Queen's Quarter Is the 120-Year-Old Queensland Homestead Worth the Two-Hour Drive

A relocated, painstakingly restored Queenslander on the Darling Downs is proof a proper country escape doesn't have to mean a full day's drive from Brisbane.

Phillipe Blake· Staff Writer4 September 2026

Brisbane isn't short on weekend-escape options, but most of the good ones ask for a full day either side — the Sunshine Coast hinterland in one direction, Byron in the other, both eating into a weekend before you've unpacked. Queen's Quarter, a newly opened stay on the Darling Downs, asks for two hours each way and delivers something most closer options can't: a genuinely old house that's been treated properly.

The building itself is 120 years old — a Queenslander that has been relocated onto a roughly 20-acre property at Gowrie Little Plain, about 25 minutes from Toowoomba. Its owners spent several years restoring it, working to keep the character and romance of the original home rather than gutting it for something more generic, while still making it fit for a modern stay.

That balance shows in the detail. The house is furnished with antiques and a hand-picked collection of artwork rather than anything off a hire-company list, alongside a handful of choices that are more surprising: an all-black kitchen, a bee-themed master suite, and a chandelier-lit bathroom built around a large circular bath. Wide verandahs wrap the house on multiple sides, looking straight out over open farmland with nothing to interrupt the view.

Queen's Quarter runs as a flexible booking — guests can take a single bedroom, two bedrooms, or the whole three-bedroom, one-bathroom house, which sleeps up to six across a king, a queen and two singles. Nightly rates run from $300 for a single bedroom on a weeknight up to $450 for exclusive use of the property on a weekend, with a two-night minimum and a discount available for stays of a week or longer.

GALLERY

The living and dining room, styled with antiques and a hand-picked collection of artwork.

The all-black kitchen — one of the house's more unexpected design choices.

The master ensuite, finished in marble and black tile.

A second bathroom opens directly onto one of the bedrooms.

A reading nook framed by the home's original bay window.

The verandah looks straight out over open Darling Downs farmland.

For a Brisbane local who wants the feeling of having gone somewhere — a proper old homestead, real rural quiet, a house with more history than a new-build could offer — without giving up an entire weekend to the drive, Queen's Quarter is a rare thing: a genuine country escape that's actually close.

Queen's Quarter is located at 35 Wrights Rd, Gowrie Little Plain, and takes bookings via Airbnb and directly through queensquarter.com.au.

Queen's Quarter