Mount Adelaide

In 1833, William McDonald acquired a land grant on the highest part of Darling Point. He named his property Mount Adelaide, after the then British queen. In the mid 1840s the next owner, John Mortimer Lewis, colonial architect, built a cottage on the site called Derby Lodge. John Croft, who acquired the property in 1856, changed the name back to Mount Adelaide, and sold it on to Henry Mort (brother of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort) in 1858.

In 1881, Henry engaged Edmund Blacket’s firm to design alterations and extensions to the property. Financial hardship meant that in 1893 Henry transferred ownership of Mount Adelaide to his daughter and son, and in the same year the land began to be subdivided and sold off. Mount Adelaide housed Ascham School from 1901 to 1908, then Sir Samuel Hordern bought the property and demolished the house, using the site to build his own architect-designed villa, Babworth House.

Mount Adelaide, Darling Point, 1843, plans by Blacket & Sons. Architectural plans PXD 207v.1/105-121

Looking East - Darling Point & beyond

Mount Adelaide