The Residences at Brookfield Green pays tribute to the history of the Brookfield region – and to a family whose connection to the district stretches back 150 years.

The late Dr John Leslie Dart gifted 34 acres of land to the Baptist Union of Queensland in 1964, on which Carinity’s new aged care and retirement community at Brookfield is built.

Brookfield Green is a $60-million master-planned re-development which will eventually feature terraced retirement villas and supported-living suites clustered in close proximity to the new aged care community, The Residences.

Names chosen for the three wings of The Residences at Brookfield building – Eliza, Lucinda and Kittybrook – pay homage to the pioneering Dart family.  The Eliza Wing is named after Eliza Dart, who migrated to Brookfield in 1869, and Lucinda Wing honours Eliza’s mother, Lucinda Dart.

Kittybrook Wing is a combination of the words “Kitty” and “brook”. “Kitty” was the name of the milking cow which sustained the Dart family during its pioneering days, and “brook” recognises the stream which flows across the Brookfield Green site.

The Bannerfield Private Dining room is named after the property at which Lucinda Dart lived with her husband James Brimblecombe.

Honouring the traditional owners of the land in the district, the top floor of The Residences is named “Bundaleer”, the Indigenous Australian word for “among the trees”.

The “Plume” hair salon reflects the plumage of the many peacocks which live around the native forest, while The Residences’ on-site cafe, “Rafters” reflects the area’s timber-getting heritage.

Trees sawn and transported by bullocks to the river were tied together into “rafts” and floated downstream to timber mills.

Brookfield Green sits on land once owned by Brookfield pioneers Samuel and Eliza Dart.  They later helped start the first church in Laidley, and subsequent generations of the Dart family have been actively involved in Baptist endeavours.

“Carinity is proud to build on its strong links to Brookfield and honour a family who have served the Baptist Church over several generations. In addition, descendants of the Dart family pioneers who migrated to the Brookfield district in the 1860s work for Carinity,” Carinity CEO Jon Campbell says.

Furniture and furnishings from the original “Resthaven” aged care building at Brookfield, opened in 1972 at a cost of $600,000 and largely funded through public donations, have been incorporated into The Residences at Brookfield Green building.