Elizabeth Bay House -
7 Onslow Avenue
Elizabeth Bay - New South Wales
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[Exhibition panel; small header line illegible]
The unnerving and the surreal
"… most of the things I do are imaginative and … have a touch of fantasy in them, which I prefer."
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Elizabeth Bay House was built between 1835 & 1839 In the Regency Architectural Style & was originally surrounded by a 22 Hectare garden, in what was then the Fashionable Suburb of Woolloomooloo Hill.
The rooms, Sweeping staircase and lavish furnishings reveal the tastes of its original owner Alexander Macleay. The one time Colonial Secretary Of New South Wales, had magnificent gardens Expressed his passion for the natural world. By the 1840's a downturn in the economy
Alexander macleay arrived in Sydney from England in January 1826, with his wife Eliza, 9 of 10 surviving children, and his extensive entomological collection. At the time he possessed the finest and most Extensive collection of any private individual in England.
Architect John Verge produced a design for a splendid "Marine Villa" in the Greek Revival Style which was at its peak of trend.
A Nearby grotto with accompnaying stone walls & steps, plus several trees, are all that remain of the original extensive Gardens. It helf Macleays considerable native and exotic Plant Collection, an orchard & kitchen garden.
The main axis of the house is aligned with the Winter Solstice.
For the remainder of the 19th Century & well into the 20th Century Elizabeth Bay House had a Chequered history, With the property being subdivided, the gardens were reduced to a small fragment. The house became home for a succession of tenants inclusing many artists.
In 1961 the National trust started to list and publicise important histporic places and Elizabeth bay house was One of the first 50 names.
in 1977 the house was extensively restored and refurbished. Initially so it could become the offical residence of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, it later became one of the first properties acquired by the Historic Houses trust.
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TO · BE · ERECTED · AT · ALEXANDRIA, FOR ·
THE HONOURABLE Alexander MACLEAY.
SCALE · 4 · FEET · TO · AN · INCH ·
J. VERGE · ARCHITECT
Elizabeth Bay House was an allotment of 54 Acres granted to Alexander Macleay in 1828. It Is 1 of only 5 remaining homes from the original 17 Darlinghurst Villas that were the first buildings to be deceloped on Woolloomooloo Hill also known as Darlinghurst in the 1830's
But it is only 1 of 3 that survive in their original condition without serious modifications.
These Include
- Barham (1833) inside the grounds of SCEGGS
- Tusculum (1831-1835) On Manning St Potts Pt
The Other 2
Telford Lodge (1831)
- Rockwall (1837)
Are Barely recognisable & have been extensively modified or partially demolished
The greatest thing about Elizabeth Bay House today is that it's owned by the Historic Houses Trust & is open to the public.
Scottish born Macleay was a passionate and extravagent man who spent liberally on landscaping his homes and his entomological collections of which his main interest was of moths & butterflies.
in 1795 he had Entered the British Civil Service as Chief Clerk of the War Office and was later Secretary Of the Transport Board, but when the board was disbanded in 1818 he was out of work
With mounting bills for his homes in Westminster & Surrey, which were undergoing landscaping improvements- as well as his big spends for his entomological collection and Investment Losses, he began borrowing from his eldest son William.
But in 1925, his former colleagues rallied and secured him the Australian post, which came with a 2000 pound Salary and Official Residence that was initally rent free.
Macleay arrived in Sydney in 1826 with his wife & daughters (of a total of 17 Children) but he was so enamoured by the place he eventually persuaded other family members to join them, including his son William & Grandchildren Arthur & Georgina Onslow, who were the children of his Indian based daughter & son in law Ross & Arthur Onslow
In those days Macleays bug collection was recognised at the largest in Private Possession. He brought it with him to Australia & it possibly had pride of place in his library which at the time was the largest room in an Australian home, reflecting the importance Macleay placed his books & natural history Collections.
With 54 Acres of Bushland at his disposal, Macleay immediately began establishing a Botanic Garden of imported plants in compliment with the native Vegetation, & the green space became wuite an attraction with its rustic bridges, terrace walls and grottoes.
Today only 1 section of garden remains just across the road at the front of the house and is known as Arthur Mcelhone Reserve. There is also only 1 Grotto left if you know where to look - about 100 metres south of the house down Onlsow Avenue, and follow the public path between the flats Eltham & Tradewinds.
The design of the house was as equally celebrated as its gardens and harbour views. The enormous two storey Greek Revival Villa with Cellar, was designed by John Verge & was considered one of the most Extravagent Constructions of the day, with costs totalling around 10,000 Pounds.
Plans for the house were developed in 1832 but construction was delayed until 1835, & the house wasn't completed until 1839
The villa design means the rooms are arranged around the central column or Stair hall and allowed for Architectural experimentation with shaped interior spaces.
The Macleays were forced to sell off furniture to settle some of the debts and in 1846 William took over the Elizabeth Bay House Mortgage and assumed control of the estate.
After less than 6 Years in his Grand unfinished house, Macleay then moved to his country property, Brownlow Hill near camden. Macleay died in 1848 at Tivoli, The Rose Bay Home of his daughter and son in Law.
William Macleay moved into the house in 1845 & lived there alone for 20 years. But lacking the easthetic sensibility of his father, gave no thought to completing the building.
