Balmain Historic Buildings

Balmain’s hibiscus-scented streets contain dozens of historically significant buildings, most of which are privately owned. The most notable is the graciously proportioned Hampton Villa, a Georgian marine villa (1847). NSW Premier Sir Henry Parkes, the ‘Father of Federation’, lived here from 1888 to 1892. Nearby is the squat, shingle-roofed Clontarf Cottage, an impressively restored house (1844) saved by protests in the late 1980s; and the semiderelict St Mary’s Hall, built around 1851 and now full of someone’s junk. Darling St has the Watch House, Sydney’s oldest surviving lockup (1854), Waterman’s Cottage, built in 1841, and Cathermore, Balmain’s first bakery (1841), which later became the Waterford Arms pub.