A new chapter is about to be added to a rare piece of Sandgate history, with a heritage home that has remained in the same family for more than 127 years now preparing to change hands.
Built in 1895 and originally known as ‘Rosewood’, the two-storey residence at 11 Lunn Street has been held by the McKeering family since 1897. It’s long enough to span five generations, and to quietly watch Sandgate evolve around it.
Over the decades, the home has worn plenty of hats. Family accounts describe it as a lively gathering place in the 1930s, then later reconfigured as flats, before returning to its role as a single family home. In more recent years, it has been carefully reshaped again, not as a reinvention, but as a continuation of the life already lived inside its walls.
Current owners Greg and Rachel McKeering have called the property home for more than two decades. During that time, the house has been renovated and reworked to suit a growing family. It was a long, practical process led by Mr McKeering, a semi-retired carpenter and builder. One telling detail: the kitchen was moved multiple times over the years as needs changed, a reminder that even the oldest homes remain works in progress.
Yet the home’s earlier character hasn’t been erased. Original elements have been preserved where possible, including rosewood flooring that remains intact beneath newer finishes — a hidden layer of the house’s first life, waiting for whoever comes next to decide what to reveal.
Today, ‘Rosewood’ is a large and flexible home, arranged across two levels with six bedrooms, multiple living areas, and a layout designed to accommodate different generations under one roof. A separate downstairs apartment, with its own kitchen and bathroom, adds to that versatility. It’s offering space for extended family, older teenagers, or guests who need a little independence.
Outside, the backyard tells its own more recent story. The family installed a pool that has since become the centre of countless get-togethers. It’s a modern counterpart to a century-old home that has always been about people coming together. With a pool and heated spa and areas set up for outdoor living, it’s easy to imagine the noise of Christmas afternoons and weekend visits echoing the kind of gatherings Sandgate homes are built for.
Some of the most personal memories are also the simplest: children raised there, milestones marked there, and even one extraordinary family moment — a grandchild delivered in an upstairs bathroom — becoming part of the home’s private history.
Now, with the family preparing for a tree change to acreage, they’re leaving behind more than a house. They’re handing over a place that has carried everyday life for more than a century: altered and adapted, but continuously loved, and anchored to the same patch of Sandgate soil since the late 1800s.
For locals, it’s a rare chance to reflect on how much history can sit quietly behind a familiar façade, and how, sometimes, the biggest change isn’t a renovation or an extension, but simply the moment a well-kept family home becomes someone else’s story.
Published 31-Jan-2026
