Tempe House and St Magdalenes Chapel, Heritage estate and chapel in Wolli Creek, Australia

Tempe House is a sandstone villa designed by John Verge and built between 1833 and 1836 at Wolli Creek, with a slate roof and verandah bays. Beside it stands St Magdalene's Chapel, built in 1888 in a style matching the Good Samaritan Order's penitentiary buildings by Sheerin & Hennessy. The house remained largely unaltered until 1944–1945.

Alexander Brodie Spark bought the land in 1826 and commissioned John Verge to build the villa between 1833 and 1836. Spark's insolvency was listed in 1843, and after his death in 1856 the estate was sold in 1859 to Patrick and Thomas Maguire. In 1884 the Good Samaritan Order acquired it and built St Magdalene's refuge, including a chapel in 1888.

The property takes its name from the Vale of Tempe in Ancient Greece, and the gardens were intentionally designed to reflect this classical landscape along the Cooks River. Visitors can observe how the setting creates a deliberate connection to that mythological geography.

The site sits at 1 Princes Highway, Wolli Creek, beside the Cooks River and near the new railway station; the surviving chapel and iron fencing stand within later high-density development. The penitentiary, laundry and accommodation buildings were demolished after the 1990 conservation order, so expect the villa and chapel rather than a whole estate. Approach on foot from the station.

The Good Samaritan Order took over the estate in 1887 and transformed it into a retreat for women, which led to the construction of the chapel in 1888. This religious community left architectural marks that remain visible today on the grounds.