Swifts, Darling Point

Yarranabbe

Darling Point is located within the area of the Cadigal people, one of the Aboriginal clans of the Sydney region, and was known from at least 1795 as "Yarranabbe". The plan of land for sale at Darling Point in 1856 cites the Indigenous name for the point, and the name is listed in the Town and Country Journal’s ‘Aboriginal names of places’ of 1878.

Mrs Darling's Point

By the 1830s the vast majority of the harbour fronting land east of Darling Point was held by a small number of landholders, being principally the Cooper and Wentworth families, while at Double Bay, a government village had been reserved. At Darling Point, Governor Darling reserved the promontory for sale in 1831 at the suggestion of the Surveyor General, Thomas Mitchell. The area was subsequently surveyed into large villa allotments and referred to the promontory as ‘Mrs Darling’s Point’ in respect to Eliza Darling, the wife of the Governor.

Purchase by Thomas Barker of the Villa Grants on Mrs Darling's Point

The first auction on the northern part of the promontory came on 11 October 1833 under the direction of Governor Darling’s successor, Governor Bourke. At the sale, nine allotments varying in area between six and 15 acres were offered. The reserve price per acre was £10 but the average price actually paid was much higher at £34. Swifts is located on allotment four which was originally nine and three quarter acres in size when it was purchased by Thomas Barker in November 1833. Barker also purchased the adjoining allotment of seven and three quarter acres at the same time. The total purchase price for the 17 acres was £573.

Subdivision of the villa grants

With no development evidently having occurred, Barker’s Darling Point grant was soon sold in 1835 to Thomas Icely. Icely had also acquired the neighbouring allotment of Lindesay at the time. Icely had been settled in the colony since 1822 and after an early dalliance in trading, went into pastoralism. The Darling Point grant, arguably the most favourably sited and extensive on the promontory, remained vacant. In the same year the Kent Brewery was opened on Parramatta Road at Blackwattle Bay. It was founded by John Tooth and his brother-in-law, Charles Newnham.

Meanwhile, Barker’s two grants, within which Swifts is sited, had been purchased in 1838 by Thomas Urmson Ryder, a partner in the mercantile company Aspinall, Brown & Co. Ryder had the land subdivided into 14 lots suitable for villas and put up for auction in April 1840 as the DeLamere Estate, which netted some £13,531. With the northern-most allotments comprising the site of the future Swifts, ownership changed hands successively during the 1840s and 1850s through conveyance, mortgage or trusteeship, but no development ensued. During this time John Tooth was declared bankrupt and the Kent Brewery was leased to his nephews, brothers Robert and Edwin Tooth. Subsequently in 1844, Robert Lucas Tooth was born to Edwin Tooth. After Frederick, the youngest brother, joined the partnership in 1853, the company traded as R.E. & F. Tooth. In 1855, Edwin Tooth returned to England with his family and remained there until his death. Robert Tooth, Edwin’s eldest son, returned to Sydney to join the family brewery in 1863, after having spent his formative years in England and completing his education at Eton. During that year Edmund Resch also migrated to Australia from Germany.

Development of Swifts by the Tooth Family: 1875–1900

In 1869 the Darling Point property was transferred by means of mortgage to Francis Mitchell. Mitchell’s professional background was in shipping, being for many years in business with Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft, and he was the senior partner of Messrs Mitchell & Co., ship chandlers and ship owners. Mitchell’s business dealings had brought him into contact with Robert Tooth in 1850, one of the partners in the Kent Brewery owned by the Tooth family. Shortly before his death, Mitchell sold the property in 1874 to Tooth’s nephew, Robert Lucas Tooth. (He was later created a baronet in 1906 and was given a Royal licence to assume the name and arms of Lucas-Tooth. From that time he became known as Sir Robert Lucas Lucas-Tooth.)

Original construction: 1875–82

The original portion of Swifts was under construction from 1875 and would seem to have been completed in 1877. Beatrice Maude, the daughter of Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth and Helen Tooth, laid one of the foundation stones for Swifts on 18 March 1876. The silver trowel was retained by Tooth & Co Ltd and later donated to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. The house was modelled on the family home in Cranbrook, Kent named “Great Swifts”. The original Swifts was a plain house of two storeys.

