Cliffbrook - Coogee

Cliffbrook – 45–51 Beach Street Coogee – NSW

Interwar Free Classical (Italianate-tinged) mansion · Built 1921 for Sir Denison Miller Attributed Kirkpatrick / E.A. Scott (soft) · Standing — UNSW · SHR #00609

The live post is a single picture and a title. Behind it sit two Cliffbrooks: John Thompson’s stone Victorian pile on Gordon’s Bay (demolished 1976), and the liver-brick 1921 house Miller built on the old stable ground — the one that still stands, later AAEC/ANSTO offices, now University of New South Wales.

At a glance

• Address: 45–51 Beach Street, Coogee NSW 2034 (SHR; also Battery Street historic refs)
• Estate origin: Lewis Gordon grants 1845–46; John Thompson (Mayor of Randwick 1873) builds first Cliff-Brook mansion 1860s (Randwick: 1870/1873 stone Italianate); George Hill; Bank of NSW after Hill bankruptcy; Sir Denison Miller occupies from 1905, purchases c.1911 for £8,000; sells Gordon’s Bay foreshore to Randwick Council £3,000 (SHR / Randwick)
• Standing house: 1921 on former stables site; earlier mansion renamed Gordon Court, demolished 1976 (Randwick)
• Style: Interwar Free Classical with late Italianate echoes; liver brick, sandstone quoins/porticos, slate roof (SHR)
• Architect: John Kirkpatrick attributed; E.A. Scott also possible / associated — unresolved (SHR)
• Later: WWII tropical medicine school; AAEC headquarters 1953–81 (ANSTO); PCO 28 Oct 1988; UNSW from early 1990s; SHR 2 Apr 1999
• Heritage: NSW SHR #00609; Randwick LEP; National Trust; RNE
• Fate / current use: Standing — University of New South Wales research / administration / press (SHR)

Site & setting

La Perouse LALC / coastal Dharawal–Darug contact Country framing on SHR. Gordon’s Bay (Thompson’s Bay) foreshore sold off; surviving allotment is the largest remnant of Thompson’s estate after successive subdivisions (SHR). Norfolk Island pines to Beach Street; Moreton Bay fig; stone boundary walls partly predating 1921 house (1893 survey / 1880s photos on SHR).

Timeline

• 1845–46 – Lewis Gordon grants.
• 1859+ – John Thompson consolidates; first mansion 1860s (Randwick dates 1870/73).
• 1889 / 1890s George Hill; bankruptcy; Bank of NSW caretaker / poultry-farm interlude.
• 1905–21 – Denison Miller occupies old mansion; buys estate; foreshore to Council; builds new Cliffbrook 1921; dies 1923.
• WWII – Army school of tropical medicine on estate.
• Post-1945 – Gordon Court to private; demolished 1976 for housing (Randwick — mosaic tiles salvaged by historical society).
• 1953–81 – AAEC / ANSTO HQ on standing Cliffbrook site; office wings added (Budden Nangle Michael; Edwards Madigan Torzillo).
• 1988 / 1990s – PCO; transfer to UNSW.
• 1999 SHR listing.
• 2017-08 – Image-only live stub.

Architecture & interiors

Two-storey liver brick, sandstone detailing, porte-cochre, terraces, Regency-ish moulded plaster to main rooms, dark-stained maple joinery originally (SHR). High craftsmanship in brickwork and joinery called out as 1920s exemplar; reinforced concrete / terrazzo among contemporary techniques (SHR). AAEC-era kitchen/bathroom alterations 1963–64 — flag adaptive reuse. Garage of recycled sandstone, likely 1920s–30s utilitarian (SHR).

People & anecdotes

Sir Denison Miller — first Governor of the Commonwealth Bank (1912); garden parties including Commonwealth Bank opening day 1916 (Randwick). John Thompson — Randwick mayor, first Cliffbrook builder. George Hill — squatter/racing man whose debts delivered the estate to the bank. Kirkpatrick’s friendship with Miller via bank architecture is oral/circumstantial on SHR — keep soft.

Image gallery guidance

1. Keep live image if it is the 1921 house — caption date/style.

2. 1921 Beach Street elevation / Norfolk pines

3. Historic photos of first Cliffbrook / Gordon Court — label demolished 1976.

4. AAEC/ANSTO era Max Dupain 1965 set if available.

5. Boundary stone walls / Gordon’s Bay foreshore context.

What stands today

The 1921 Cliffbrook stands under UNSW custodianship as a State Heritage building. The Victorian first mansion does not. Check UNSW for any public/event access; default is campus/admin — not a house museum.

Sources & further reading

• NSW SHR — Cliffbrook (#00609, DB 5045282): https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5045282
• Randwick City Council Our Story — “Cliffbrook House (1870–1976)”: https://ourstory.randwick.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/3061
• McDonald McPhee Pty Ltd — Conservation Plan for Cliffbrook (1993) cited on SHR
• Wikipedia — Cliffbrook (portal; verify against SHR)
• Live post: https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/cliffbrook-coogee.html

Related on this blog

• Other Randwick / Coogee marine villas (Sherbrooke, Montpellier, Nugal) when cross-linked
• Mundarrah Towers – Clovelly (separate)

Historic live gallery

Images retained from the live Blogger post: