Historic sandstone home of music and soul

The Rooneys’ heritage sandstone house in Adelaide is a welcoming place.

Pauline and Craig Rooney at their Rose Park home. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Ask Pauline and Craig Rooney who plays the pianola in their ­elegant Adelaide dining room and they respond — “everyone — family, friends and visitors”.

It’s just that type of home, according to the couple, who moved in with their three children 25 years ago after they fell in love with the historic sandstone house.

“It’s been a house where everyone is welcome and so many happy occasions where we have had everything from marriages, wakes and parties, to a jumping castle out the back,” says Pauline, a former vice-president of the South Australian Arts Council.

The 120-year-old four-bedroom house sits in the dress circle of Rose Park in Adelaide’s coveted and tree-lined Prescott Terrace, named after grazier William Pres­cott, who arrived in Adelaide in 1838.

‘It’s been a house where everyone is welcome and so many happy occasions,’ says Pauline Rooney. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Surrounded by nine multi-million-dollar historic houses, it has only changed hands eight times — the late South Australian artist Jacqueline Hick lived there from 1961 to 1978.

The Rooneys relocated from a 283ha Riverland property near Banrock Station they owned for 40 years. They also ran a real ­estate company that had been in the ­family for three generations. “We were very conscious of the history of the house when we renovated, ensuring the historical features were retained while every comfort was added,” Craig says.

“We wanted it to be a place where you could still feel the history and it didn’t lose its essence.”

The spacious eight-room house retains its heritage with 45cm-thick main walls, high ceilings, original fireplaces and a cast-iron front fence.

A turret forms a bay window in the formal sitting room with a ceiling rose, ornate cornices, hand-painted fireplace tiles and picture windows overlooking a pretty front garden.

“I call it the library because of the book shelves and it is my favourite place to sit and read. I love looking out the big windows to the established oak trees and hills,” says Pauline, a former South Australian Telstra business woman of the year.

The Rooneys are sad to leave what they describe as a house with a soul, but believe it is time to downsize. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

The easy-care garden features mature trees, perennials, roses and hundreds of jonquil bulbs.

“I love the smell of the lemon-scented gums and those jonquils in spring,” Pauline says.

The house has a grand feel as you step from the tessellated-tiled bullnose veranda to the entrance foyer surrounded by original leadlight panels where a hand-painted bird takes centre stage.

Inspired by these historical glass paintings, Adelaide glass artist Frans Kat painted stained-glass panels in 1998 for the second bedroom and alcove.

Over the years the Rooneys have collected Queen Anne-era antiques to suit the house.

The striking formal dining room with original Baltic pine floor features a commissioned rug based on a William Morris 19th century design to replicate features of the carved mantelpiece.

The spacious main bedroom has a walk-in dressing room and a marble ensuite. Pauline says her French provincial-style kitchen with stone flooring has always been the hub of the home where everyone gathers to chat.

A casual dining area, TV lounge and covered pergola flow on from the kitchen and there’s an office and cellar — perfect for the serious wine collector.

The Rooneys are sad to leave what they describe as a house with a soul, but believe it is time to downsize.

“We have wonderful memories of many happy times spent in this family home, where seven grandchildren have had fun and which is an important part of Adelaide’s history,” Pauline says.

The house, at 25 Prescott Terrace, Rose Park, Adelaide, is for sale through LJ Hooker Adelaide.