Expansion: 1882–1900

The 1880s was a boom period throughout the Australian colonies as money from English banks poured in to fuel expansion. The brewery industry at this time also experienced marked growth, with the number of breweries in the state peaking at an all-time high during the 1880s. In Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth’s personal life, his stature in colonial society had grown through entering the Parliament of New South Wales in 1880, representing the seat of Monaro in the Legislative Assembly.

In 1882, the prominent French-born Sydney architect Gustavus Alphonse Morrell was engaged by Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth to expand Swifts. The drawings were prepared by J. H. Harvey. Morrell’s design for Swifts drew on Sydney’s Government House in matters such as sandstone masonry façades, castellations and tower, the long arcade and porte-cochère. In planning the house, Morrell provided a mansion which was as up-to-date as any to be found in England. It was built at a time when servants were mandatory in any household of social status, with cook, kitchen and house maids, butler and footmen, and the management of the grounds and stables required gardeners, coachmen, and grooms. In 1888, Tooth & Co Ltd was formed and Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth was managing director to 1889. Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth and his family then left Sydney in 1889 for England with the remodelled house having only recently been completed. He did, however, make frequent visits to Australia. There is no record of Swifts in the few years following the departure but Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth may well have used the house as a base on his frequent visits. Swifts was leased to the lawyer Henry Harris between 1893 and 1897.

Edmund Resch Snr: 1900–28

In 1900 Swifts was purchased by the German emigrant brewer, Edmund Resch, who arrived in Australia in 1863 to seek his fortune on the goldfields of Victoria. During the 1870s, Edmund entered into partnership with his younger brother Richard in opening a cordial and aerated water factory. Edmund opened the Lion Brewery in Wilcannia in 1879. Over the next few decades, Edmund and his brothers, Emil and Richard, opened other branches of the Lion Brewery in the region. The partnership dissolved in 1885, with Edmund retaining the Wilcannia operation. Meanwhile, Emil went on to establish Carlton & United Breweries with others.

In 1900, Resch made a spectacular entry into the largest beer market in New South Wales and capped it off by acquiring Swifts. In June 1900, for reasons unknown, the property title was transferred from Edmund to his wife, Carolina, only to be transferred back to Edmund in October of that year. In Resch’s ownership, the alterations were confined to some interior redecorating and a tennis court, suggesting Resch was quite content with what they had received courtesy of his business rival, Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth.

During the First World War, when anti-German sentiment was rife throughout the country, Edmund contributed generously to the war effort and financially assisted his enlisted employees. In 1909, Edmund and Carolina Resch left for Europe for five years, only to return in 1914. During this time Swifts remained unoccupied apart from the Resch’s servants. In 1915, Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth died at his English estate Holme Lacy. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth's last words were: "I would like my work to go on."

Also during the First World War, the internment of German nationals was common, but Edmund evaded such action until November 1917, when Resch was arrested for an ‘indiscretion’ and interned at Holsworthy Internment Camp for a period of four months. According to reports, the indiscretion involved the flying of a German flag atop Swifts. Edmund Resch died at Swifts on 22 May 1923. Probate of his estate was sworn at £316,828. By April 1924 property title was transferred to Edmund Resch Jnr and Arnold Resch as joint tenants.

Edmund Resch Jnr: 1929–64

Associated with Edmund Resch Snr in his business were his two sons Edmund and Arnold. They were educated at the Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore School) in North Sydney and Scotch College, Melbourne. Edmund Resch Jnr married Florence Mabel Bennett in 1927 and they made Swifts their home until they died (Florence in 1959 and Edmund Resch Jnr in 1963).