William sounds like a curious character, and during his time at Elizabeth Bay House, the residence was closed to all but the small circle of scientists and Colonial intellectuals with whom he associated. The Boundary of the estate was marked with signs warning potential Trespassers of Guard Dogs.
William died in 1865 and the house was inherited by his brother George, who remained in London. George subdivided the Estate and sold off lots on 99 Year Leases, he sibdivided again only leaving 18 acres. In 1882 Another subdivision was made and there was only 3 Acres of Garden around the house.
George And William's Cousin, William John Macleay, and his wife Susan, were tenants of the house from 1865 to 1903. Susan was the daughter of Edward Deas Thomson, Alexander Macleays Successor as Colonial Secretary, who owned another one of the original Villas - Barham
William John was also a keen Entomologist and had taken over the care of Macleay's Vast collection, building the Macleay museum on an area that is now the lowere corner of Ithaca Road & Bilyard Avenue. William john donated the Collection to the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney in 1888 and was Knighted for his Generosity. He died in 1891.
From 1891 to 1911 was owned by James William Macarthur Onslow, Great Grandchild of Alexander Macleay. Because George Was based in London the house had been quite neglected, as Macarthur Onslow Embarked ona maintenance program, which included new plumbing, the introduction of gas lighting, 2 new bathrooms, a Servants bell and a new portico.
From 1903 Macarthur Onlsow leased the house to a leather merchant George Michaelis. In 1911 Michaelis purchsed the house for 800 pounds, becoming the first owner who was not from the Macleay family. He stayed at the house with his wife and 3 children until 1926, when he sold it to retailer Sir Sydney Snow.
Snow's shop was on the corner of Pitt St & Liverpool St, and paid 40,000 Pounds before on selling it to Elizabeth Bay estates Limited for 60,000 Pounds.
The final Subdivision of the Estate took place in 1927 with 16 lots put up for auction. 5 lots were sold and were no doubt developed into apartments that exist today. The remaining 11 lots were sold in 1934 and the late 1940's, when more apartment buildings were developed.
The actual house failed to sell at auction in 1927, and thats when the Squatters moved in . This period when the Charm School Artists occupied the house . Artists that lived at the house up until 1935 included Donald Friend, Rex Juilius, Wallace Thornin, who held wild parties in the decaying mansion.
In 1935 Elizabeth Bay Estates leased the property to a Mr and Mrs Hall, and a Mrs L Minnett who renovated and redecorated the house as a venue for fashionable receptions.
In 1940, Evangiline Olga Murray, wife of realtor James Daniel Murray purchased the house and immediately began renovating the house into 15 Apartments, which was carried out Sympatheticallu and without damage to the original fabric of the house.
In 1959 the house was declared an historic building whose preservation was essential for reasons of historic and architectural interest under the County of Cumberland Planning Ordinance.
When Mrs Murray died in 1963, the Cumberland County Council purchased the house and the following year when the council was abolished, it became the responsibility of the State Planning Authority.
The Authority Commissioned the repair works to the roof, dome & Portico and in 1973 dedicated $275,000 to the buildings restoration but the costs rose to $750,000
In 1977 the house opened to the Public and in 1981, along with Vaucluse House - became one of the first properties acquired by the Historic Houses Trust
Daily Telegraph - Thursday 30 September 1926, page 10
HISTORIC HOME SOLD
ELIZABETH BAY HOUSE
One of the finest historic homes in Australia. "Elizabeth Bay House," Onslow Avenue Elizabeth Bay; was sold -yesterday for £42,500 to a'well-known city business man. . The vendor
was Colonel Geo. Mlchaelis. managing director of M'Murtries, Ltd. "Elizabeth Bay House" was built, in 1828 by Alexander Macleay, then Colonial.- Secretary, he having : obtained a grant of .54 acres of ground on the foreshores - of Elizabeth Bay. Here he devoted a great deal of time and money, to the study & -classification of fauna & flora, & the property, was-famous- for its collection of flowers & shrubs from all over the world. The home was built by convicts, & underneath the dwelling are-two large cellars, now subdivided into- several rooms, where the convicts were quartered." The house is constructed entirely of 'Stone, & it is understood that it cost over- £10,000 to build. That sum represented a very large amount of money nearly 100 years ago. . . "Elizabeth Bay House" was occupied, by the Macleay family until 1903. The present' occupants. Col. Mlchaelis & his family, have lived there for over 20 years, & the previous resident was Colonel Onslow. In 1875 the extensive grounds were subdivided into streets & avenues, which form: portion of the suburbs, Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay and; part of Darlinghurst.. The original property extended from the shores of Elizabeth and Rushcutters Bays to William St Darlinghurst.
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PLAN
shewing the situation
OF
THE ALLOTMENTS FOR SALE
at
DARLINGHURST
ELIZABETH BAY
the Property of
ALEXR. McLEAY ESQRE.
BY MR. S. LYONS.
[Landholders and buildings:] J. C. Brown Esq. · F. Parbury Esq. · Col. Shadforth · H. C. Sempill Esq. · Sir M. O'Connell · The Bishop of Australia · Griffiths Esqre. · [?J. H.] Grose Esq. · E. Hallen Esq. · Sir James Dowling · Hon. R. Jones M.C. · T. Barker Esqre. · T. McQuoid Esqre. · Mr. O. West's Property · Alexr. McLeay Esqre. · Mr. McLeay's Garden · Stables
Sir T. L. Mitchell's new Road
to S. Head Darling's Point Double Bay &c.
