Swain House is a heritage-listed property in Chelmer and is owned by one of Australia’s foremost forestry and timber experts, Edward Harold Fulcher Swain.
The house was built in the 1920s. Mr Swain was born in Sydney in 1883 and at 17, he was the first cadet to be appointed to the Forestry Branch of the Department of Lands. What was special about him is that his knowledge and skills were mostly self-taught. He also funded his own trips to various areas to gain more knowledge about trees. Later on, he started to write about them and published several papers and books about them.
By 1916, he had moved to Queensland as a district forest inspector and then succeeded Norman Jolly as director of forests. In 1924, he became chairman of the Provisional Forestry Board.
However, due to his contradicting opinions on forestry with the government’s official position on certain matters, he had to take an early retirement. He retired to his home in Chelmer.
The house has an arboretum around it that contains various species of trees. It is a single-storey house that is made of timber. There is also a grass tennis court.
The house is a sight to behold. It looks like it came out of a storybook, which is one of the things that make it so special.