On Carolina’s death in 1927 at Swifts, the Resch family brewing empire in New South Wales quickly unravelled as the two sons disagreed over the future direction of the company and of Swifts. Swifts was placed on the market in 1928 owing to the family dispute. In February, the brothers appeared in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, before Chief Justice Harvey, to divide their father’s estate and sell Swifts. In October the “Grand Old Resch Home” was sold at auction to Edmund Resch Jnr. Arnold Resch transferred his undivided moiety in Swifts to Edmund Resch Jnr. In 1929, the Resch brewery was acquired by Tooth & Co Ltd with the issue of £1,250,000 shares to Edmund Resch Jnr and Arnold Resch. In August 1929, an unknown assailant (believed to have been a disgruntled Resch’s employee opposing the brewery merger) set off dynamite at part of the wall surrounding Swifts.

Around this time, Edmund Resch Jnr undertook alterations to improve the living and working conditions of his staff and repair the wall. He commissioned plans by architects Robertson & Marks for new laundries and the gardener's compound. In addition, concrete was placed over the carriage drive and garden paths. The changes made for the servants from the original Tooth-era structures reveal the general employment circumstances of domestic staff in the inter-war era with their diminishing numbers limiting employers’ opportunities for engaging and retaining reliable staff. Edmund Resch Jnr also redecorated the interiors of the main house in the late 1920s, with much of the heavy flock wallpaper still in situ by the 1990s.

In August 1935, further plans were prepared by architects Robertson & Marks for the retaining wall, lavatory and manure bins. During this period the house continued to feature prominently in pop culture with Women’s Weekly running the occasional article of the intimate jottings of tennis parties and balls at the ‘castle-like home of Mrs Edmund Resch, Darling Point’.

In November 1963 Edmund Resch Jnr died and left his estate and the £253,000 Swifts property to the Roman Catholic Church. Edmund Resch Jnr was a Lutheran so the bequest was unusual in that context but understandable in light of the care offered to him and his late wife by the nursing Sisters of Charity. The proceeds of the Resch estate were used by the Sisters to construct St Vincent’s Private Hospital.

Bequest of Swifts to the Catholic Church: 1964–86

The next several decades of Swifts as a residence in the mid-twentieth century were associated with it being the home of the Cardinals of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.

In the early stages of the Church’s residence the land was subdivided into one lot containing the gardener's house (originally known as ‘The Bungalow’) and another lot comprising the main house, other outbuildings and grounds. The Bungalow was held in trust by The Perpetual Trustee Company Ltd with the title intended to revert to the Catholic Church on the death of the Resch's gardener. Some alterations were made to the house for the Catholic Church by architects SG Hirst & Kennedy. The former ballroom was converted for use as a chapel-of-ease (named St Edmunds in honour of Edmund Resch Jnr) that seated 200 and had standing room for about 60 people. Alterations were made to improve services in 1965 and some redecoration but throughout this period the furniture appears to have changed little from what the Resch family had left. That same year, 1964, Cardinal Gilroy moved into Swifts as the official residence of the Archbishop of Sydney. During the first-ever Papal visit to Australia in 1970, Pope Paul VI was accommodated at Swifts as the guest of Cardinal Gilroy. Pope John Paul II also stayed at Swifts during his 1986 visit (hosted by Cardinal Clancy).

Resch’s will effectively preserved Swifts and its grounds from demolition and subdivision at a time when most grand houses in Darling Point were being demolished for high-rise home unit developments. The conditional gift to the Church removed both the possibility of sale and demolition for 20 years after Edmund Resch Jnr's death.

In 1967, Vera Le Cras, the daughter of Arnold and Tottie Resch, undertook a protracted legal battle in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and later before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, to argue that Edmund Resch Jnr’s bequest of two-thirds of the residuary estate to the Sisters of Charity to build a private hospital (St Vincent's Private Hospital) was not a valid charitable gift, and the estate should therefore have passed to her as next of kin.

Upon his death in 1970, Cardinal Gilroy was succeeded by Cardinal James Darcy Freeman, who also used Swifts as the official residence of the Archbishop of Sydney. Cardinal Freeman was one of Cardinal Gilroy’s protégés, having served many years as his private secretary, and continued his predecessor’s residence in, and use of, Swifts. Cardinal Freeman’s use of Swifts was the longest of the three cardinals. Freeman, on his death in 1983, in turn was succeeded by his protégé, Cardinal Edward Bede Clancy who also resided in Swifts.