NOTE
Lots 2 to 24 inclusive are 60 feet by 120 ft.
" 27 " 33 do — do — do
" 34 " 44 — — 100 wide.
Edward J. W. Knapp [signature]
Land Surveyor
SCALE OF CHAINS
W. Nicholas Litho. Bridge St.
[Lot numbers 1–44 on the plan are not transcribed.]
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ELIZABETH BAY ESTATE.
DARLINGHURST
For Sale by
MESSRS. RICHARDSON & WRENCH.
Allan & Wigley Lithog.
ELIZABETH BAY
RUSHCUTTERS BAY
Horse's Hd. Point
Sandy Beach
MACLEAY STREET
WYLDE ST
ELIZABETH BAY ROAD
RUSHCUTTERS BAY
ROSLYN STREET · ROSLYN ALLOTMENTS · Princes St. · UPPER WILLIAM STREET NORTH To Darling Point · From Sydney
[Estate and owners:] A — CONTENTS 18 Ac. 0r. 0p. · Mansion · Orchard · Orangery · J. Thompson · LARBERT LODGE Conveyed to Elwin now E. T. Lamb · GREENKNOWE · Conveyed to Gilchrist now W. Lamb · Conveyed to Gilchrist · Conveyed to Mitchell · Conveyed to Deloitte · Conveyed to J. Brown now H. Moore · Conveyed to Barker · John Williams · Lot 61: To be sold with adjoining Lot
N.B. The Lots are staked out with numbered pegs
and the Lines cleared.
For further particulars see Large Plan.
F. H. Reuss.
Architect & Surveyor
134 Pitt Street Sydney
[Library mark:] F 875
[Lot numbers 1–62, with their areas and frontages, are not transcribed.]
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Elizabeth Bay House
City of Sydney
ELIZABETH BAY
Fitzroy
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Elizabeth Bay
House Estate
Presenting the Residence and
15 Allotments of
SYDNEY'S GREATEST
RESIDENTIAL
SUBDIVISION
by Public Auction Sale on
the Ground,
SATURDAY, 17 SEPT.,
1927 at 3 p.m.
Auctioneers in conjunction:
STANTON & SON LIMITED,
STANTON HOUSE, 133 PITT STREET, SYDNEY
RICHARDSON & WRENCH LTD.
92 PITT STREET :: :: SYDNEY
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Vendors of the Estate:
ELIZABETH BAY ESTATES LIMITED,
62 Pitt Street, Sydney
Solicitors to the Estate:
Messrs. PIGOTT, STINSON, MACGREGOR & PALMER,
Castlereagh Street, Sydney
Surveyors to the Estate:
Messrs. COWDERY & COWDERY,
4 Castlereagh Street, Sydney
Acknowledgments are due to the Mitchell
Library and Building Ltd. (Mrs. Florence
Taylor) for information and data.
NOTE—The particulars herein are issued subject to any variation or
alteration that may be announced by the Auctioneers at the time of sale.
Ppp Transcription:
Foreword
"We may build more splendid habitations, fill our rooms with paintings and with sculptures, but we cannot buy with gold the old associations."
IN Sydney it is but seldom that occasion to acquire a coveted and old-time belonging may be taken by the hand. The flowers of ancient sanctities most often continue in the possession of their owners: a home that is an oratorio of memories is apt to remain as an integral part of the family Estate. The golden opportunity to acquire ground, dignified by wisdom, or patriotism in the days that were, is rare indeed; but who amongst us does not feel the beauty and sublimity of such associations, which, "like the stretched metre of an antique song," fling their ancient splendours round us?
It may well be that no home has played a nobler or more exigent part in the history of New South Wales than Elizabeth Bay House, or, as it is sometimes called, Macleay House.
It has been said that there is no sentiment in business, but, like most generalizations, this is at best merely a half truth. In Macleay House
"The very marrow of tradition's shown;
And all that history, much that fiction weaves"
around the solid angularity of the facts which time so surely dissipates to shining ether.
Elizabeth Bay House is beautiful for situation: its position on the foreshore of our wondrous harbour is of preponent and unparalleled attractiveness. Nearly a century ago it was well and wisely chosen as the fit and proper situation for Sydney's most beautiful home.
For well nigh a century this home has been privately owned, but now, at long last, Elizabeth Bay House, with its magnificent grounds, rich with the spoils of time, is to be cut up and sold to the highest bidder.
The moment is most opportune. Development, of late, in the neighbourhood of King's Cross and Macleay Street has been phenomenal, and investors and home-builders are avid for freehold land in these areas.
The Auctioneers feel that they are indeed privileged in being entrusted with the sale of an Estate so eminently desirable and so rich in history as Elizabeth Bay House.
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Elizabeth Bay House
Estate
HISTORICAL
"History is the witness of the times, the torch of truth, the life of memory, the messenger of antiquity."
THE history of Elizabeth Bay is necessarily the history of the Macleay family, and, incidentally, the history of early Sydney and its Social and Political activities. Its earliest associations concern themselves with the Hon. Alexander Macleay, who, in 1825, was appointed in England by the Earl of Bathurst to fill the position of Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, which position he held until 1837.
