[1] Woodlands, an imposing, two-storeyed brick residence, was erected in 1889-91 for Thomas Lorimer Smith, saw miller, timber merchant, contractor, sugarcane grower, sugar mill proprietor, and active member of the Marburg community.

In the late 1880s they commissioned Ipswich builder/architect Samuel Shenton to design an imposing two- storeyed brick residence, to be erected on the hill above the Woodlands mills.

This included 568 acres (portion 392, parish of Walloon) selected in September 1870, on part of which Woodlands mansion was erected 20 years later.

In 1876 TL Smith entered into partnership with his father, and together they erected a new and larger saw mill on portion 392, close to the then emerging township of Marburg, in the heart of the Rosewood Scrub.

TL Smith named the property Woodlands, expanded the saw mill - adding a joinery plant - and in the early 1880s, as the district converted to agriculture, moved into sugar cultivation and manufacture.

In the late 1880s, Smith also began to plant grapes on the Woodlands estate, intending to expand into the production of wines and brandies.

He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1884, and in 1885 erected the Marburg School of Arts, for which he supplied electric power from his saw mill for the opening celebrations.

Red cedar used in the panelling in the dining and drawing rooms reputedly came from Wivenhoe in the Brisbane River Valley and was milled at Woodlands.

TL Smith took out a substantial mortgage on his property in 1897, and in January 1906 the Woodlands Estate was subdivided and put up for sale by order of his mortgagees.

At this time the estate comprised 29 improved scrub farms, a large sugar mill (to be sold with farm no.22), 1¾ miles of sugar tramway, 38 iron cane trucks, distillery, saw mill, milking herd, numerous small sheds, 12 small cottages and Woodlands Homestead, offered on about 7 acres with an orchard of fruit trees and olives.

In 1925 TL Smith, still resident at Woodlands, was interviewed by the Brisbane press and a description of the house published:[1]On the crest of an isolated hill the "lookout tower" rises some 50ft above the ground level, giving a beautiful view of the surrounding country.

Doors and windows, of massive design to conform with the spacious rooms, are all of beautifully grained red cedar cut in the Brisbane Valley.

Archbishop Duhig had purchased the property in the hope of encouraging missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word, evacuated from New Guinea to Brisbane in May 1944, to stay in Queensland.

[1] The Society was founded in 1875 in Steyl, the Netherlands, and had established a base elsewhere in Australia early in the 20th century to provide support for its missionaries in New Guinea.

The main residence was renovated, two timber-framed buildings were erected in the grounds for use as classrooms and dormitories, and the place opened as St Vincent's Seminary in 1945.

[2] Woodlands is a large, ornate, rendered brick building with two main levels surrounded by verandahs, plus cellar, observation deck and tower.

A curved roof is set down on four sides over open verandahs, with cast-iron paired columns, valance, and upper level balustrade.

[1] The southern elevation has a double-storey portico, aligned with the central masonry section, bearing the name Woodlands and the year 1868.

[1] Central to this upper floor, a narrow winding stair, leading to the tower, has painted turned balusters and moulded rail.

Leading out to the masonry balustraded areas over the water tanks, are doors with semi-circular fan lights, boarded on the north, one panelled on the south.

[1] Woodlands is an outstanding grand residence in a rural setting, overlooking undulating open country to distant hills.

It is associated with a picturesque hillside graveyard; large secluded grotto; olive grove and other plantings including Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii); and disused dairy buildings.

Woodlands is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, being associated with early non-indigenous settlement of the Rosewood Scrub and the development of the Marburg district as a sugar-producing region in the late 19th century.

It is a comparatively rare example of a substantial town mansion erected in a rural setting in Queensland, reflecting a way of life to which its builder, a successful entrepreneur of working-class background, aspired.

The place survives remarkably intact, and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a grand, two-storeyed brick residence with wide, ornate verandahs, observation tower, sandstone cellar, early water reticulation system, and set in substantial grounds [which include an olive grove, other significant plantings including Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii), and disused dairy buildings], and with fine vistas over rural surroundings.

The place has aesthetic significance, generated by the formal design, the use of rendered brick and stone, the large public rooms and fine joinery work and cedar panelling internally, the decorative verandahs with cast-iron posts, balustrading and valances, the garden setting [which includes a picturesque hillside graveyard and a large, secluded grotto], and the prominent ridge-top location.

The house is an excellent example of the "grand scale" domestic work of Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, and has a special association with saw-miller, timber merchant and sugar-mill proprietor Thomas Lorimer Smith and his family.

Two substantial timber-framed dormitory/classroom buildings and a later chapel (now kitchen-dining room) in the grounds are significant for their association with St Vincent's Seminary.