Until 1983 the house and grounds had been essentially the private domain of the Tooth and Resch families and the Catholic Church hierarchy, with use of the chapel for masses and weddings. The future premier of New South Wales, The Honourable Bob Carr, was married to Helena John there in 1973. Some interest in the property was elicited by the press in the early 1960s as the details of Edmund Resch Jnr’s bequest to the Catholic Church became public. This intensified in the 1980s when the future was debated and discussed by government and the general public.

Swifts becomes heritage-listed: 1983–84

By early 1983 the NSW Heritage Council proposed to place a permanent conservation order on the property under the Heritage Act 1977 (NSW). Faced with objections by the Catholic Church a Commission of Inquiry was initiated in August 1983. The Church’s final view was that listing should not include the western portion of the grounds. Opposing the Church was a plethora of witnesses and the NSW Heritage Council’s own in-house heritage experts who collectively drew attention to the architectural, historic and landscape values of the property as a late Victorian harbour-side mansion. A permanent conservation order, made under the Heritage Act 1977, was placed on the property in April 1984. Swifts is now listed on the State Heritage Register.

Swifts falls into disrepair: 1986–97

In 1986 the property was transferred for a reputed $9 million from the Roman Catholic Church to Minjar Holdings Pty Ltd, the family company of horse trainer and investor Carl Spies. On the same day Minjar Holdings executed a mortgage for $5 million back to the Catholic Church. The sale price was the highest for a residence ever paid in Australia up to that time.

By the early 1990s, the boom of the 1980s had turned to bust, with many investors facing financial ruin. Spies was pursued through the Supreme Court of New South Wales for non-payment of mortgage repayments owed to a number of mortgagees, including the Catholic Church. In 1990 the Spies were evicted by order of the Supreme Court and 450 pieces of furniture were sold at auction in October 1992. Throughout this period Swifts fell into disrepair. Substantial parts of the exterior sandstone walls of the house and gardens, as well as the roofing, become seriously dilapidated. The leaking roof caused significant damage to the already neglected interiors.

With Swifts facing serious and permanent destruction, the NSW Heritage Council, Woollahra Municipal Council and local residents became involved in opposing the redevelopment of the estate. Swifts was eventually placed on the market by St George Bank Ltd as the mortgagee-in-possession for sale by tender in late 1996, and again in mid-1997 for sale by public auction. No sale was recorded at the auction.

Purchase and restoration by the Moran Family: 1997–2012

In April 1997, Swifts was purchased by the Moran family, operators of private health and aged care facilities, for a reputed $12 million. The Moran family engaged the experienced conservation and heritage architect Clive Lucas of Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners to take on the mammoth task of restoring the derelict house. This involved extensive stone and roofing reconstruction and the interior paintwork required restoration. Drawing on the expertise of builders and decorators skilled in traditional techniques, the restoration of Swifts, undertaken between 1997 and 2012, was probably the largest and most expensive of its type for private family use in Sydney. The restoration of Swifts in its historical veracity (inclusive of furniture and furnishing) and scale of restoration has precedents only in the projects by the National Trust of Australia and Historic Houses Trust undertaken at public expense for the benefit of the community of New South Wales.

The original Conservation Analysis and Conservation Guidelines report for Swifts noted the vast size, quality of craftsmanship and the intricacy of planning illustrating the complex arrangements required for masters and servants in the late nineteenth century. This has not been lost in the restoration, and the house retains its major reception rooms, entrance hall, drawing room, morning room, smoking room, dining room, and complement of service rooms, kitchen scullery, pantry, butlers' rooms, silver safe, store, wine cellar, housemaid's room, linen room, servants' bedrooms and common areas. Outside there are still the meat rooms, dairy and laundry, and the original stable, double carriage house and tack room.

