Mansfield, the former CBC Bank in High Street Maitland, will open on Sunday to raise money for the Friends of Grossmann House.

Owner Chris Richards is restoring the landmark building not as a bank but as a reception centre with a difference.

He has generously offered to open the property to help Friends of Grossmann House with their fundraising drive and to give members of the public a sneak peek into a little piece of Maitland’s history.

Under the new plan Mansfield, built in 1887, will also be used for high teas and eventually for accommodation. The open day on Sunday will be held from 10.30am to 1.30pm and will provide an opportunity for interested parties to have a look this fascinating building.

The building was one of the most opulent built in the Hunter in the late 19th century. At the time of its building Maitland was a prosperous busy town and considered to be of equal if not greater importance than Newcastle. As such a bank building of the proportions and grandeur of the CBC Bank was seen to be highly appropriate and the suitable premises for a bank manager and his family.

The ornate facade of the three-storey building is sandstone brought from Pyrmont in Sydney and believed to be carved in Maitland. It is carved with masks, fruit, flowers, pillars and pediments. There is a side tiled colonnade with a balcony constructed above. There are marble fireplaces in all rooms most with ornate tiled hearths, cedar joinery of massive proportions, a cedar internal staircase winding up three levels, marble tiled floor in the main bank chamber and a secure vault.

The top floor was used for the live-in domestics, the second was the manager’s residence and the lower floor was used for offices and a dining room.

Holly McNamee of Friends of Grossmann House said architect George Mansfield was the official designer for the CBC. She said this imposing and massively engineered building has a main bank chamber with heavily decorated ceiling help up by two large iron pillars with plaster sculptured render supported by a steel girder. Two urns which were a feature on the top of the building fell off during the 1989 earthquake. They have been moved to the rear of the property.

Friends of Grossmann House will hold a fundraiser in the former CBC Bank building to help raise much needed funds for the maintenance and upkeep of two other historic Maitland properties.

Brough House and Grossmann House will be the beneficiaries of this weekend’s open house at magnificent Mansfield.

The Friends of Grossmann House work hard to raise the much needed funds. Fundraising events are usually heritage focused. In the past open houses have been held at Pinehurst, Villa Maria and Oldholme, all in East Maitland.

The owners of these properties have a love of heritage buildings and the sense that they are caretakers of Maitland’s history.

Bookings for Mansfield open house, which will be held on Sunday between 10.30am and 1.30pm, can be made by telephoning 49320518. The cost is $20 or $15 for National Trust members.