Ashton is a heritage-listed mansion located at 102 Elizabeth Bay Road in the inner eastern Sydney suburb of Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Thomas Rowe and built from 1874 to 1875. It is also known as Ashton and its grounds and Caprera (c.1875–c.1910); Brema or Braemar (c.1910–c.1920); The German Consulate. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 19 November 2003.
History Elizabeth Bay had been the site of a fishing village established by Governor Macquarie in for a composite group of Cadigal people under the leadership of Bungaree (d.1830). Elizabeth Bay had been named in honour of Elizabeth Macquarie. Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor 1821–25, designated Elizabeth Bay as the site of an asylum for the insane. Governor Darling granted Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay at Elizabeth Bay in 1826. From 1826 to 1926 the subject land was part of Macleay's estate, in which he built his mansion in the 1830s to the west. Built well before the house, the estate was widely considered at the time (1820s on) as "the finest house and garden in the colony". Its wood walks bordered the estate on its eastern sideCarlin, 2000, p. 38,92 (and later the site of Ashton).
Description Ashton comprises a two-storey, late Victorian Italianate harbour side villa in its original grounds. The property addresses Elizabeth Bay, Elizabeth Bay Road and The Esplanade. It features a prominent tower visible from both Elizabeth Bay Road and Beare Park and is known as a local landmark. The house has been extended and renovated a number of times but still retains many of its original Victorian features and details. Many of these additions are significant in themselves due to their association with particular historic occupants of the place. The original section of the house is of rendered brick with struck courses built on a basement podium of sandstone ashlar. Later additions are of rendered brick with struck courses well matched to the original building. Roofs are generally slate. Basement floor is a recent concrete slab with upper floors of timber. The masonry tower features a distinctive, steep pitched roof with cast iron cresting. Joinery throughout appears to be cedar with very recent modifications of undetermined timber.
An associated 1920s building on the site, Esplanade Cottage, was demolished without authorisation some time after 1999. Its footings and remnant walls and landscape remain in situ. This building addressed The Esplanade. The grounds contain nineteenth-century sandstone walling and garden terracing, with views across Beare Park to Sydney Harbour. The front garden and carriage loop facing Elizabeth Bay has been modified but retains some original plantings, including curly palm (Howea belmoreana), Lord Howe Island palm (H. fosteriana).Stuart Read, pers.comm., 2/2016
Condition
As at 17 December 2003, the house is currently in poor condition due to extensive roof damage in the 1999 hail storms and subsequent neglect. The upper floor ceilings are generally lost but representative ground floor ceilings remain. Most joinery is intact in situ or labelled and stored on site. Most chimney pieces remain in situ. The fabric retains evidence of earlier uses, services and finishes. Recent unauthorised works and demolitions do not preclude a high quality conservation of the place.
An associated building on the site, Esplanade Cottage, was demolished without authorisation some time after 1999. Its footings and remnant walls and landscape remain in situ.
Many of the early twentieth century additions to the Rowe's original build of the house are generally related to significant occupants and so contribute to the overall significance of the item. A lack of maintenance in the second half of the twentieth century and unauthorised works post 1999 have left the fabric in poor condition but structurally sound. Sufficient original fabric, site and documentary evidence survives to facilitate conservation and interpretation of the place.
Modifications and dates The following periods correspond to the different names given to the house by its different owners as revealed by documentary research.
Caprera Period (CP) 1871–1902 This represents the original house built and lived in by Thomas Rowe after he moved from Tresco before 1875. A photograph dated 1885 shows that no additions had been built to the northern or southern sides of the house, apart from a narrow awning at basement level on the south and a small gabled porch at ground floor level on the north. The outline of the house including these minor structures is shown on the 1908 survey along with stables on the western boundary. This plan indicates that immediately to the north of the front door there may have been a verandah or porch. Caprera was described in 1891 as "three storey" indicating that the current basement level was inhabited. It seems likely that the basement level housed the kitchen and servants quarters.
Braemar Period (BP) 1903–1921 After Thomas Rowe's death in 1899 the property was rented to various tenants including G. H. Boner. Later it was purchased by Boner, who applied to carry out building works in 1908. It is possible this work included the single storey extension to the south west corner of the house and the two storey extension to the north of the front door and tower. F. A. Lohmann purchased the property in 1909 and it became known as Braemar during this period of German influence.