The restoration of Swifts, undertaken with NSW Heritage Council’s approval, emphasised the original 1870s Tooth-period of ownership over the later Resch family era. This was due in part to the high rate of survival of evidence for the decorative paint finishes under the twentieth century accretions and the photographic record of the principal rooms made around 1900. The house has become a form of homage to both High Victorian good taste and Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth.

The restoration of Swifts provided valuable new evidence for the lifestyle of the master and servants in the late nineteenth century, in particular, the quality and range of decorative wall finishes of the principal rooms and fittings of the servants' service areas. There is insight in the preference for Oriental exoticism in the women’s boudoir (or Moorish smoking room) and the preference for particular classical composers (in the ballroom).

Swifts is considered one of the most detailed Victorian interiors in Sydney and the Moorish smoking room is believed to be unique in Australia. Halfway through some of the interior restoration works in 1998, a tornado swept along the Darling Point ridge destroying much of the restored roofing and decorative painting, both of which had to be redone. Restoration of the grounds was also carried out with the assistance of Sydney-based architect and historian Dr James Broadbent.

Current owner: Shane Moran: 2013 to present

In 2013, Dr Shane Moran, through a wholly owned company, brought out the last remaining Moran family interests in the property and became the sole proprietor of Swifts. He remains the current owner.

Dr Moran is a descendant of Thomas Barker who acquired the original land grant upon which Swifts was built in 1833. Throughout his ownership, Dr Moran has continued to undertake restoration works on Swifts. Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth's desire for his "work to go on" was not in vain.

Heritage significance

In December 2012, Swifts was awarded the Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage by the Australian Institute of Architects for the finest restoration project in Australia.

Swifts is significant as a unique Australian translation of a Gothic or Old English style upper-middle class country house of the late nineteenth century picturesquely perched at the tip of Darling Point on Sydney Harbour. The house is impressive for its scale and use of sandstone masonry in the Gothic or Old English style of architecture, planning and decorative embellishments and is one of the grandest castellated mansions in New South Wales. Moreover, Swifts is of both New South Wales State and Australian heritage significance, as apart from Government House, Sydney, it is the largest remaining Victorian Gothic Revival house in Australia. There is considerable diversity of the decorative styles used in the respective rooms, with the ballroom and its hallway being the work of Lyon, Cottier & Co., Sydney (the leading firm of art decorators in the last quarter of the nineteenth century). The Moorish boudoir, the upper hall and the vestibule walls and ceiling are also their work - and most likely some of the other rooms. It is also likely that John Clay Beeler, an American trained art decorator then working in Sydney, who went on to decorate the interior of Melbourne's International Exhibition building for the 1888 Centenary, undertook work in the interior decoration. The copy of Guido Reni's Aurora in the sopraporte is believed to be the work of the Italian decorator in Sydney Signor Lorenzini, who regarded Reni as a master Italian artist from the early seventeenth century.

Swifts remains on its original grounds and still consists of much of the 19th-century landscape, statuary, terrace wall, stairs and paths.

Cultural significance

Swifts demonstrated a unique phase in Australia’s colonial history with the rise of an upper-middle class, exemplified by Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth, whose wealth was generated through brewing as well as agriculture, commerce and industry. With its almost intact historic curtilage, Swifts and its garden setting are rare survivors, arguably owing to the long occupation by, and benevolence of, the Resch family. Its iconic status in Australia’s cultural heritage has been supported through the extensive conservation program of Dr Shane Moran. Swifts' connection with the Roman Catholic Church is also of social significance as it was home to three cardinals: Gilroy, Freeman and Clancy.

The garden at Swifts is significant as a distinctive cultural landscape associated with individuals and families important in the development of Sydney and of New South Wales. It is a particularly fine example of a landscaped garden developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century reflecting particular design trends and planting styles. The special relationship of the grounds to the house is a significant factor in determining the status of the grounds as an item of environmental heritage.

