Saturday, December 12, 2020

“Innisfallen Castle” - 14 Cherry Place Castle Cove

“Innisfallen Castle” - 14 Cherry Place, Castle Cove

Castle Cove Was Named After This Landmark Building. It Occupies 8,333sqm Of Lush Park Like Grounds.

Completed in 1904 [Note: Heritage NSW and Wikipedia give construction as 1903–1905; Willoughby City Library gives 1904] By A Prominent Politician, Henry Hastings Willis, & Is A Magnificent example Of Perpendicular Gothic Architecture.

The Castle Showcases Lavish Sandstone And Takes The Name “Innisfallen Castle” (Or “Island Of The Field”) From An Irish Castle In Killarney [Note: Willoughby City Library and Heritage NSW say it was named after the ruined Innisfallen Abbey, on an island in Lough Leane near Killarney].

There Are Currently 2 Existing Buildings

- The Castle Itself

- Guest Wing / Domestic Staff Living Quarters

At a glance

Address: 14 Cherry Place, Castle Cove (Willoughby), on a point above Sugarloaf Bay, Middle Harbour
Built: 1903–1905 (foundation stone 1904) for Henry Hastings Willis, federal MP 1901–10 and Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly 1911–13
Designer: Hill of Parramatta (Willoughby City Library)
Style: late Perpendicular Gothic, locally quarried sandstone; three-storey tower, corner turrets and battlements
Grounds: originally about 55 acres (c.21–23 ha); subdivided 1966–67 to about 0.84 ha
Owners: Willis family until 1988
Heritage: NSW State Heritage Register no. 00404 (2 April 1999)

Transcription:

Henry Willis

Sources

Friday, October 23, 2020

“Goendower” - Ryde

“Goendower” – Ryde

[Note: City of Ryde records this house as Glendower; the title has been left as it is.]

At a glance

Location: corner of Constitution Road and Belmore Street, Meadowbank (Ryde)
Built: c.1890 by Benjamin Charles Martyn
Owners: from 1907 the Lackersteen family, “of jam and condiment fame”; part of the land was resumed in 1947 and 1959 for Meadowbank Public School
Last occupants: Cecil Octavious and Mabel Lackersteen, who died within seven months of each other in 1962
Fate: demolished c.1964 for a Hoover spare-parts factory; Ryde Council bought the factory in 1999/2000 and it became the council’s Operations Centre

Sources

City of Ryde – Demolished Houses of the Parramatta River (Glendower)

“Lauriston” - Ryde

“Lauriston” Bowden Street & Victoria Road - Ryde - New South Wales

“Lauriston” was built in the 1880’s by James Johnson And Phillipina Shuttleworth and was located on the corner of Bowden Street And Victoria Road, Ryde.

James, an Architect, was related to Albert Bond, the Architect Of Choice for Anthony Horderns.

The interior was ornately decorated and it had a ballroom reputed to be, the most beautiful around Sydney.

James turned the grounds into a bird sanctuary. In 1916 the property was subdivided and “Lauriston” was sold to Alfred and Jane Gorrie. Their Daughter Irex, a Dancing [Note: the post breaks off here. City of Ryde continues: Irex, a dancing teacher, conducted lessons in the ballroom “with a special class for married folk”. The house fell into disrepair after World War II when it was turned into flats, and was demolished in 1959; a motel now stands on the site.]

At a glance

Location: corner of Bowden Street and Victoria Road, (West) Ryde
Built: 1880s for James Johnson (architect) and Philippina Shuttleworth
Features: ornately decorated interiors; a ballroom “reputed to be the most beautiful around Sydney”; grounds made a bird sanctuary
Later: subdivided 1916 and sold to Alfred and Jane Gorrie; their daughter Irex ran dancing classes in the ballroom; flats after World War II
Fate: demolished 1959; site now the Metro Motor Inn

Sources

More on Lauriston

Merged from the 2024 post “Lauriston – Corner Bowden Street & Victoria Road – Ryde – NSW”.

