Iona – 2 Darley Street – Darlinghurst – NSW
Built c.1888 (present house) · Architect not attributed here · Standing (SHR #00176)
At the end of Darley Street — wrought-iron gates, sandstone fence, Moreton Bay fig toward Tewkesbury Avenue — pastoralist Edward Chisholm replaced an earlier timber Iona Cottage with a late Victorian Italianate mansion that kept the name. Private hospital decades (Wootton / Winchester / Hughlings) saved it from the flat boom; National Trust and State Heritage listings locked the fabric; later chapters include Sir Allen Taylor’s household rename to Wootton, then filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. Welcome to Iona — not Stoneleigh across the road; not a demolished Heights grant villa.
At a glance
- Address / site: 2 Darley Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010; also frontage to Tewkesbury Avenue; Part Lot 92 DP 1015067 (Heritage NSW ~−33.8773, 151.2200)
- Built: present house c.1888 (Heritage NSW; construction window also given as 1880–1888); replaced earlier single-storey timber Iona Cottage (name first listed 1872)
- Architect: not attributed in the State Heritage Inventory entry used here — do not invent
- Style: two-storey (with basement) late Victorian Italianate villa; rendered brick; slate roof; two-storey verandah / balcony with elaborate cast iron; ornate cornices; remnant garden and sandstone boundary wall
- Original owner (present house): Edward Chisholm (merchant / pastoralist), purchased Oct 1888; family to his death 1898
- Earlier cottage chapter: Elizabeth Grose land (from 1845 subdivision of William Long’s 1835 grant); Richard Jones occupant 1866–69; Robert Carter from 1872 (“Iona Cottage”); sold 1879, nine-lot subdivision; Carter to 1884
- Famous later chapter: Adela / Sir Allen Taylor purchase 1908 as Wootton; private hospital 1912–1977 (Wootton → Winchester → Hughlings); 1970s tower DA averted; restored as dwelling from 1980s; Baz Luhrmann & Catherine Martin tenancy then ownership
- Heritage status: NSW SHR #00176 (gazetted 2 Apr 1999; former PCO 1981); Sydney LEP item 332 (Heritage NSW listings table); National Trust; Register of the National Estate #01979; Darley Street Group context
- Fate: standing as a private residence
Site & setting
Iona sits at the southern end of its irregular lot, principal northern elevation toward Tewkesbury Avenue, entry gates from Darley Street. Heritage NSW describes a high sandstone fence, cast-iron palisade gates, grassed front yard with mature trees, circular driveway, and a grotto-style garden feature — remnant garden after hospital wings and nurses’ quarters came and went. Across Darley Street stands Stoneleigh (1 / 1A) — same ridge, different house, different SHR number. Keep the blog posts separate.
The land story begins with William Long’s August 1835 grant of just over five acres; James Wright’s 1836 lease; Elizabeth Grose’s 1845 purchase of the fashionable Heights parcel that later carried the cottage name Iona. Chisholm’s 1888 rebuild is the mansion in the photographs — not the shingled cottage Robert Carter enlarged in the 1870s.
Timeline
- Aug 1835 – Grant of just over five acres to William Long (Heritage NSW).
- 1836 / 1845 – James Wright leases; subdivision; Elizabeth Grose purchases the Iona parcel.
- 1866–1869 – Occupant Richard Jones in Mrs Grose’s house (Heritage NSW — do not conflate automatically with Stoneleigh’s later Jones chapter without deeds).
- 1872 – First listing of the name Iona Cottage; occupant Robert Carter.
- 1879–1884 – Grose sells; land subdivided into nine lots; Carter extends cottage (iron roof replacing shingles); five-bedroom “gentleman’s residence” description at sale finance; Carter to 1884.
- Oct 1888 – Edward Chisholm purchases; builds the present two-storey Iona; resides until death 1898; property to Perpetual Trustee Co.
- 1906 – Street renamed Darley Street (Sir Frederick Darley tradition); address becomes 2 Darley Street.
- Mar 1908 – Adela Taylor (wife of Sir Allen Taylor, timber merchant and Lord Mayor; Taylor Square namesake) purchases; renames house Wootton.
- Dec 1912 – Sold to Eliza Hyem; leased and converted to Wootton Private Hospital (psychiatric); operating theatre block before 1919; Jessie Robertson owner 1918; further nurse purchasers 1920/1927.
- 1935–1939 – Two-storey wing beside theatre; nurses’ residence north of house; 27 bedrooms by 1939.
- 1949–1977 – Winchester then Hughlings Private Hospital; major 1969 alterations (verandahs enclosed; doors modified for Board of Health).
