Sherbrooke House – 20 Coogee Bay Road (live-post address) – Randwick – NSW
Sir David Storey’s Randwick home (from the 1880s) · Fate of fabric not confirmed this pass
Randwick’s political strongman of the free-trade era — softgoods importer, MLA, knight — lived for decades at a house the Australian Dictionary of Biography simply calls Sherbrooke House, Randwick. This blog’s live scrapbook titles it at 20 Coogee Bay Road. The biography of the man is solid; the street-number and later fate of the house still need a Sands / rate-book and LEP check before anyone claims “standing” or “demolished.”
At a glance
- Name: Sherbrooke House (ADB)
- Address (live post / scrapbook): 20 Coogee Bay Road, Randwick — confirm against Sands directories / rate books (ADB gives suburb only)
- Notable residents: Sir David Storey (1856–1924) and Rachel Agnes Storey (née Doig, d.1940) from the 1880s to David’s death 1924
- Build year / architect: not found in ADB / Dictionary of Sydney / Randwick LEP extract this pass — do not invent
- Heritage listing: not confirmed as a named LEP item in the schedule extract checked; neighbours on Coogee Bay Road are listed — do not invent a listing for No. 20
- Fate / current use: Open flag — not verified standing or demolished in this research pass
Site & setting
Coogee Bay Road (earlier Belmore Road in places) climbs from Randwick toward Coogee — a ribbon of Federation and Inter-War houses, flats and the Coogee Bay Hotel precinct further east. If the live-post street number holds, Sherbrooke sat in the Randwick end of that corridor among individually listed neighbours (Gower at 12; Glen Myrn at 24 in the old LEP schedule), which makes the absence of a “Sherbrooke” line-item for No. 20 itself a research flag, not a proof of loss.
Aboriginal Country: Bidjigal / Gadigal country of the Eora Nation (eastern suburbs coastal plain).
Timeline
- 1879 – David Storey arrives Sydney (International Exhibition); softgoods career begins.
- 1883 – Marries Rachel Agnes Doig; establishes David Storey & Co.
- From the 1880s – Storeys live at Sherbrooke House, Randwick (ADB).
- 1894–1920 – Storey MLA for Randwick (free trade; later Independent then Nationalist path); minister for public health periods; resigns seat Feb 1920; Legislative Council; knighted 1923.
- 27 July 1924 – Sir David dies of pneumonia at his Randwick home; buried South Head Cemetery.
- After 1924 – House fate not traced in this pass (Rachel d.1940; estate to widow, daughter, four sons — ADB). Later subdivision, renaming or demolition: unverified.
Architecture
No verified architect, style label or room schedule was locked for Sherbrooke House this pass. The live post’s single historic photograph should be kept and re-credited; do not extrapolate a style essay from one image. If publishing, add only what a confirmed exterior description or heritage inventory later supplies.
People
Sir David Storey (ADB) — Monaghan-born draper’s apprentice, Sydney softgoods importer (“Duke of York-street”), long Randwick MLA, wartime recruiting and conscription campaigner, National Party organiser (claimed to have named it), public-health minister who refused ministerial salary. Local life: Presbyterian elder; foundation president Bronte Surf Bathing Association (1907); bowls; Society for the Relief of Destitute Children (Randwick asylum interest).
Rachel Agnes Storey — British Red Cross NSW foundation executive (1914); Randwick branch president fifteen years; Forum Club; Royal Empire Society / Victoria League work (ADB).
The house name Sherbrooke is not explained in ADB — do not invent an etymology (and do not merge with Viscount Sherbrooke / Bronte House).
Gallery
What stands today
Unconfirmed. Do not walk readers to a wrong door. Before publish: check current 20 Coogee Bay Road against historic photo, Sands, and Randwick LEP/SHI. If the house is gone, say so with a demolition or redevelopment source; if it stands altered, say so with the listing status.
Sources & further reading
- ADB — Sir David Storey: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/storey-sir-david-8685
- Live scrapbook (ADB text + photo; claims 20 Coogee Bay Road): https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2026/07/sherbrooke-house-20-coogee-bay-road.html
- Randwick LEP heritage schedule extracts (neighbouring Coogee Bay Road items) — confirm current Randwick LEP Schedule 5 before publishing any listing claim
- Disambiguation only: Bronte House / Viscount Sherbrooke (Robert Lowe) is a different house and suburb
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