In his office as Colonial Secretary Mr. Alexander Macleay had perhaps more public work to do than the Governor of those days. When seventy-seven years of age he was elected Speaker of the first Representative Legislative Council of New South Wales. To Mr. Macleay and five other gentlemen, George IV. granted a Charter for the purpose of forming a Linnean Society to study the flora of the young Colony, of which Society he was for many years the Honorary Secretary. He devoted much time to scientific and intellectual pursuits, and at all times spared no effort tending to the advancement of learning in this new country. The foundation of the free Public Library was laid by him in 1843.
For the Australian Linnean Society, Mr. Macleay built that fine brick Hall which is on part of the original Estate, and which now stands at the corner of Billyard Avenue. Portraits of Sir George Macleay and Sir William Macleay are in the Society's Rooms.
The Macleay property was originally 54 acres in extent, and was granted to Mr. Alexander Macleay by Governor Darling, in 1828. It was given for the purpose of erecting a family house, and the cultivation of a
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garden, as it was thought that Mr. Macleay's knowledge as a botanist and horticulturist was likely to prove beneficial to the Colony.
Mr. Macleay brought out with him seeds and plants from England and Rio Janeiro. The seed and plant book, retained by the Macleay family, serves to indicate the intense interest taken by the owners in the development of the Elizabeth Bay grounds. The records contain an almost interminable list of rare species of bulbs and plants from almost every corner of the world. The separate entries from 1836 to 1853 total over 3,800, and include seeds and plants received from England, Madeira, Mauritius, Calcutta, Madras, China, Java, The East Indies, Brazil, Bolivia, Chili, Valparaiso, Tahiti, The Sandwich Islands, the Society Islands, The Cape of Good Hope, Van Dieman's Land, and Norfolk Island.
These records are of interest as contributions to the early horticultural annals of New South Wales. It is of interest to note that at this period, 1837, the Botanic Gardens in Sydney were first opened to the public.
When Mr. Alexander Macleay designed and built Elizabeth Bay House he evidently had in mind the storage of his collection of natural history specimens, for there is ample room for a private museum (such as afterwards existed) and the spacious library has accommodation for the many thousand books which he possessed, most of which have been placed in the Sydney University.
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An early description of the Macleay Estate, Elizabeth Bay, is given in a letter written by Mr. Robert Lowe in 1842. He writes:—
"A few days ago I saw one of the most perfect places I ever saw in my life. It belongs to Mr. W. S. Macleay. The drive to the house is cut through rocks covered with splendid shrubs and flowers, and here and there are immense primeval trees. The house is built of white stucco, and looks like a Nobleman's place. In the garden are the plants of every climate from Rio to the East Indies, China and England; bulbs from the Cape, and beautiful roses are to be seen; oranges, lemons, citrons, and guavas are in full bloom, while there is even a beautiful collection of plants from New Zealand."
The Hon. Alexander Macleay died in 1848, and his eldest son, William Sharp Macleay, who came to Australia in 1839, took over the care of his father's collections and library at Elizabeth Bay, residing there until his death in 1865. Sir George Macleay, a younger son, then inherited the property. Mr. William Macleay (afterwards Sir William), a nephew of the Hon. Alexander Macleay, lived at Elizabeth Bay House until 1891, and Lady Macleay resided there for some years after his death. On the death of Sir George Macleay the property was willed to Colonel Onslow.
Although the heavy taxation of property by Sir Henry Parkes resulted in the subdivision of part of the large Estate, Elizabeth Bay House, surrounded by spacious gardens, was left intact. The formation, however, of such new streets as Ithaca Avenue, Billyard Avenue and Onslow Avenue, resulted in the outlying portion of the original garden being cut off from the house grounds. This section was subdivided, and let on long leases in 1875. In the meantime, as soon as circumstances permitted, Sir William Macleay became the tenant on a long lease of the house and some of the allotments bounded by Ithaca Road and Billyard Avenue. His oc-
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cupancy of the house lasted until his death, in December, 1891, and Lady Macleay continued until her death in August, 1903. From these records it will be seen that, with the exception of one year (when the house was sublet furnished during Lady Macleay's absence in England after Sir William Macleay's death), the old house was continuously in occupation by members of the family from 1837 to 1903.
No house is more picturesque nor more reminescent of the English type of architecture of the period than Elizabeth Bay House. It is estimated that the Hon. Alexander Macleay expended not less than £10,000 on the property, and his successful gardening exploits are said to have given a marked stimulus to ornamental gardens in Sydney.
The lawn, immediately surrounded by the fine carriage drive fronting the residence, is said to have cost originally £3000 to make, and contained every specimen of Cape bulb that could be collected.
A strong wall of solid rock protected the gardens, the steps and the terraces cut in the natural rock, and overgrown with rare plants from every part of the world. The original Estate has been so much curtailed that where there were formerly acres of lovely garden grounds, villas and terraces now stand; but there still remains sufficient to tell of the past glories of the Elizabeth Bay House which once stood out solitary amidst virginal forest land. Incidentally, it is of historical interest to note that Darlinghurst and Woolloomooloo, about the year 1822, were called Henrietta-town, and constituted a reserve set apart for the blacks. The name was adopted by Governor Macquarie. Similarly, he used the name Elizabeth (for Elizabeth Bay) in honour of his wife, whose christian names were Henrietta Elizabeth.
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[Aerial photograph, printed sideways, with numbered keys]
Key to aerial view of Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, and Kings Cross Darlinghurst.
