelo hybrid (Nyssa spp).

[1] The present grounds, and part of what is now Watson Street road reserve, contain many early plantings associated with Wilston House in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including a large Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), a Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina), a Jacaranda and a Tupelo hybrid (Nyssa spp).