- 1973–1979 – Developer assembly and high-rise consent (Iona to be strata); finance fails; National Trust classifies Iona within Darley Street Group (1976); RNE listing 1978.
- Dec 1979 onward – Jesseme P/L / John Rutherford restores name Iona and fabric; Heritage Council grant; nurses’ quarters demolished 1984; single dwelling approved 1980.
- 1994–2016 – Gowrie-Smith sale 1994; Luhrmann & Martin lease from 1997, purchase 2006 (~$10m); sold early 2016 (~$16m tradition in Domain reporting).
- 2 Apr 1999 – SHR #00176.
- Today – Standing private residence; gates and sandstone wall still the street face.
Architecture & interiors
Prefer Heritage NSW and the Register of the National Estate summary over invented room schedules.
The present house is a freestanding two-storey late Victorian Italianate villa of rendered brick with slate roof and two-storey verandah / balcony. The RNE description highlights elaborate cast-iron verandah and balcony work, original cedar joinery including a large staircase, and a fine stained-glass landing window depicting Australian flora and wildlife. Heritage NSW stresses highly ornate cornices as a rare high-quality detail and notes that much joinery was reconstructed after institutional use. Hospital wings, enclosed verandahs and nurses’ quarters were later stripped or demolished in the 1980s restoration.
No architect is named on the SHR sheet used here. Do not invent one.
People & anecdotes
Edward Chisholm is the builder of the mansion you photograph — wealthy merchant-pastoralist who kept the cottage’s name on a larger house. The Taylor chapter (1908–1912) links the house to Sir Allen Taylor’s timber fortune and mayoral years — the same Taylor who gives his name to Taylor Square — under the temporary house name Wootton.
The long hospital run (1912–1977) is why Iona survived when so many Darlinghurst mansions were cleared for flats between the wars. Matrons, nurses as freeholders, operating theatres and Board of Health door widths are part of the fabric story, not a digression. The 1970s tower threat and National Trust / Heritage Council rescue close the institutional loop; Rutherford’s restoration put the dwelling name back on the gate.
Late ownership colour (Luhrmann / Martin design restoration, later sales) belongs in the modern chapter — useful, but secondary to Chisholm, Taylor and the hospital spine.
Gallery placeholder note
Do not invent historic photo URLs — keep existing live-post images; captions and sequence guidance below for the merge pass.
Live post already holds four images (gates / No. 2 pillar / ornate iron gates with crests). Preserve those captions and sequence.
1. Darley Street cast-iron gates / No. 2 pillar (live)
Caption idea: 2 Darley Street — Iona, not Stoneleigh.
2. Ornate double gates with central crests (live)
Caption idea: Victorian ironwork still the public face.
3. Heritage NSW / RNE facade and verandah
Search: Heritage NSW 5045573; AHDB place 1979. Caption idea: Italianate verandah — hospital years hid, restoration revealed.
4. Stained-glass landing window (Australian flora / wildlife)
Search: RNE description; Open House / Domain features. Caption idea: Cedar stair and native glass — interior claim from the RNE sheet.
5. Compare: Stoneleigh opposite; Barham; Rosebank site; hospital-era plans if found
Caption idea: Same street, different SHR numbers.
What stands today
Iona stands as a private residence. The Darley Street gates, sandstone wall and Tewkesbury Avenue fig still mark the lot. No public museum — Open House–style access has occurred by arrangement in some years, but do not assume open doors. Pair with Stoneleigh opposite, Barham at SCEGGS, and the Rosebank / Rose Hall street ghosts west toward Farrell Avenue and Horizon.
- Map pin: 2 Darley Street, Darlinghurst.
- Keep separate from Stoneleigh (1 / 1A Darley Street).
- Hospital aliases Wootton / Winchester / Hughlings are the same house, not different mansions.
Sources & further reading
- Heritage NSW — Iona (SHR #00176 / database 5045573): https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5045573
- Australian Heritage Database — Iona, RNE place 1979: https://environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=1979
- City Plan Heritage — Heritage Impact Assessment, Iona, 2 Darley Street (July 2006) — cited throughout Heritage NSW history
- ADB — ‘Taylor, Sir Allen Arthur (1864–1940)’: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/taylor-sir-allen-arthur-8753
- Wikipedia (secondary, SHR-derived): Iona, Darlinghurst
- Existing scrapbook post: https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/iona-2-darley-street-darlinghurst-nsw.html
Related on this blog
Historic live gallery
Images retained from the live Blogger post:
