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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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Greycliffe House, Vaucluse, 1875-85

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Greycliffe House, Vaucluse, 1875-85

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a089396 / SPF/396]

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Clairvaux House

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Hospitals Residential building Victorian architecture

Buildings

Greycliffe House

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State Library of New South Wales

Clairvaux House

By the early twentieth century many of Sydney's old estates were subdivided. Their large grounds were too expensive to maintain and as Sydney expanded, land became a premium. Clairvaux House, a grand Victorian house, was built on land purchased from the Wentworth Estate c 1871. A domestic residence until the early twentieth century, the house underwent three subdivisions before being demolished in 1929.

Hospitals

Residential building

Victorian architecture

Greycliffe House

full record »

Two-storey Victorian style sandstone mansion in Vaucluse. John Reeve purchased the land from William Charles Wentworth and commissioned John Hilly to build the property. It was completed at a cost of 5,000 pounds. He and his wife never lived there. In 1897, the property was severely damaged by fire and then completely rebuilt. In 1911, the property was transferred to public ownership and given over by the state government for use as a hospital for babies and then a mothercraft centre. It was added to the Sydney Harbour National Park in 1978.