French village: Hunters Hill

Throughout the second half of the 19th century, brothers Didier and Julies Joubert bought up much of the land in Hunters Hill, lobbying for the construction of roads and bridges there. They built a dozen sandstone villas including Passy which was, at one time, home to Sydney's French Consul, and later the Manning family.

Property developers in the modern sense of the word, the Joubert brothers chose to live in the suburb they'd developed: Jules Joubert called his house Moocooboolah after the indigenous name for the area. They were deeply concerned with all aspects of the infrastructure and civic life of Hunters Hill. Didier Joubert was the first President of the Hunters Hill Council (1861 - 62), before the title of Mayor was adopted, and Jules became its first Mayor (1867 - 69).