Windsor Gardens

Item details


Name of item:	Windsor Gardens
Other name/s:	Iroquios
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Residential buildings (private)
Category:	Mansion
Location:	Lat: -33.8019510496 Long: 151.1896240280
Primary address:	258-260 Mowbray Road, Chatswood, NSW 2067
Parish:	Willoughby
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Willoughby
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Metropolitan

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
PART LOT	100		DP	832570

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
258-260 Mowbray Road	Chatswood	Willoughby	Willoughby	Cumberland	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
	Private

Statement of significance:


	Windsor Gardens is a good example of a high Victorian gentleman's residence that was localed in the semi-rural, outer suburbs of the late nineteenth century of Sydney. It has retained much of its original detailing, both internally and externally. The house and gardens as a reception centre played an important role in the lives of many people since the end of the Second World War. It was the home of a prominent early resident, Mr Frank Coffee and was an early centre of worship for the local Catholic community.
	Date significance updated: 13 Jun 23
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Construction years:	1888-1888
Physical description:	A late Victorian, two storeyed rendered brick house with a two storey verandah and a four storey tower. Interiors original finished in cedar and walnut imported from USA. Frank Coffee's initials were incorporated within the elaborate internal plasterwork and staircase joinery, all of which survive. Much of the original garden survives including exotic trees, some of which were imported from Japan and California, partly obscure the house from the street.


Current use:	Retirement village.
Former use:	Aboriginal land, timber-getting, residence, Catholic Church masses, reception home.

History

Historical notes:

Windsor Gardens was built in 1888 by American journalist Frank Coffee, who arrived in Sydney in 1882 as a reportor for the New York Herald. It was originally named Iroquois after an American battleship visiting Sydney at the time.

During the early years Mass was held each month in the drawing room of Iroquois for the local Catholic community by a Priest from Riverview College. This was becasue there was no Catholic Church between North Sydney and Pymble.

The term 'villa' was first used in England in the 17th century, partly from the Latin and Italian 'country house, farm', perhaps derived from the stem of vicus (village). The villa was a country mansion or residence, together with a farm, farm-buildings, or other house attached, built or occupied by a person of some position and wealth. It was taken to include a country seat or estate and later a residence in the country or in the neighbourhood of a town, usually standing in its own grounds. From this is was appropriated by the middleof the 18th century to mean a residence of a superior type, in the suburbs of a town or in a residential district, such as that occupied by a person of the middle class, and also a small, better-class dwelling house, usually detached or semi-detached. The term 'villa garden' was used in the context of Hobart and Sydney residences in the 1830s, and if near the coast or harbour, the appellation 'marine villa' was often applied. Australian origins probably date from the grant conditions applied to Sydney's Woolloomooloo Hill (1827, under Governor Darling), which obligated the construction of villas fulfilling certain conditions... 'with garden like domain, and external offices for stables and domestic economy' (John Buonarotti Papworth, 1825, quoted in James Broadbent's 1997 book, 'The Australian Colonial House'). Many gardens of 19th century villas followed Gardenesque conventions, with garden ornaments often complementing the architecture of the house. The term had acquired such widespread usage by the 1850s that when Jane Loudon issued a new editiion of her husband (John Claudius Loudon)'s 'Suburban Gardener and Villa Companion' (1838) she merely entitled the revised work 'The Villa Gardener' (1850). This coincided with a growing period of suburbanisation in Australia with consequent fostering of the nursery trade... By the 1880s, descriptions of Australian villas implied sufficient room for a lawn on two or three fronts of the residence...(Aitken, 2002, 619-20).

The large Coffee family lived in the house until the late 1920s when it was sold to the Burke family.

Frank Coffee passed away in 1929 at Kirribillli. His wife died in 1943. During his lifetime Frank Coffee made some forty to fifty trips around the Pacific and subsequently wrote and publlished his book "Forty Years on the Pacific."

According to anecdotal evidence, Windsor Gardens was owned by John Adrian Burke from 1930 to 1945 (pers comm).

In 1945 it was purchased by Mr Allan Gilbert who renamed it Windsor Gardens and converted it into a venue for wedding receptions.

On 13 May 1986 an Interim Conservation Order was made over Windsor Gardens to ensure that a retirement village development proposal was sympathetic to the significance of Windsor Gardens.

On 28 July 1988 a Permanent Conservation Order was placed over the property.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Gardens-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes and parklands of distinctive styles-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes and gardens of domestic accommodation-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Creating environments evocative of the 'old country'-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Exploration-Activities associated with making places previously unknown to a cultural group known to them.	Exploring and surveying for the Crown-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Forestry-Activities associated with identifying and managing land covered in trees for commercial purposes.	Timber getting-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Gentlemens Villas-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	A Picturesque Residential Suburb-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	(none)-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship	Religious worship-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship	Practising Catholicism-

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act	Building/Garden Mntence & refer to fil Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): (1) The maintenance of any building or item on the site where maintenance means the continuous protective care of existing material; and (2) Garden maintenance including cultivation, pruning, weed control, the repair and maintenance of existing fences, gates, garden walls and tree surgery but not extensive lopping; (3) Any internal alterations to buildings or additions for buildings erected after the year	Jul 29 1988
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register	00571	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former	00571	29 Jul 88	123	4025
Local Environmental Plan		17 Nov 95

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written			Papers on file
Written	Aitken, Richard	2002	'Villa Garden' (entry)	View detail

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5045391
File number:	S90/02779 & NHC 860492

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