This Victorian House ‘Brundah’ seems to have been buiilt between 1883 and 1886. It stands in a very prominent position on Liverpool Road and the site contains three historic buildings and is now the Noor Al Houda Islamic College.
The house was originally built for Thomas Alt a wine merchant who also had property in the Ashfield area. When it was built it would have had views to the Cooks River and was the only large house in the immediate area because much of Enfield was smaller diary farms and orchards. The Alt family owned Brundah until 1911 when it was sold to Paul Lamerand a french woolbuyer. Previously stables existed which dated from the 1860s. It is assumed that the extensive two storey service wing at the rear of the house maybe from the same period as the house or from an earlier
In 1915 the Methodist Church purchased the property for the purposes of a Theological College, giving it the name ‘Leigh’ to commemmorate the Rev. Samuel Leigh, the first Wesleyan Missionary to the colonies. By the mid 1920s there was a need for enlarged premises and the new buiding was opened in 1928 at a cost of 25,000 pounds.This building was known as Leigh College and provided accommodation for the male students who travelled daily to Sydney University to receive instruction. The old house Brundah then provided space for the dining facilities and the Principal’s residence.
In 1927 a small Chapel was added known as the E. Vickery Memorial Chape.l It was donated by Elizabeth Newman of ‘Tiptree’ in Strathfield in honour of her father the Hon. Ebenezer Vickery MLC, who was one of Australia’s wealthiest men and a great benefactor of the Methodist Church.
In 1974 the site became the United theological College following the creation of the Uniting Church. Since then the college buildings became inadequate for their purpose and by 1987 much of the land, including the stable, was sold for residential development. Leigh Hall and Brundah then became the Australian College of Languages until 1998. In recent years the site has become the Islamic School.
Article by Cathy Jones member of Burwood & District Historical Society and the Homebush/Strathfield Historical Society