Fincham & Hobday Organ

On 1 December 2016, the Dr. Shane Moran installed an historic Australian made Fincham & Hobday organ into the organ chamber at Swifts. The organ was built in 1885 by Fincham & Hobday, Adelaide for the Congressional Church, Gawler, South Australia. The façade of the organ was decorated by Heinrich Ludwig Vosz (1812-1886). In 2011 the organ was gifted to the Organ Historical Trust of Australia. In 2015, Dr and Mrs Moran purchased the organ and engaged Hargraves Pipe Organs Pty Ltd of Mt Evelyn, Victoria, to undertake substantial restoration work over the course of more than a year, resulting in the organ being restored to its former grandeur.

Out of a total of eleven new organs constructed by Fincham & Hobday during the 19th centuary, this is one of only three instruments by the Adelaide firm to survive intact, retaining its original mechanical key and stop actions, pipework, casework with carved detail and attached console. It is the only example of its work to be found outside South Australia. It is of considerable significance for its outstanding quality of workmanship and choice of materials, its delightful sound, and the retention of the original façade pipe decoration. The superior mechanical and tonal style of the organ has been strongly influenced by the 1877 Hill & Son organ in the Adelaide Town Hall, which the firm worked upon, and differs considerably from the firm’s Melbourne productions. The organ was opened at Gawler on 13 September 1885 and was enlarged by Fincham & Hobday to two manuals in 1888.

Swifts in popular culture

Although currently a private home, Swifts is regularly featured in films and hosts distinguished cultural events. These include the following:

Fashion Campaign: One Generation, One Family, One Westfield (Sibling Agency/The Otto Empire, March 2017): Westfield 2017 Autumn/Winter Fashion Season: Swifts was the location of the setting for the Westfield Autumn/Winter 2017 fashion campaign viewable at:

Television Series: Unreal Estate: Episode 5 (Nine Network, 2016): Swifts was one of the feature houses in the Australian television series' episode entitled "Grand Mansions" which aired on 25 October 2016, to a national audience of 515,000 people. Swifts also featured in the promotional material for the series.

Celebrity Wedding: Sunny Wang and Dominique Choy, December 2015:The famous singer Dominique Choy (a close family friend of the current owner) was married to the well known Taiwanese actor Sunny Wang in December 2015.

Short Film: Harold Holt - The Defector (Singularity Films, 2015): A short film satirising the disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt in 1967.

Telemovie: Mary - The Making of a Princess (FremantleMedia Australia, 2015): Swifts is featured as the Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Telemovie: Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door (Shine Productions, 2015): The telemovie chronicling the life of Peter Allen was filmed in early 2015 and features Joel Jackson as Peter Allen, Sarah West, Rebecca Gibney, Sigrid Thornton and Henri Szeps.

Television series: A Place to Call Home (Seven Network (Operations)/Seven Productions, 2013–15): Swifts has become a regular feature on the well-received Australian drama A Place To Call Home. The house is featured as the Swanson Mansion, residence of Andrew Swanson Esq.

Jack Daniel's - Master Distiller Dinner (2012): Following the successful Jack Daniel's Embassy tour, Jeff Arnett, Jack Daniel's Master Distiller, was invited to a very special dinner. The event took place at Swifts. Celebrity Chef Luke Mangan created and prepared the courses on site, accompanied by matching cocktails. The film captures the glamour and atmosphere of Swifts.

Swifts Soirées 2012: Inaugural Concert Series in Support of the Opera Foundation Australia: Swifts played host to the Inaugural Concert Series in Support of the Opera Foundation Australia in 2012. The Swifts ballroom has a sprung dance floor, excellent acoustics and decorative art featuring musicians including Mozart and Strauss. 2012 featured some of the finest music and musicians in Australia. All performances were held in the Grand Ballroom. This was the first time Swifts has been opened for public music performances since the Moran family's restoration of Swifts. The performances included those of the Sydney Omega Ensemble, Katie Noonan, James Morrison and Amelia Farrugia.

Mulberry Fashion Launch Australia, 2010: Mulberry fashion house hosted an exclusive garden party at Swifts to celebrate opening its first Australian boutique. Guests included Xavier Samuel, Krew Boylan, Emma Lung, Jessica Gomes, Nicole Trunfio, Samantha Harris and Pia Miranda.