Richmond Terrace, Domain, Sydney

Scarce, early c.20th colour collotype of the grand Richmond Terrace by Hardy Wilson (1881-1951), “regarded as one of the most outstanding Australian architects of the twentieth century”.

Dated at lower left in the image, ‘1920‘ but published 1924.

In 1836, ‘Greystanes House’ was built by Nelson Simmons Lawson, on land given to him by his father, on the eastern side of Prospect Hill. In 1942, Greystanes House was resumed for military use for World War II. The building was demolished in 1946, but its gates still remain intact on Greystanes Road.

Hardy Wilson commenced his systematic survey of the early colonial architecture built between 1790 to 1840 in New South Wales and Tasmania in 1912, completing the project a decade later in 1922. At the time, no comparable architectural survey had been undertaken in Australia. The resulting body of work became an important documentary record of colonial buildings, many of which were subsequently demolished. Wilson’s drawings and written observations therefore preserve detailed evidence of architectural forms, construction methods, and domestic buildings that would otherwise have been lost. It was the first major psurvey dedicated to the documentation and conservation of Australian buildings.