St Mark’s Terrace – 57 Darling Point Road – Darling Point – NSW
Gothic Revival sandstone · Built 1848–1849 · Edmund Blacket (press / secondary tradition) · Standing
Beside St Mark’s Church on the Darling Point ridge — sandstone, gables, a country-house calm inside the eastern suburbs — stands the Gothic Revival house at 57 Darling Point Road. Dictionary of Sydney dates it 1848–1849; from 1876 to 1906 it was St Mark’s Crescent School; twentieth-century flat conversions and a MacMahon family chapter preceded the 2015 restoration sale. Live scrapbook and property press also call it St Mark’s Terrace. Welcome to 57 — not the Rectory at 53; not St Marks Cottage at 59; not the modern apartment block “St Marks Terraces” at 40–42 Mona Road.
At a glance
- Address / site: 57 Darling Point Road, Darling Point NSW 2027 (Dictionary of Sydney building entry; 2023 sale coverage)
- Also known as: St Mark’s Terrace (Domain / Chancellor 2015; live blog title)
- Built: 1848–1849 (Dictionary of Sydney); press often rounds to 1849 / 1840s
- Architect: Edmund Blacket in multiple property-press accounts (Chancellor; news.com.au / realestate.com.au 2023) — Dictionary of Sydney entry used here does not name the architect; leave the attribution as strong secondary, not an invented SHR field
- Estate context: part of the Bishopscourt / Greenoaks world when Thomas Mort held the ridge (Chancellor 2015); church next door is Blacket’s St Mark’s
- Style: neo-Gothic / Gothic Revival sandstone residence; later configured as main house plus apartments; restored toward single / multi-generational dwelling in the 2015–2023 chapter
- School chapter: St Mark’s Crescent School (boys’ preparatory; Principals the Misses Macauley), 1876–1906 (Dictionary of Sydney)
- Heritage: press and owners describe the house as heritage-listed; confirm exact Woollahra LEP item line at merge time. Keep separate from listed Rectory (53), Church (57A / Darling Point Road) and St Marks Cottage (59)
- Fate: standing as a private residence (sold 2015 ~$5.65m; sold again 2023 well above $15m guide tradition)
Site & setting
Darling Point Road climbs the ridge past Mort’s Greenoaks / Bishopscourt country and Blacket’s church. Number 57 sits in that ecclesiastical–domestic cluster: Rectory at 53, church at 57A, Cottage at 59 — three separately listed Woollahra items — with St Mark’s Terrace / 57 as the Gothic house that also did duty as the Crescent School. Harbour and city views belong to the modern sale copy; the identity spine is the sandstone Gothic house beside the church.
Disambiguation: “St Marks Terraces” apartments at 40–42 Mona Road are a different address and building — do not merge.
Timeline
- 1848–1849 – House constructed (Dictionary of Sydney).
- c.1849 / Mort chapter – Property press places the build in the Bishopscourt estate period under Thomas Mort (Chancellor 2015).
- 1876–1906 – Occupied by St Mark’s Crescent School (Dictionary of Sydney).
- After 1906 – Returned to private dwelling use; later subdivided / configured as flats (four apartments in the 2015 sale tradition).
- MacMahon chapter – Long ownership associated with surgeon Dr Edward MacMahon (Dobell Archibald portrait 1959) and Betty MacMahon; listed after her death (Chancellor / Domain 2015).
- 2015 – Sold ~$5.5–5.65m to David Kleindyk & Mia Feasey with intent to restore from apartments toward a single residence (Domain; 2023 recap).
- 2015–2023 – Multi-year restoration; marketed as multi-generational Gothic estate; sold Sept 2023 well above $15m guide (news.com.au / realestate.com.au).
- Today – Standing private residence at 57 Darling Point Road.
Architecture & interiors
Dictionary of Sydney: Gothic Revival sandstone residence. Sale coverage emphasises neo-Gothic fabric, multiple living rooms, marble fireplaces, pressed-metal ceilings (live scrapbook tradition), and a large multi-level plan later worked as main house plus garden / semi-detached apartments. Prefer those sourced claims over invented Blacket detail lists. Church and Rectory next door are the documented academic Gothic companions — useful comparison, separate listings.
People & anecdotes
Thomas Mort and the Bishopscourt / Greenoaks estate supply the Darling Point patronage frame; Edmund Blacket supplies the architectural gravity in press accounts (church next door is securely his).
The Misses Macauley and St Mark’s Crescent School give the house its educational middle chapter — dancing, drilling, music and drawing in the Dictionary of Sydney note. The MacMahon medical / Archibald connection is twentieth-century colour; the Kleindyk / Feasey restoration is the twenty-first.
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Do not invent historic photo URLs — keep existing live-post images; captions and sequence guidance below for the merge pass.
Live post currently has no images — merge pass should add credited views, not invent URLs in the HTML body.
1. Street elevation – 57 Darling Point Road (sandstone Gothic beside St Mark’s Church).
2. St Mark’s Church tower / spire context (Blacket companion).
3. School-era references if found (SLNSW / parish archives).
4. Compare: Rectory 53; Cottage 59; Greenoaks / Bishopscourt; Greenoaks Cottage.
5. Do not use 40–42 Mona Road apartment photography labelled “St Marks Terraces.”
What stands today
St Mark’s Terrace / 57 Darling Point Road stands as a private Gothic Revival house beside St Mark’s Church. No public museum hours. Pair a walk with the churchyard, Rectory and Greenoaks / Bishopscourt ridge — and keep Mona Road’s modern “St Marks Terraces” out of the frame.
- Map pin: 57 Darling Point Road, Darling Point.
- School alias: St Mark’s Crescent School (1876–1906).
- Do not merge with Rectory (53), Cottage (59), or 40–42 Mona Road.
Sources & further reading
- Dictionary of Sydney — 57 Darling Point Road, Darling Point: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/57_darling_point_road_darling_point
- Dictionary of Sydney — St Mark’s Crescent School: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/organisation/st_marks_crescent_school
- Jonathan Chancellor / Domain — “Darling Point landmarks trade owners” / apartments.com.au recap, Jun 2015 (St Mark’s Terrace MacMahon sale)
- news.com.au / realestate.com.au — Edmund Blacket neo-Gothic mansion at 57 Darling Point Road sale coverage, Sep 2023
- Heritage NSW — Rectory of St Marks church (53 Darling Point Road); St Marks Anglican church; St Marks Cottage (59) — neighbouring listings for disambiguation
- Existing scrapbook post: https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2016/06/st-marks-terrace-darling-point-new.html
