My husband and I just love architechture of the grand old days and have spent much of our holidays in the US doing walking tours admiring charming southern buildings and touring some of the houses that are open to the public. While on our last trip we said to each other that it is pretty terrible that we haven't gone to visit any of our own local homes that are open - so about a year ago (pre-baby!) we went to check out Newstead House and what a charming old home it is!
Newstead House, which dates back to 1846 and is the oldest surviving residence in Brisbane, is quite a small house by comparison to some of the grand old southern plantations that we have visited so it's not really suitable for weddings inside but the front lawn is just lovely with a circular drive way for grand arrivals and a killer view as it is perched up on the hill.
Next to Newstead House is the Newstead Park Rotunda (this is part of Brisbane City Council not Newstead House) which is a pretty well known Brisbane wedding ceremony location but I think Newstead House is often overlooked.
Now as far as I know the interior of the home is not available for celebrations but you may be able to request to have some of your bridal party shots inside amongst all of the antiques to give a lovely old world look to your wedding images.
The most amazing part of the house by far though is the servants quarters underneath and the stone work corridor that runs along each of the rooms. I just LOVE this area. I'm not sure if it is available for functions as noone seemed to know much about what they offer for weddings on the day I toured the house but if I could choose a groovy location for an intimate cocktail party I would choose this section of the house hands down!
(No this is not a ghost - it was the only image I could find to show you how awesome the corridor to the servants quarters is!)
http://www.newsteadhouse.com.au