1. Kings Cross
2. Hampton Court
3. Kingsclere
4. Macleay Street
5. Potts Point
6. The Property
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THE PROPERTY
ELIZABETH Bay House stands to-day as a proud monument to the men who selected the material, designed the work, and built the home. Externally the residence is in Georgian style—the embellishments consisting of fine cornice, a pediment and moulded architraves to windows, and although the verandah is carried along three sides of the building, the absence of the usual pitched roof gives it a foreign appearance. Evidently a verandah did at one time exist there, for it is shown in pencil sketches belonging to Mr. J. J. Fletcher; and the painting by Conrad Martens, in the National Art Gallery, Sydney, shows a verandah to the front and a central balcony with an entablature and pediment supported by four columns.
It has been characteristic of many British Statesmen to possess a home worthy of their position and attainments, and it is this spirit which has added so much of dignity and charm to the domestic architecture of Great Britain. Elizabeth Bay House is a worthy representative of the Georgian period. It is recorded that all the stone was quarried on the site of the building, and the whole of the stonework even to-day is in an excellent state of preservation.
The fine Central Hall is of the type favoured by English architects and builders, and has a cantilevered staircase and wreathed handrail. The support is entirely derived from the curvature, and the arches and openings are fine examples of circular work.
The openings in the building are of considerable size. The main openings being approximately 12 feet high and 5 feet wide. The house, in a solid rectangular block, has an extreme frontage of bout 100 feet and a depth of about 75 feet. So extensive was the accommodation in its first design that very few additions have been required by succeeding generations of occupants.
The large flagged verandahs, uncovered except where the great Portico forms a stately entrance, extend round three sides of the house, and are fully 20 feet wide. The great square entrance reception hall, with massive
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Elizabeth Bay House Estate
An Estate of distinction and charm.
An ideal environment.
Picturesque surroundings.
Unsurpassed Harbour Views.
A few sites only — distinctive exclusive.
Most suitable for the most exacting.
An Old World atmosphere yielding to the appeal of to-day.
FOR AUCTION SALE
on the Ground,
SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 17th,
1927, at 3 p.m.
Transcription:
cedar fittings and huge doors is in the custom of the early homesteads of similar type.
The great brass lock and huge key for the front door are not unlike those used in mediaeval castles. It reminds one, also, of the huge lock on the door of Dr. Johnson's house in Gough Square, quite near the historical Cheshire Cheese. Dr. Johnson's house has been bought and presented to the nation by Mr. Cecil Harmsworth.
The windows are protected from without by heavy solid cedar louvred shutters. Such shutters provided the special protection deemed necessary in those days, and at the same time allowed ample ventilation throughout the residence.
The reception hall already referred to is about 24 feet by 24 feet, and is so beautifully proportioned with regard to the height and size of the openings that its spaciousness is not in evidence. The staircase hall is surmounted with a fine dome set on a panelled coving and supported by a mullioned window. Externally the dome forms a pleasing finish to the building, relieving the severity of the straight sky-line. This staircase hall forms a central feature from and around which the rooms and corridors of the house radiate. The entrance and staircase hall are flagged with sandstone, and there are nearly 200 cast iron decorative balusters imported from England. Each of the main bedrooms is accompanied by a dressing-room. The drawing-room and dining-room are each 34 feet x 24 feet; the mantelpieces are of black marble, and the open fireplace is in keeping with the dignity of the room. The woodwork is chiefly of cedar, and the walls of the building have a thickness of 18 ins. in parts, and in certain sections of even 3 feet. The sitting-room behind the dining-room has for its prominent feature an antique effect produced by the marble mantel and grate. The ball-room is about 46 feet x 27 feet. This was fitted up and used as a Library in Sir William Macleay's time, and the book-cases are all in cedar. The books have been dispersed, some removed to the Linnean Society's Library, some to the Sydney University, and some to England.
Although the residence to-day may be deemed more commodious than present residential requirements necessitate, its accommodation is such as to permit of convenient adaptation for other purposes.
Off the vestibule entrance hall on the ground floor are the billiard room, library, reception-rooms, main dining-room, whilst the numerous bedrooms off the collonade and upper landing are spacious and conveniently arranged. The rooms are free from awkward angles, and lend themselves to subdivision. In addition, there are bathrooms, storerooms, and extensive accommodation in cellar section.
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[Four photographs of apartment buildings]
Modern Flat Buildings at Darlinghurst and Elizabeth Bay.
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[Pencilled library mark:] E5/89
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From the front of the residence one has a most perfect view of the Harbour, including both North and South Heads, with the verdant little Clark Island in the middle distance.
The approach to the grounds of Elizabeth Bay House is one of the most desirable in Sydney. The convenience from city by a short tram ride to William Street is all that could be desired, and the property is also situated within easy walking distance along Darlinghurst Road to Elizabeth Bay Road, and thence to Onslow Avenue.
This route includes most of the principal Flat Buildings in this centre of Sydney, and Onslow Avenue itself is practically a private thoroughfare leading direct to Elizabeth Bay House, and the new roadway through the Estate is a continuation of it. On its Harbour side boundary the approach is given by Billyard Avenue leading from Ithaca Road. On this charming avenue are built many of Sydney's most distinctive water frontage residences.
Similarly, Macleay Street has become one of the leading Apartment Avenues of Sydney. One may say, therefore, that, from the standpoint of Residential selectness, nothing better could be desired than the Elizabeth Bay House Estate.