Ashton Phase 1 (AP1) 1921–1929 After being confiscated from German ownership at the end of World War I the house was purchased and occupied by Charles Henry Hoskins, proprietor of the Hoskins Iron and Steel Company. Hoskins introduced the name Ashton for the place. He added to the northern end of the house, built two motor garages and a separate cottage to replace the stables and probably built the bay window addition to the library and balcony over. The cast iron detailing of the rear first floor balcony was replaced in timber probably at this time. The ground floor room behind the garage may have been the chauffeur quarters or might have accommodated the kitchen relocated from the basement to a more convenient location.
Ashton Phase 2 (AP2) 1929–1936 Following the death of Charles Hoskins, Ashton was sold to Leslie Scandrett who added the first floor bathroom to the main bedroom at the south west corner of the house. The Water Board survey from 1934 shows that the large arcaded verandah on the garden front had been added by this time.
Ashton Phase 3 (AP3) 1937–2002 Very little was added to the house in this period, although the cottage on the western boundary had been extended by 1954 and the land was subdivided into two lots, although retained under a single ownership. The cottage was demolished and the house has suffered storm damage and deterioration due to lack of maintenance. The surrounding development changed considerably in the last period. The enclave of six similar sized villas designed by Thomas Rowe were reduced to three (Ashton, Tresco and Kincoppal) and multi-story flat buildings have been constructed on either side of Ashton.
Heritage listing As at 1 October 2003, Ashton represents a rare and intact example of a Victorian Italianate villa in its original grounds situated on the Sydney Harbour waterfront, dating from 1875. Designed by the architect Thomas Rowe as his family home, the house and grounds are a fine example of the major domestic work of this prominent 19th Century architect. Ashton is rare in the State as one of the small group of surviving major domestic works attributed to Thomas Rowe, together with Tresco, Kincoppal, and Heathcote Hall. The building retains its distinctive exterior and interior features and the grounds retain important landscape elements, which contribute to the surrounding landscape and relate the property with the other surviving villas of Thomas Rowe. The visual link between the house and Elizabeth Bay that dictated its original siting survives. The house and grounds are a prominent landmark in the locality, visible from Elizabeth Bay, Elizabeth Point, Elizabeth Bay Road, the Esplanade, and other waterfront properties.
The house and grounds demonstrate the evolution of the culture, taste, lifestyle and affluence of Sydney's professional and mercantile elite over the period of 1875–1942. Eminent former owners include Thomas Rowe, John Grafton Ross, Charles Henry Hoskins and Sir Cecil Harold Hoskins, who were important figures in the development of Australian architecture and industry, including CSR (Ross), Australasian Gaslight Company (Ross), Australian General Insurance (Ross), Hoskins Iron and Steel Co. (Charles Hoskins), and BHP (Cecil Hoskins). The grandeur, quality, style and situation of the house and grounds provide evidence of the affluence and importance of these figures in Australian architecture and industry.
Historically, the property represents one of only two, surviving, intact first-generation subdivisions of the original Macleay Estate, illustrating the first-generation residential development of Elizabeth Point.
Ashton was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 19 November 2003 having satisfied the following criteria.
The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.
Ashton demonstrates the first-generation subdivision patterns and residential development at Elizabeth Point. It represents one of only two intact, surviving, first generation subdivisions of the original Macleay family Estate, which was subdivided by the Macleay family from the 1840s. Its original allotment boundaries are still legible and under one ownership, despite subdivision into two lots.
The house and grounds provide evidence of the development of Australian architecture during the 19th Century, as a fine example of a Victorian Italianate villa on Sydney Harbour designed by the prominent architect of this era, Thomas Rowe.
The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history.
Ashton is significant for its association with eminent former owners including Thomas Rowe, Joseph Ross, and the Hoskins family who were major steel manufacturers and associated with the development of BHP. The grandeur, quality, style and situation of the house and grounds demonstrates the professional and economic standing of these figures achieved by the time of their residency in Ashton and their importance in the development of Australian architecture or industry.
Designed by the architect Thomas Rowe as his family home (after Tresco), the house and grounds of Ashton also provide evidence of the architectural accomplishments, personal tastes, lifestyle, and economic and social position of this prominent 19th Century architect during the 1870s. Rowe's architectural practice became one of the largest and most important architectural practices of the nineteenth century, with work in Bathurst, Orange, Goulburn, Newcastle and Brisbane as well as Sydney. He became well known for his commercial buildings, arcades, churches and large private residences. Rowe was a founder of the Institute of Architects in 1871, and served as its president in 1876–1889 and 1895–1897. He was an alderman on the Sydney City Council in 1872–1876 and the first mayor of Manly in 1877. He was also a first lieutenant in the Engineer Corps in 1872 and lieut-colonel in 1886, hence the name "Colonel". He lost his fortune in the 1893 depression and died almost penniless in his house, "Mona" in Darling Point in January 1899.