Traditional Custodians: Wallumedegal / Wallumattagal people of the Eora Nation (Ryde area).
1930: a photograph of the Victoria Road / Bowden Street intersection, taken during tram-track works, shows Lauriston on the right (Ryde Library, City of Ryde “Progress” page).
On the demolition in 1959 the Sydney Morning Herald wrote: “every week brings news of the dismantling of another gracious old Sydney home. One more to fall beneath the wrecker’s sledgehammer is Lauriston.” The Leader added: “its gracious day is nearly over.” A Shuttleworth daughter recalled: “I remember the years when it was cool, shady, graceful, lovely. Its ballroom was a joy…” (quoted by City of Ryde).
Not to be confused with the different Lauriston still standing at 49 The Boulevarde, Strathfield (now part of Santa Sabina / Santa Maria del Monte).

Further sources

City of Ryde – Demolished Houses of the Parramatta River: https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-and-Family-History/Historic-Ryde/Historic-Buildings/Demolished-Houses-of-the-Parramatta-River
City of Ryde – 150 Years: Progress (1930 intersection photo): https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-and-Family-History/150-Years-of-the-City-of-Ryde/Progress

“Cleves” - Charles Blaxland - Putney

“Cleves” - Putney - New South Wales

“Cleves” was built In the 1850’s by Charles Blaxland and his wife Elizabeth. It was located in the wedge between Charles Street & Waterview Street, Putney. A house by the same name built by John Bayley [Note: John Bayley Darvall, per City of Ryde and the Dictionary of Sydney] had existed on the site previously.

In 1917 the estate was sold to the Inter Colonial Building Company and the area around the house became the site of the Kidman and Mayoh Shipbuilding Enterprise, the house being occupied by the new manager [Note: City of Ryde says “the mill manager”]. The house was demolished in 1926 [Note: City of Ryde gives c.1926]. The site is currently occupied by housing

At a glance

Location: the wedge between Charles Street and Waterview Street, Putney (Kissing Point), on the Parramatta River
Built: 1850s for Charles Blaxland (1810–1888) and his wife Elizabeth; an earlier house named Cleves was built by John Bayley Darvall, owner 1848–52 (Dictionary of Sydney gives Blaxland’s ownership as 1852–88)
Later: 1917 sold to the Inter Colonial Building Company; Kidman & Mayoh leased part of the estate for their World War I shipyard
Fate: demolished c.1926; the site is now housing

Sources

Helenie - Meadowbank

Helenie – Meadowbank

At a glance

Location: near the end of Bowden Street, beside the Parramatta River, Meadowbank (east of today’s Meadowbank station)
Built: early 1840s for Isaac and Ann Shepherd on the 95-acre Helenie Estate (originally part of William Kent’s 1799 grant)
Style: two-storey sandstone house
Later: 1846 briefly a classical academy run by J. J. Davies; rented in the 1850s by Henry Parkes; from 1890 the estate was bought by Mellor Brothers for the Meadowbank Manufacturing Company, whose first manager, Walter Charles Barton, lived at Helenie
Fate: described in 1938 as dilapidated and ant-infested; demolished 1939. The site became the TEI (later Siemens Plessey) factory and is now medium-density housing

Sources

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Stoneleigh – 1 / 1A Darley Street – Darlinghurst – NSW

Built c.1860–1865 · Architect not attributed here · Standing (SHR #00187)

On the Darley Street ridge — opposite Iona, overlooking the old Woolloomooloo Heights villa belt — a two-storey Victorian Regency house with an arched colonnade and cast-iron palisade still carries its stone nameplate: STONELEIGH. Heritage NSW and the Sydney LEP place it at 1 / 1A Darley Street, built around 1860–1865, one of the mid-Victorian villas that survived the flat boom.

At a glance

Address / site: 1 Darley Street (also 1A), Darlinghurst NSW 2010; Lot 13 DP 611068 (DoS / Heritage NSW ~−33.8776, 151.2195)
Built: c.1860–1865 (Heritage NSW construction years; LEP / Tingle tradition c.1860)
Architect: not attributed in the State Heritage Inventory entry used here
Style: two-storey Victorian Regency villa; hipped corrugated-steel roof; first-floor bank of 12-pane double-hung windows; ground-floor arched colonnade (octagonal columns with moulded caps) extending along front and one side; articulated quoins; Victorian cast-iron palisade fence; stone and rendered brick
Original / early owners: tradition links first build to solicitor William Barker (LEP / Tingle); early occupancy also documented for Edward Brooking Cornish and wife Margaret (both died at Stoneleigh, late 1866; estate sale Jan 1867)
Famous later chapter: banker Richard Jones (Maitland Mercury; Commercial Banking Co. of Sydney) 1870–1892; Sir J. Russell French (Bank of NSW GM) c.1895–1905; boarding house (Henry Tongue from 1907); Marist Brothers school property from 1912; private again after 1968 sale; briefly also known as Greencourt
Heritage status: NSW State Heritage Register #00187 (gazetted 2 Apr 1999; former PCO 1981); Sydney LEP 2012 I272 (house including interior, front fence and grounds); Register of the National Estate (1978)
Fate: standing as a private residence