The Residence is admittedly larger than is ordinarily required at the present day for a private home, but it is obvious that such a fine property should have many uses. In this regard it may be suggested that a convenient alteration of the property into flats might be made, or otherwise the existing building could be adapted as a Private Hotel.
[?Page Fourteen] [partly cut off]
Transcription:
THE GROUNDS
MUCH has already been said in regard to the botanical feature of the Elizabeth Bay House grounds. These, in some sort, must now disappear as the result of the present subdivision. The former tennis courts and front gardens have now been subdivided so that they will face the new Avenue and Billyard Avenue frontage. These blocks are level, have direct approach, and obtain an unrivalled outlook over the Harbour. The rear and side blocks are in terrace formation, and extend towards the properties fronting Macleay Street. The allotments are very suitable in area for either private homes or for the type of flats now so much in vogue in this centre.
Virtually every allotment will have a view over the Bay and Harbour. All that is beautiful shall abide, and the panorama looking over Elizabeth Bay towards the Heads, is of a singular beauty, whose colour schemes are as various as the dreams of poets. As Keats has so happily phrased it in Endymion—
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.
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The Harbour is a perennial feasting presence, garmented in the allure of the light from its own beauty. The beauty of the scene, as the eye travels over the water towards the Heads, is of God's handwriting, and its daily contemplation must diffuse through the inmost soul a soothing and subtle joy, by which the heart's anxious and aching cares are softly smiled away.
Of recent years large properties suitable for subdivision—so far as the City and main Eastern Suburbs are concerned—have been very few. The most famous that can be readily called to mind are Cranbrook, at Rose Bay, and the Quiraing Estate at Edgecliff. The Cranbrook property was formerly State Government House, and its subdivision has now provided sites for some of the finest homes in this district; at the same time allowing the original residence with its immediate grounds to be used for a Grammar School.
Quiraing Estate comprised practically an island block with frontages to Trelawney Street, Edgecliff Road, and Fullerton Street. So greatly was land in demand in this centre of Edgecliff that the sites then offered were purchased at very satisfactory figures, and the whole of the Estate has since been built upon, and is regarded as the finest and most recherche residential part of Sydney.
Elizabeth Bay Estate proffers all the attractiveness of the two Estates referred to, with the further advantage that the lots are superlatively suitable for the erection upon them of Apartment Buildings.
[Photograph caption:] Harbour View from the Residence.
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THE LOCALITY AND SURROUNDINGS
OF TO-DAY
In the history of Sydney's Real Estate no centre has been more rapid in transformation and in rise of values than King's Cross, Darlinghurst, extending to Elizabeth Bay. The interchange of properties has recorded figures that have bewildered many experienced speculators in Real Estate.
This remarkable development is not a transitory one, but is due to the very reasons that have stabilised and influenced Real Estate in other similar centres of the world. No centre could be more peculiarly adapted for high-class flats and apartment buildings in Sydney than Darlinghurst and Elizabeth Bay.
King's Cross is perhaps the apex of the movement so obvious in the whole district, As a junction of motor 'bus, tram and motor traffic, the activity of seven thoroughfares converges upon it. This is the main trading centre of the Darlinghurst territory, and the changes over the short period of even two years (commencing with the transformation of the well-known "Alberto Terrace" property) have been more than remarkable.
Bayswater Road, close by, receives the traffic leading to Rose Bay, and on this thoroughfare, as well as on the branch roads leading from it, many residential establishments and apartment blocks are built. Many of the latest apartment buildings are to be seen in Springfield Avenue, Macleay Street, Onslow Avenue, and Elizabeth Bay Road, and their importance may be gauged by the sales of such buildings recorded during recent months at figures exceeding £75,000, for certain individual buildings.
In the minds of those experienced in such matters this centre of Sydney is the most logical for the purpose of the present trend of development, and compares more than favourably with other centres in London and New York adapted for apartment localities. It is also a fact that the modern flat buildings in the King's Cross-Elizabeth Bay area are readily tenanted at rentals ranging from £3/3/- to £5/5/- per week for the moderate sized flat, and many apartments are rented at from £6/6/- to £10/10/- per week, where the accommodation and appointments conform with modern requirements.
Page Seventeen
[Pencilled library mark at foot, partly cut off: [illegible]]
Transcription:
PLAN OF
ELIZABETH BAY HOUSE ESTATE
CITY OF SYDNEY
Scale:- 30 feet to an Inch
[Streets:] BILLYARD AVENUE · ONSLOW AVENUE (40 feet wide) · Strip 7 feet wide for widening Billyard Avenue · Easement for Drainage 4' wide
[Lots and areas:]
1 — 5026 sq ft
2 — 5082 sq ft
3 — 8315 sq ft
4 — 7617 sq ft
5 — 6766 sq ft
6 — 10426 sq ft
7 — 7681 sq ft
8 — 6700 sq ft
9 — 4939 sq ft
10 — 5037 sq ft
11 — 7333 sq ft
12 — 6795 sq ft
13 — 6787 sq ft
14 — 4276 sq ft
15 — 5758 sq ft
16 — ELIZABETH BAY HOUSE — 13106 sq ft
Cowdery & Cowdery [signature]
Licensed Surveyors
Note - All dimensions subject to Deposited Plan
[Boundary bearings and dimensions are not transcribed.]
