The airmen who worked in 3 Stores Depot RAAF which was located near the corner of Gregory Terrace and Victoria Street lived in a large house called "Grangehill" at 449 Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill in Brisbane, Queensland. It had 18 spacious rooms and a large building at the rear.

The earliest mention of "Grangehill" in the Brisbane Courier of 2 March 1878 was an advertisement by Alexander Raff  for a "competent house and parlor maid". Alexander's son, Mr. George Raff, handed over his house to the care of the Red Cross Society in 1917 for use as a hospital for returned soldiers. "Grangehill" was owned by the Raff family until 1949. It was a private hotel at that time.

It was subsequently purchased in about March 1950 by the Discalced (Barefooted) Carmelite fathers who initially used it as a retreat home for Roman Catholic laymen and about 18 months later turned into a Monastery. A cloister glass panel above the foyer walkway remains as evidence of its former life as a Monastery.