Lindesay – 1a Carthona Avenue – Darling Point – NSW
Gothic Revival marine villa · Built 1834–36 · Standing — National Trust of Australia (NSW); SHR #00686
Colonial Treasurer Campbell Drummond Riddell named his Darling Point villa for fellow Scot Colonel Patrick Lindesay, who had reserved the seventeen acres. It was the first substantial house on the point and Australia’s first picturesque Gothic villa of the English 1820s taste. Mitchell paused here while building Carthona; Nicholson kept statues and a library; Macintoshes sailed and played cricket on the lawns; Walter Pye gave the house to the National Trust in 1963. The harbour glimpse still runs north through the garden.
At a glance
- Address: 1a Carthona Avenue, Darling Point NSW (entrance context off Darling Point Road / lanes)
- Built: 1834–1836 for Campbell Drummond Riddell & Caroline (née Stuart Rodney)
- Architects: James Chadley & Edward Hallen (attributed); completed under Francis Clarke; rear service wing Robertson & Marks (Dr Edward Jenkins era, 1910s)
- Style: Domestic Gothic Revival / picturesque Gothic villa — earliest major example in Sydney / NSW domestic Gothic
- Grounds: originally ~17 acres (6.9 ha) to the harbour; now reduced garden with parterre, plane-tree forecourt, northern vista
- Heritage: NSW SHR #00686 (2 Apr 1999); National Trust ownership from 1963
- Fate / use: Standing — National Trust house museum / functions / Women’s Committee base; furnished interiors
Site & setting
Gadigal Country; European “Mrs Darling’s Point” / Yarranabbee subdivision from 1833. Lindesay took Lot 1 scale grounds sweeping to the water; later Canonbury / McKell Park and neighbour houses pinched the northern view to a framed corridor — still protected after 1980 high-rise fight (National Trust account).
Timeline
- 1833–34 – Villa allotments; Acting Governor Patrick Lindesay reserves land for Riddell; house named in thanks.
- 1834–36 – Construction; Riddells move in 1836; leave by 1838.
- 1841–45 – Sir Thomas Mitchell owns (supervises Carthona nearby); daughter Blanche born here 1843.
- 1845–49 – Sir Charles Nicholson; library and antiquities.
- 1849–68 – William Bradley; dies at Lindesay 1868.
- 1868–1911 – John Macintosh; builds Braeside & Cintra for children; dies at Lindesay 1911.
- 1913–14 – Alfred Wunderlich subdivides; Dr Edward Jenkins buys house; Robertson & Marks service wing / stair works.
- 1926 – Sold to Charles & Mary Pye; Charles dies soon after; Mary to 1961; son John; then Walter D. Pye.
- 1960 – House divided into flats (Colonel / Walter Pye alterations).
- 1963 – Gifted to National Trust of Australia (NSW) with furniture.
- 1964+ – Lindesay Management Committee; Women’s Committee HQ; garden recreation (Jocelyn Brown entrance; Guy Lovell parterre).
- 2 Apr 1999 – SHR listing.
- Today – Tours / events per National Trust program.
Architecture & interiors
Freestanding rectangular villa with distinct façades; Gothic Revival detailing simpler than ornate Government House Gothic — Scottish austerity + colonial pattern-book practice (National Trust / SHR). Notable early Louis XIV Revival chimneypiece in the drawing room (SHR significance). Reception rooms arranged informally for the 1830s. Colonial basement kitchen/offices rare survival to c.1914. Trust interiors present fine Australian & English furniture — Georgian in character, Gothic in shell.
Garden: northern lawn to harbour view; eastern box parterre with Four Seasons statues; western/entrance plane-tree court.
People & anecdotes
Riddell — Colonial Treasurer under Bourke; short residency. Mitchell — Surveyor-General / explorer; Lindesay as staging house for Carthona. Nicholson — future University of Sydney chancellor; collector. Macintosh — ironmonger, alderman, MLC; longest 19th-century family chapter (43 years). Pye / National Trust Women’s Committee — Dame Helen Blaxland, Cherry Jackaman and successors funded and “housekept” Lindesay into public life.
Gallery
Transcription:
NATIONAL TRUST
'Lindesay'
A National Trust property, open for [illegible]
[?by] guided tours, Monday to Saturday
[?Available] for Weddings, Dinners & Exhibitions
Ph: (02) 9258 0123
What stands today
Lindesay stands under the National Trust. Book tours/events via nationaltrust.org.au/places/lindesay/ (check the National Trust site for current opening times; the old first-Thursday / $10 detail may no longer apply). Pair with Carthona, Greenoaks, Glenrock/Ascham Darling Point posts.
Ten Things About Lindesay
1. Lindesay is a National Trust property. It has Georgian interiors with fine Australian and English furniture, complemented by an elegant parterre garden and well-tended grounds with uninterrupted harbour views.
2. It was built by the Colonial Treasurer, Campbell Drummond Riddell, in 1834. He purchased 17 acres reserved for him by the Acting Governor of the colony, Lieutenant Patrick Lindesay.
3. It is believed that the favour of reserving the land led Riddell to name the house after his best friend and fellow Scot, Patrick Lindesay. It was the first house to be built in the suburb, and it attracted many distinguished occupants.
4. The house had many famous owners. It was purchased by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1841. In the 1830s Mitchell had undertaken three major expeditions through Australia, took his reports back to England and was knighted for his efforts.
5. Sir Charles Nicholson purchased Lindesay in 1845, after moving to Sydney in 1843 and being elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He later became Speaker of the House. He sold Lindesay to William Bradley in 1849.
6. City of Sydney councillor John Macintosh bought the property in 1868. While he was at Lindesay, Mr Macintosh built two other houses on Darling Point, Braeside and Cintra, for his children.
7. In 1911 John Macintosh died at Lindesay, and two years later it was sold to Alfred Wunderlich, who subdivided the land. In 1914 Dr Edward Jenkins bought the house.
8. In 1926 the Jenkins family moved to a smaller house at 35 New South Head Road, Vaucluse. Lindesay was then purchased by Charles and Mary Pye, who lived the rest of their lives in the house. After his wife died, Charles handed the property over to the National Trust of Australia in 1963.
9. The house is the first domestic example of Gothic architecture in Australia. The interiors, restored by the National Trust of Australia, represent the prominent families that all lived there.
10. When I wrote this in 2015, Lindesay was open to the public on the first Thursday of every month, with guided tours at 10am, 11am and noon, costing $10 or free for National Trust members.
Where the Sources Disagree
- The address: my 2015 post’s title gave it as Lindsay House, 12 Carthona Avenue, and its heading as 1 Carthona Avenue. This post and the National Trust give 1a Carthona Avenue.
- Patrick Lindesay’s rank: my 2015 list calls him Lieutenant Patrick Lindesay, the acting governor; this post calls him Colonel Patrick Lindesay.
- The Pye who gave it to the Trust: my 2015 list names Charles Pye (with his wife Mary); this post names Walter Pye. Both give 1963.
Sources & further reading
- National Trust — Lindesay: https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/lindesay/
- Heritage NSW — Lindesay (SHR 00686, DB 5045228)
- Dictionary of Sydney — Lindesay
- Wikipedia — Lindesay, Darling Point (SHR-derived)
- Orwell & Peter Phillips, Lindesay CMP (2004)
Related on this blog
- Carthona; Greenoaks; Glenrock; Retford Hall (Darling Point set)
- National Trust house cousins
