Lost Villas of Sydney: Marrickville, The Warren 1860s

Original

Today (Google)

Built 1857: Demolished 1922. The Warren was a huge 30-room mansion on 130 acres on the ridge overlooking the Cooks River. The owner sold it in 1883 to a Carmelite convent, who were there until eviction in 1903 for mortgage default. Then empty, in WWI it became a military camp. In 1919 the government resumed the estate, and demolished the house in 1922 to build housing for returned soldiers.

Original

Restored

A pretty scene showing the imposing house dominant on the ridge.

Original

Restored

The stables were substantial too, and included crew housing.

Original

Restored

An 1870s rural view of the Warren from, what I think today is, west from Gannon Street, Tempe.

This is around 1900, when it had been turned into a convent.

Some lads at the WW1 camp, with the derelict convent behind.

Demolition of the mansion and construction of returned soldiers homes. I wonder how much material at hand was reused from old to new?

A wider demolition shot.

Following are a couple of 1870s photos I thought of interest to those of us historically-minded.

In this first one, The Warren is seen clearly from the Holtermann house in North Sydney. The panorama and distance puts both The Warren, and Sydney itself from those times, in remarkable perspective. I've highlighted The Warren at centre top. Note: This is a huge file size if you want to enlarge.

And just apropos, this is a photo I found of a sitting room at The Warren during its time as a grand estate, and which I thought interesting to see inside, given how little there is otherwise.