Darling House

UNFURL. INTERLINKED. PALIMPSEST. GRANDEUR. HIDDEN

Darling House is an assisted living boutique hotel on Eora Country.

It holds social, cultural & historical pride being one of the single remaining freestanding dwellings in the area.

Dawes Point, named after William Dawes, astronomer with the first fleet, is the heart of Sydney’s maritime history.
Joseph Henry Farris erected this Sandstone Georgian neo-colonial residence in 1842.

It stands upon an original sandstone quarry built from the blocks that were mined and carved there.

Joseph’s wife Elizabeth, commissioned an elaborate Avery full of exotic birds. These birds, both real and imagined, became the inspiration for the interior treatment of all of the spaces both private and public within Darling House and its surrounding gardens. The Owl, Peafowl, Golden Pheasant, Hyacinth Macaw to name a few and their majestic characteristics were drawn upon for palette, artworks, upholstery and custom carpet.

We undertook extensive research of the period, sourced period furniture & fittings to recreate a highly detailed, historically accurate and painstakingly renovated house.