Windsor Gardens, Chatswood

Windsor Gardens
Windsor Gardens
Location 258-260 Mowbray Road, Chatswood, City of Willoughby, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates 33°48′07″S 151°11′23″E / 33.8020°S 151.1896°E / -33.8020; 151.1896Coordinates: 33°48′07″S 151°11′23″E / 33.8020°S 151.1896°E / -33.8020; 151.1896
Built 1888
Owner Millstern Health Care Pty Ltd
Official name: Windsor Gardens; Iroquios
Type State heritage (built)
Designated 2 April 1999
Reference no. 571
Type Mansion
Category Residential buildings (private)
Location of Windsor Gardens in Sydney

Windsor Gardens is an heritage-listed former residence, reception venue and now retirement village located at Chatswood, City of Willoughby, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1888 to 1888. It is also known as Iroquios. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]

History

Windsor Gardens was built in 1888 by American journalist Frank Coffee, who arrived in Sydney in 1882 as a reporter for the New York Herald. It was originally named Iroquois after an American battleship visiting Sydney at the time.[1]

During the early years Mass was held each month in the drawing room of Iroquois for the local Catholic community by a priest from Riverview College. This was because there was no Catholic Church between North Sydney and Pymble.[1]

The large Coffee family lived in the house until the late 1920s when it was sold to the Burke family.[1] Frank Coffee passed away in 1929 at Kirribillli. His wife died in 1943. During his lifetime Frank Coffee made some forty to fifty trips around the Pacific and subsequently wrote and publlished his book "Forty Years on the Pacific."[1]

According to anecdotal evidence, Windsor Gardens was owned by John Adrian Burke from 1930 to 1945.[1][2] In 1945 it was purchased by Mr Allan Gilbert who renamed it Windsor Gardens and converted it into a venue for wedding receptions.[1]

On 13 May 1986 an Interim Conservation Order was made over Windsor Gardens to ensure that a retirement village development proposal was sympathetic to the significance of Windsor Gardens.[1] On 28 July 1988 a Permanent Conservation Order was placed over the property.[1]

Description

A late Victorian, two-storeyed rendered brick house with a two storey verandah and a four storey tower. Interiors original finished in cedar and walnut imported from USA. Frank Coffee's initials were incorporated within the elaborate internal plasterwork and staircase joinery, all of which survive. Much of the original garden survives including exotic trees, some of which were imported from Japan and California, partly obscure the house from the street.[1]

Heritage listing

As at 28 November 2006, Windsor Gardens is a good example of a high Victorian gentleman's residence that was localed in the semi-rural, outer suburbs of the late nineteenth century of Sydney. It has retained much of its original detailing, both internally and externally. The house ad gardens as a reception centre played an important role in the lives of many people since the end of the Second World War. It was the home of a prominent early resident, Mr Frank Coffee and was an early centre of worship for the local Catholic community.[1]

Windsor Gardens was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Windsor Gardens, New South Wales State Heritage Register (NSW SHR) Number H00571". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. ↑ pers comm

Bibliography

  • Papers on file.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Windsor Gardens, entry number 00571 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.