Lost Villas of Sydney: Bondi Junction, Kioto 1873

Original

Today (Google)

Formerly called Llandaff, it dates from 1875, which is about when we see this crew playing croquet, judging by the fashions.

While the lifting of height restrictions saw the devastation of historic downtown Sydney in the 1960s, it was the Great Depression of the 1930s that saw many of the great houses in Sydney fall to subdivision, as their owners, faced with old, - and old-fashioned, houses and strained cash flow saw liquidation as the best option.

And yes, the Google view above is exactly the same view 150 years apart.

Gates 1912

Gates 2012

The main gateposts survived and can still be seen, though now they just decorate the bin area of a 1980s block of flats. Extraordinary, no?

We met team 1875 above, and below is team 1892, the Newmans.

Team 1912, the Playfairs with chauffeur.

Around 1890 (above), when the garden had time to start growing over it. 

And below are some 1912 interior shots.

The view from the lookout. In the foreground is Llandaff Street in Bondi Junction, looking beyond to the Woollahra ridge, down to Double Bay, and then Darling Point and the Harbour.

And finally, from the NSW SIXMaps site, I screenshot and highlighted this aerial of Kioto in 1943, preparing for demolition. The extensive garden is bulldozed, the land already divided up and soon, blocks of flats will replace it. Yellow is the original landholding, red is the house and the gates.