Transcription:
ELIZABETH BAY
HOUSE ESTATE
will be offered by
Public Auction on
the ground on
Saturday, 17 Sept.
1927 · 3 p.m.
TERMS OF SALE
The RESIDENCE: 25% deposit and the balance repayable over 3 yrs. at 6%
The ALLOTMENTS: 15% deposit and balance in equal quarterly instalments extending over 3 years with interest at 6%
TORRENS TITLE
Auctioneers in conjunction:
STANTON & SON LIMITED
STANTON HOUSE, 133 PITT STREET, SYDNEY
RICHARDSON & WRENCH LTD.
92 PITT STREET ::: SYDNEY
Transcription:
The House with a History.
Designed, engraved, wholly set up and printed in Australia, by W T. Baker & Co. Ltd., 190 York Street (North), Sydney.
Elizabeth Bay House - The Finest House in The Colony
Elizabeth Bay House & The Winter Solstice
The Ghost Kitchen At Eloizabeth Bay House
Lost Gardens Of Sydney - Elizabeth Bay House
Historic Elizabeth Bay
Setting the Table At Elizabeth Bay House
Elizabeth Bay House
Day 22 - Elizabeth Bay House
Historical Elizabeth Bay House - Colonial Architecture
Kings Cross & Elizabeth Bay House
The Hidden Gem Of Elizabeth Bay
The Rocks To Elizabeth Bay
Elizabeth Bay Garden
Built 1835–1839 Architects John Verge & John Bibb (British plan attrib.) · Standing — Museums of History NSW house museum
On the northern edge of Woolloomooloo Hill, Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay planted a private botanic garden on fifty-four acres of harbour rock and bush, then raised what contemporaries called the finest house in the colony. The oval saloon still soars. The planned Doric colonnade never arrived. The acres became a suburb. The house became flats, a squat, a reception venue — and, after one of Australia’s first scholarly restorations, a public museum. Ambition, insects, bankruptcy, and a staircase like an arum lily: welcome to Elizabeth Bay House.
At a glance
- Address: 7 Onslow Avenue, Elizabeth Bay NSW 2011
- Built: plans from 1832; constructed 1835–1839; occupied 1839
- Architect: John Verge and John Bibb supervising; SHR notes an unknown British designer / imported scheme Verge modified; builder James Hume
- Style: Greek Revival / Colonial Regency villa — severe unfinished exterior; celebrated oval domed saloon and cantilevered stair
- Original owner: Alexander McLeay / Macleay (Colonial Secretary of NSW), with wife Eliza
- Estate: c.54 acres (22 ha) grant by Governor Darling; internationally famous gardens
- Heritage: NSW State Heritage Register #00006; grotto & works SHR #00116
- Current use: Museums of History NSW house museum; free entry; events hire
Site & setting
The Aboriginal name recorded for Elizabeth Bay is Gurrajin. This was Cadigal Country on Sydney Harbour and, under Governor Macquarie, the site of Elizabeth Town, a fishing settlement associated with Bungarees group. Soon after Macleay arrived as Colonial Secretary in January 1826, Governor Darling granted him about fifty-four acres with commanding harbour views.
Macleay did not clear-fell and start again. With assigned convict labour and gardener Robert Henderson, he kept indigenous trees, cut picturesque walks, and layered in a private botanic garden of walls, grottoes, ponds, gravel paths, Cape bulbs, and fruit from half the globe. The Sydney Gazette (May 1831) sang the transformation; Joseph Hooker in 1841 called it a “botanist’s paradise.”
Subdivision from the 1840s onward carved the estate into the suburb we know. Onslow Avenue sliced the famous front lawn; Billyard Avenue edged what became Arthur McElhone Reserve (landscape architect Ilmar Berzins, 1948–50). Today the villa sits tight among flats, looking north to a fragment of garden and the harbour beyond. The grotto and stone walls survive as rare fabric of that early landscape.
Timeline
- c.1815–1820s – Macquarie’s Elizabeth Town Aboriginal settlement at Gurrajin / Elizabeth Bay; bay named for Elizabeth Macquarie.
- 24 Jun 1767 – Alexander McLeay born Ross-shire, Scotland.
- 1794–1825 Linnean Society secretary; FRS 1809; amasses leading private insect collection.
- 14 Jun 1825 – Appointed Colonial Secretary; arrives Sydney January 1826 with Eliza, daughters, library and collection.
- c.1826 – Granted about 54 acres at Elizabeth Bay; begins estate works.
- 1826–1830s Garden laid out; Deas Thomson helps engineer walks; Verge ledger entries for garden structures 1833; grotto/walls c.1832–35.
- 1832 – Villa plans in hand; construction delayed.
- 1835–1839 – House built by James Hume; Verge & Bibb; occupied 1839. Intended Doric colonnade never completed.
- 2 Jan 1837 – McLeay quits Colonial Secretary’s office under Bourke; loss of salary deepens debt.
- 1839 – William Sharp Macleay joins family in Sydney; furnishings ordered in London.
- 1840s – Depression; subdivision fails; library and furniture sold; drawing-room pieces go to Government House in 1845.
- 1845 – William Sharp takes over debts and house; Alexander and Eliza withdraw to Brownlow Hill.
- 18 Jul 1848 – Alexander dies at Tivoli, Rose Bay, after a carriage accident.
- 1845–1865 – William Sharp lives largely alone; scientific salon; dies 1865; estate to brother George.
