Sydney Open - Merchants House/Monochrome Weekend

This is the coolroom/storage area of the servant's quarters.

This is the most intact example of a typical late- Georgian town house known to survive in New South Wales. It was built in 1848 as a residence attached to the adjoining warehouse of the firm Martyn and Coombes. Historically the site has direct links with other Rocks sites. From 1873 to 1875 it was the residence of the Reverend Thomas Gainsford, minister of the Mariners’ Church. In 1942 it served as the barracks for members of the Royal Indian Navy who were responsible for the construction of light warships, known as ‘corvettes’, for the Royal Australian Navy at the government dockyards. The building exhibits many features of the Greek Revival style and is the only remaining example of its kind in The Rocks. It has a cantilevered first-floor balcony, external shutters and fully restored interiors. In the first-floor drawing room, still intact, you can see the 19th-century moulded plasterwork, chimneypiece, grate and joinery.

For more monochrome madness, visit Dragonstar's Weekend in Black and White.