Dating from 1842, Wentworth House is the second oldest surviving house in Victoria (the oldest is Emu Bottom in Sunbury dating from 1836). It was built for Dr. Farquhar McCrae, an early gentleman colonist and brother-in-law of painter and diarist Georgiana McCrae. The 110 hectare property was purchased from Arundel Wrighte, a superintendent of chain gangs in Launceston. Read the rest of this entry »
Botanic Chambers is a group of seven Victorian Italianate terrace houses which adjoin the Botanic Hotel. They were designed by architect Michael McMullen and built for Richard Vaughan in 1876 – 1877. Mr. Vaughan founded the East-End Market in nearby Rundle Street, and had also developed several other hotels and villas, including the Kensington Hotel. Read the rest of this entry »
Another apartment has been listed in the Manar apartments in Potts Point. The 3-bedroom apartment has one bathroom and a laundry which may have been the original maid’s room. Read the rest of this entry »
Ivy Grange has had several different uses over the past 149 years, but has only been the private residence to three families – the Vickers, Beaths and Lawlors.
Architect Charles Vickers built the basalt and cream brick gothic-style home as his personal residence in 1864. It was sold in 1873 to merchant David Beath, who named it Ivy Grange. Mr. Beath added the tower wing in 1877, and further additions were made by firm Reed, Henderson & Smart in 1885. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Manar’ has a history dating back to the 1840s when Hugh Gordon purchased the site, which was once part of the Alexander Macleay Estate. It was later sold to Alfred Lamb (1845-1890) who built Manar Cottage in 1867. Apparently the cottage was later demolished and replaced with a two-storey 20-bedroom Victorian Italianate Villa.
Mr. Lamb was one of the parliamentary representatives of West Sydney and had a lifelong connection with shipping and mercantile interests. He was the youngest son of John Lamb, of Spencer Lodge, Millers Point, and later Larbert Lodge in Darlinghurst. He lived at Manar until his death in 1890. Read the rest of this entry »
A 2-bedroom apartment in ‘Del Rio’ in Elizabeth Bay was listed this month with expectations of approximately $4.75 million. *Update: The apartment was reported to have sold on June 7 2013 for $4.25 million.
The waterfront apartment block was designed by architect J. Spencer Stansfield in 1928 and was one of the first Spanish Mission-style buildings in Elizabeth Bay. With just five apartments, it is rare to see one for sale. Last year, Apartment 2 sold for an undisclosed price (it was listed with expectations of $4 million-plus). Read the rest of this entry »
Althorne is a mid-Victorian Gothic villa dating from around 1872. It was first built on a 1.5 acre block by Mr. Walter M. Church on Lot 5 and part of Lot 6 of the Point Piper Estate. Further subdivisions of the land over the years have reduced its current size to a quarter of an acre. Read the rest of this entry »
Leggatts Coach House Hotel (c1854) was built by Mr. Neil Leggatt and his wife Jessie to cater to the brisk trade from gold miners. The first gold was discovered in the area just three years earlier. The Leggatts emigrated to Australia from Scotland in the early 1850s. They settled in Daylesford and established a general storekeeping and gold-buying business before opening the Coach House Hotel.
The 2-storey building is situated on the banks of Lake Daylesford, although the lake did not exist until 1929 when a dam wall was created. The lake covers land upon which gold was first discovered. Read the rest of this entry »
Karori was built in 1888 as the summer retreat of Charles William Chapman – a mining and pastoral investor from New Zealand. Chapman imported many materials for the house and trees for the garden. He also brought over Italian-born and NZ-based architect Louis Boldini to design the house, which bears some resemblance to the highly decorative wooden homes found in NZ. Boldini, who designed many buildings in Dunedin in the 1880s, also designed nearby guesthouse Braemar, in which Chapman also held a financial interest. Read the rest of this entry »
After an unsuccessful auction in May, the historic Blackdown Homestead remains on the market.
Blackdown was first settled in 1823 by naval officer and pioneer Thomas Hawkins. Thomas was given a grant of 2,000 acres and appointed commissariat store-keeper in Bathurst, so he and his wife Elizabeth, their children, his mother-in-law and nine convicts set out with a wagon from Sydney to make the journey to Bathurst. The 220 km trek took them 18 days (nowadays the trip can be made in a 2.5 hour drive). Read the rest of this entry »
Old estates for sale 