- 1865–1903 – George subdivides and leases house to Sir William John Macleay and Susan; collections grow; Macleay Museum at University of Sydney endowed in the 1880s–89.
- 1875, 1882 – Further subdivisions; garden shrinks.
- 1891+ – House passes to James William Macarthur-Onslow; maintenance and 1890s portico/balcony works.
- 1903–1926 Leased then sold to George (Col.) Michaelis; first non-Macleay owner.
- Sep 1926 – Sold for £42,500; final land sales 1927; kitchen wing demolished; artists squat through Depression.
- 1935 – Renovated as fashionable reception house; celebrity weddings.
- 1941 – Converted to fifteen flats; Donald Friend among artist residents.
- 1948–50 – Arthur McElhone Reserve created on former front lawn.
- 1961–63 – Early National Trust listing; Cumberland County Council purchases house.
- 1972–76 – Scholarly restoration; first intended as Lord Mayor’s residence, then public museum.
- 1977 – Opened to the public.
- 1981 – Among first properties of Historic Houses Trust of NSW; now Museums of History NSW.
- 2 Apr 1999 – Entered on NSW State Heritage Register (#00006).
Architecture & interiors
Elizabeth Bay House is a two-storey Greek Revival villa on a centralised Palladian plan — square vestibule opening into an oval, domed saloon where a cantilevered Marulan sandstone stair rises to an arcaded gallery under a lantern. Cedar joinery, blackbutt floors, Grecian architraves, laurel-wreath plasterwork and imitation-bronze cast-iron balusters made its reputation.
The exterior is another story. Soft Sydney sandstone under sand paint; blind windows for symmetry; a light iron-and-wood portico that was not part of the 1830s design. The house was meant to wear a single-storey Doric colonnade on three sides — the sort Conrad Martens painted into existence. Money ran out; the colonnade never rose; the façade stayed severe. The small portico arrived only in the Macarthur-Onslow years. Service wings and stables are gone; the kitchen wing was sacrificed in the 1927 carve-up. Cellars remain under the house. Museum interiors today interpret 1839–1845 through inventories, paint scrapes and furniture trails.
People & anecdotes
Alexander McLeay / Macleay was Colonial Secretary, Linnean secretary, Fellow of the Royal Society, and a collector whose insect cabinets were said to be unmatched in private hands in England. He worked twelve-hour days for Darling, fought Bourke over education and exclusivism, lost office in 1837, took the Speakership in the 1840s, and still found time for bulbs, botanic-garden politics and a harbour showpiece he could not afford. ADB files him as McLeay; the Australian family settled on Macleay.
Eliza Macleay ran the household through the rise and fall. William Sharp Macleay — Cambridge scholar, pre-Darwinian theorist and recluse — paid debts, sold drawing-room glories, posted dog-warning signs and kept the house as a scientific salon until 1865. Cousin Sir William John Macleay and Susan turned the collections into a public legacy: the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney. Through daughter Rosa’s Onslow marriage, the house later brushed the Macarthur-Onslow world of Camden Park.
Twentieth-century chapters are pure Sydney scrapbook: Michaelis family life; Snow and the Estates company; Charm School artists camping in a decaying mansion; reception-house glamour; fifteen flats without gutting the fabric; then the conservation rescue that helped invent the Historic Houses Trust. No Mitchell owner belongs in this story — only the Mitchell Library, which holds the plant and seed books.
What stands today
Elizabeth Bay House stands, and unlike many on this blog it is a working house museum.
- Visit: 7 Onslow Avenue, Elizabeth Bay — Museums of History NSW. Free entry; typically open Sundays and Mondays 10am–4pm — confirm at mhnsw.au/visit-us/elizabeth-bay-house/.
- Walk the reduced curtilage and cross Onslow Avenue into Arthur McElhone Reserve for the harbour outlook and lawn fragment.
- Seek the grotto remnant, taking care with private property boundaries.
- Pair with Vaucluse House and the Verge survivors Tusculum and Rockwall.
Sources & further reading
- NSW State Heritage Register — Elizabeth Bay House (SHR 00006): https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5045185
- NSW State Heritage Register — Elizabeth Bay House Grotto Site and works (SHR 00116)
- Museums of History NSW — Elizabeth Bay House: https://mhnsw.au/visit-us/elizabeth-bay-house/
- Dictionary of Sydney — Elizabeth Bay House: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/elizabeth_bay_house
- ADB — Alexander McLeay: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcleay-alexander-2413
- ADB — John Verge: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/verge-john-2757
- Scott Carlin, Elizabeth Bay House: a history and guide, Historic Houses Trust of NSW, 2000
- Joy Hughes, Macleay entries, Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens, 2002
- State Library of NSW, Villas of Darlinghurst exhibition catalogue, 2002
- Sydney Barani — Elizabeth Town: https://www.sydneybarani.com.au/sites/elizabeth-town/
- Daily Telegraph, 30 September 1926, “Historic Home Sold” (clipping on existing blog post)
- Existing scrapbook post: https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2016/06/elizabeth-bay-house-elizabeth-bay-new.html
Related on this blog
- Tusculum – Potts Point (Verge neighbour)
- Rockwall – Potts Point (Verge neighbour)
- John Verge – Colonial Architect
- Vaucluse House – Vaucluse
- Tiranna – Elizabeth Bay
