19/08/2026
There are some house relocations that mean a little more than others — and St Johns is certainly one of them. ❤️
Built in Roma in 1912, St Johns Convent formed part of a community established by the Sisters of Mercy and spent decades as a place of faith, education and community. Its halls once echoed with the footsteps of children who attended and boarded at the convent school.
But its history also has a very special connection to the Mackay family and Mackay & Sons.
In the late 1990s, Rob’s dad, Bob Mackay, took on the enormous task of relocating this grand old Queenslander from Roma to Pullenvale, where it still stands proudly today.
To make the journey possible, St Johns was carefully separated into seven sections, with the sections transported two at a time from Roma to their new home.
Sadly, the entire building would never make the journey.
Before the final section could be transported, it was deliberately set alight and destroyed by fire, leaving six of the seven sections to complete the relocation and become the St Johns that stands today.
The move itself also holds plenty of Mackay & Sons history. It was the first relocation the late Peter Waldock completed with M&S, with the late Billy Chappell also proudly working alongside Bob on this incredible job.
And remarkably, the Mackay family connection to St Johns goes back another generation again. Bob’s grandmother — Rob’s great-grandmother — had once attended school in this very building in Roma.
Decades later, her grandson would be responsible for relocating the same building that had formed part of her childhood, preserving it and giving it a new life hundreds of kilometres away.
Today, more than a century after it was built, St Johns still stands, with its beautiful Queenslander character, pressed metal ceilings, timber floors, French doors and sweeping verandahs preserved.
Seeing it now being offered for sale as one of Pullenvale’s landmark estates is a pretty special reminder of what house relocation is really about.
We don't just move houses.
Sometimes, we get to move a piece of history. And sometimes, that history is part of our own. ❤️
Proudly relocated by Mackay & Sons