Site & setting

Darley Street sits on the Darlinghurst ridge south of William Street — the same Heights country that once held Craigend, Rosebank, Rose Hall and Barham. Stoneleigh occupies a compact freestanding lot facing Darley Street, with the colonnade and palisade reading as a mid-Victorian villa front rather than a terrace row. Directly opposite stands Iona (2 Darley Street, SHR #00176).

The live scrapbook on this blog is a single stone nameplate photograph: STONELEIGH cut into ashlar. That plaque, the Heritage NSW pin at 1 Darley Street, and the LEP listing of fence and grounds are the identity spine.

Timeline

c.1860–1865 – Villa constructed (Heritage NSW construction years). LEP / Tingle tradition: built c.1860, probably for solicitor William Barker (Norton, Son and Barker; Irish-born 1815, arrived 1830).
1866–15 Jan 1867 – Alternate early chapter (Heritage NSW citing respondent on Tingle): Edward Brooking Cornish and wife Margaret die at Stoneleigh (Oct / Nov 1866, “Gulf Fever”); estate auction advertised Dec 1866, held 15 Jan 1867.
From 1870 – Richard Jones (Maitland Mercury founder; Commercial Banking Company of Sydney chairman in the heritage significance statement) holds Stoneleigh; dies at the house 25 Aug 1892 (Tingle / Heritage NSW).
c.1879–1882 – John Rae photograph from neighbouring Hilton shows Stoneleigh with timber shingle roof and single-storey rear additions (SLNSW / Heritage NSW note).
1895–c.1905 – Sir J. Russell French, General Manager of the Bank of New South Wales, in residence (LEP / Heritage NSW); society dance of 250 guests written up 1901 (conservatory palms; arum-lily frieze — contemporary press via Trove citation in Heritage NSW).
From 1907 – Boarding house under Henry Tongue (LEP / Tingle).
1912–1968 – Part of Marist Brothers school property (adjacent building later Alexandra Flats); used as storehouse; storm roof damage remembered in late fabric notes (Tingle / Heritage NSW).
Briefly – Also known as Greencourt (Wikipedia / heritage alternate name).
After 1968 – Returned to private residential use; mid–late 1980s ownership associated with broadcaster Phillip Adams (Heritage NSW citing public comments); sold 1990.
11 Sep 1981 / 2 Apr 1999 – Permanent Conservation Order then SHR listing #00187.
14 Dec 2012 – Sydney LEP 2012 item I272.
2010s–2020s – Periodic market appearances; still standing opposite Iona on Darley Street.

Architecture & interiors

Heritage NSW / LEP: a freestanding two-storey Victorian Regency villa of stone and rendered brick; hipped corrugated-steel roof; first floor with a bank of 12-paned timber double-hung windows; ground floor arched colonnade on octagonal masonry columns with moulded caps, continuing along one side; articulated quoins; Victorian cast-iron palisade fence. The Register of the National Estate note (via Heritage NSW) adds six-pane sashes, decorated upper lintels, three-centred arches lined as ashlar, and balanced chimneys. Listing includes interior, front fence and grounds (LEP 2012).

No architect is named on the SHR / LEP sheets used here.

People & anecdotes

William Barker is the first-build candidate in the LEP / Tingle tradition — solicitor, East Sydney candidate who lost to Henry Parkes, partner in Norton, Son and Barker — but the Cornish estate sale of 1866–67 means the earliest occupancy ladder is not a single clean line.

Richard Jones (1870–1892) anchors the banking-and-press chapter: Maitland Mercury founder and Commercial Banking Company of Sydney chairman in the heritage significance statement; he died inside Stoneleigh in August 1892. Sir J. Russell French then brought Bank of New South Wales general-management society life to the house into the early 1900s. The Marist Brothers decades explain why so many Heights villas vanished while this one stayed — institutional reuse, then private rescue after 1968.

