Darlinghurst Blog: Street of the Week: Tewkesbury Avenue

Most people who live in the Darlinghurst-Kings Cross area, have their favourite street in the neighbourhood. 

For some, it is Roslyn Avenue, with its little shop-houses and cafes; for others it is the leafy-canopied Surrey Street; and, for me, it is Hardie Street - more for the memories of my life there, than for any of its physical attributes. 

One reader has written to me about Tewkesbury Avenue. 

Photograph: City of Sydney Archives, 1982.

I don't know if this stumpy little street is his favourite in Darlinghurst, but he was interested enough to want to know who, or what, it was named after.

I only really know Tewkesbury Avenue as a shortcut, somewhere to look for car spaces, or as the back entrance to filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin's mansion, Iona. 

Here is his investigation into the history of Tewkesbury Avenue.

"From the 1920’s to the 1970’s there were two huge warehouses occupying the site incorporating the present day residential towers called Palisades, Kirketon Mews, Kirketon Gardens, Kirketon Manor and No. 1 Tewkesbury Avenue (entrance in photograph above)," he writes.

"Prior to this, there were four to five single-storey large houses on the site, dating from the 1850’s, which formed part of the original William Long land grant of 5 acres.
"Obviously the houses deteriorated to a point that the land was more valuable for warehouse distribution and the then council allowed for such “backward” land-use change. Strange!
"So the houses were eventually torn down to make way for the warehouses."

Photograph: City of Sydney Archives, 1921 (see Clapton House/Earls Court in the top left).

"These warehouses appear on some of the 1940s black and white photos available from Archives and form the physical reason which made it possible to amalgamate a large development site in an inner-city area. By the way, the initial developer was The Hayson Group and they referred to this site as  'Pallisades'.

"You can also find out what the warehouses were originally used for:

"The main warehouse was used as the headquarters for Yellow Cabs of Australia Ltd and the other, Harden and Johnston Pty Ltd (distributor of automobiles)."

"The first building constructed was for Yellow Cabs and its entrance was simply a private driveway sandwiched between two buildings fronting Darlinghurst Road.
"The gentleman who introduced Yellow Cabs to Australia was William Pearson Tewksbury, nicknamed 'Tewks' (notice that his surname is spelled without the 'e').
"My theory is that the driveway to the business was coined Tewksbury Avenue by the staff working for Mr Tewksbury."

*
One of the large 19th century houses he mentions, was Rosebank - one of 17 gentlemen's villas from the original subdivision of Woolloomooloo Hill.
Rosebank was demolished in the 1920s and the Pallisades apartment block on Farrell Avenue was built on the site.
Do you know anything more about Tewkesbury Avenue?

What street would you like to know the history of?

Darlinghurst Blog: Detritus: Monday Morning

No, that's not the detritus of my weekend. 

I've actually given up the 311 for the moment and am now walking to work, which is far more interesting than staring out the window of the bus. Yesterday morning I came across a few abandoned toys, including that bong on Nimrod Street, as well as a dollhouse on Tewkesbury Avenue:

And a condom on Darley Street:

I wonder what I'll see today.

Darlinghurst: Detritus: Happy New Year

 Happy new year from Darlinghurst! I hope 2011 brings you good things. 

I actually took this picture during the 9pm fireworks, which I watched - Champagne in hand - from Poos on Sticks. Quite a little crowd of strangers had gathered and we all ooohed and aaahed together and became friends.

Then as soon as the fireworks were over, the small crowd of new friends dispersed. 

Later, I went to a party in an apartment at the flats at 1 Tewkesbury Avenue, which had the most amazing wrap-around verandas with views across the neighbourhood. Unfortunately the Horizon apartment building completely blocked out any view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is fireworks central, so I missed the ''X Marks the Spot'' theme that the cracker show was based upon. I assume there was a big X on the bridge, which doesn't sound all that exciting anyway.

I have never been in to the 1 Tewkesbury Avenue flats before, so it was interesting to see Darlinghurst from such a different perspective. I especially loved seeing the beautiful spire of St John's Church lit up in the night:

I didn't disgrace myself too badly at the party, so maybe the hostess will invite me back during the day so I can have another glimpse of the neighbourhood from above. 

Darlinghurst: Heritage Items: Iona

Iona

- Register of the National Estate, NSW Heritage Act

From St Johns Church I ducked down Tewkesbury Avenue to the imposing gates of Iona, a 30-room mansion, whose actual address is listed as 2 Darley Street.

The 1888 Victorian Italianate pile was bought by filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin - of Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge and Australia fame - for a neat $10 million in February, 2006.

I once knew someone who lived in The Hopes apartment building, at 251 Darlinghurst Road, which backs on to Iona. One evening while I was visiting, a very fluffy grey cat arrived at the person's door and was grandly introduced as Baz Luhrmann's Cat. I think the Hopes resident spent about one year befriending the cat just so he could make such introductions to impress his guests.

Back before the cat, in the mid-nineteenth century, the site was home to Iona Cottage, which was first occupied by Elizabeth Grose and later, Robert Carter, who in 1879, extended and improved the small dwelling to become worthy of the title ''gentleman's residence''.

In 1888, the year of Australia's centenary, wealthy businessman and farmer Edward Chisholm purchased the property and was responsible for building the two-storey mansion with verandas, still known today as Iona. He lived with his family at the grand palace until his death ten years later.

Another decade on, in 1908, Iona was purchased by Adela Taylor, wife of former Sydney Mayor Allen Taylor (of Taylor Square fame), and renamed, for reasons unknown to me, Wootten.

Over the next 70-odd years the building changed hands three times and was used throughout as a private hospital with the respective names, Wootten PH, Winchester PH and Hughlings PH.

During this period the building and site also underwent minor alterations and additions, including the construction - in 1935 - of a seven-room nurses' residence, which was demolished in 1984.

In the 1970s and 80s the site fell into the hands of developers who variously wanted to raze the grounds and build three, 60-storey apartment blocks (can you imagine!), or convert the residence into 13 apartments.

The projects failed for a number of reasons, mostly financial, but it was during this time that the National Trust successfully campaigned for Iona to be included on the Register of the National Estate.

Iona is now listed on the State Heritage Register (with a permanent conservation order), the Local Environment Plan and the National Trust register, so no one can mess with it.

Yet most people don't have a chance to see it either.

It would be good if Luhrmann and Martin opened the grounds to the public for one day each year.