Early Colonial Homes of the Sydney Region is an important survey of the remaining homes which were constructed within the first 50 years of the new Colony. It is also a survey of farmhouses evocative of early Australia - Georgian farmhouses; jerkin-head farmhouses; ruined farmhouses; and the farmhouses with deep verandahs. The drawings also show mansions, including the mansions of architect John Verge. Included is a variety of early anonymous domestic architecture and some modern houses which have 'swallowed' an earlier dwelling.
Many buildings can be found in locations their original owners would have found surprising: totally enclosed within modern houses developments (Experiment Farm, Parramatta); within the grounds of a Detention Centre (Newington, Silverwater) and Odyssey House Drug Rehabilitation Centre (Robin Hood Farm Minto); within a Golf Course (Merrymount, Cattai and Glenmore, Mulgoa); beside the Camden Airport, watching light aircraft and gliders (Hassall Cottage, Camden); or as part of a Girls' School (Barham, East Sydney).
Some homes were saved from the developers 'in the nick of time' (Joyce Farm House, Baulkham Hills and McDonalds Farm, Ermington); many have come to the brink of destruction and been miraculously saved.
This is a book to enjoy - to read - and keep. It will be interesting to see how many of these Colonial homes last into the next century.
The jacket shows Hadley Park, Castlereagh.