What stands today

Stoneleigh stands. Walk Darley Street and read the nameplate; the colonnade and palisade still mark a mid-Victorian villa lot opposite Iona. It is a private residence — no public museum hours. Pair the visit with Iona’s gates across the street, Barham inside SCEGGS on Forbes Street, and the street-name ghosts of Rosebank and Rose Hall.

Address for the map: 1 / 1A Darley Street, Darlinghurst.

Sources & further reading

Heritage NSW — Stoneleigh (SHR #00187 / database 5045586): https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5045586
Sydney LEP 2012 — Item I272 (House “Stoneleigh” including interior, front fence and grounds)
Register of the National Estate — Stoneleigh (cited via Heritage NSW / Wikipedia)
Violet Tingle — ‘Darlinghurst: Heritage Items: Stoneleigh’ (8 Oct 2010): http://mydarlingdarlinghurst.blogspot.com/2010/10/8-darlinghurst-heritage-items.html
ADB — ‘Jones, Richard (–)’ (Maitland Mercury / CBC Sydney trail): https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jones-richard-2281
ADB — ‘French, Sir John Russell’: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/french-sir-john-russell-406
Wikipedia (secondary, SHR-derived): Stoneleigh, Darlinghurst

Related on this blog

Iona – 2 Darley Street – Darlinghurst (opposite house)
Barham – Darlinghurst (Heights ridge survivor, SCEGGS)
Rosebank – Darlinghurst (demolished southern-ridge neighbour)
Rose Hall – Forbes Street – Darlinghurst – DEMOLISHED
Craigend – Darlinghurst – Demolished 1922
188 Forbes Street – Darlinghurst (former St Peters Rectory)
Original Villas of Darlinghurst
History of Darlinghurst

Historic live gallery

Images retained from the live Blogger post:

Transcription:

STONELEIGH

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.

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
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.

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.
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

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.

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.

What stands today

Iona stands as a private residence. The Darley Street gates, sandstone wall and Tewkesbury Avenue fig still mark the lot. 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.
Hospital aliases Wootton / Winchester / Hughlings are the same house, not different mansions.

Tewkesbury Avenue and the Iona Gates

There is no grand villa in the directories under Tewksbury House. The photograph on this post is the Tewkesbury Avenue entrance to Iona — the late-Victorian Darlinghurst mansion at 2 Darley Street, with its second frontage at the end of the short avenue. The black palisade gates hang on rusticated masonry piers with ball finials; each leaf carries a circular Garter badge. They look older than they are. Heritage recording puts new entrance gates and pillars on the northern boundary at around 1992.

Tewkesbury Avenue is the name that caused the mix-up. Local history traces it to William Pearson Tewksbury (“Tewks,” without the middle e), the man who brought Yellow Cabs to Australia; from the 1920s his company warehouses sat on this block, reached by a private driveway that staff treated as Tewksbury’s avenue. Spell the street Tewkesbury, the man Tewksbury, and the house Iona. If you want the house rather than the gates, walk around to Darley Street: two-storey Victorian villa, remnant garden, Moreton Bay fig leaning over the Tewkesbury fence.

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

Related on this blog

Stoneleigh – Darley Street – Darlinghurst (opposite house)
Barham – Darlinghurst
Rosebank – Darlinghurst
Rose Hall – Forbes Street – Darlinghurst – DEMOLISHED
Craigend – Darlinghurst – Demolished 1922
188 Forbes Street – Darlinghurst (former St Peters Rectory)
Original Villas of Darlinghurst
History of Darlinghurst

Gallery

Transcription:

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Colonial Secretary's Office - Macquarie Street - Sydney - New South Wales

At a glance

Address: 121 Macquarie Street, 65 Bridge Street and 44–50 Phillip Street, Sydney
Built: 1873–1881 to designs by Colonial Architect James Barnet; fifth-floor mansard and dome added 1894–96 by Walter Liberty Vernon
Style: Victorian Free Classical with Second Empire mansard; sandstone
Sculpture: exterior sandstone figures by Achille Simonetti; interior Carrara marble statues (Queen Victoria, Edward VII as Prince of Wales) by Giovanni Fontana
Use: seat of the colonial administration; now known as the Chief Secretary’s Building, used by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission and courts
Heritage: NSW State Heritage Register no. 00766