Toxteth Park, Glebe, Heritage house in Glebe, Australia.
Toxteth Park is a two-storey rendered house with a pale cream facade under a red tiled roof, its central gable topped by a metal cross and a statue at each front corner. A two-tier veranda with slender white columns and green wrought-iron balustrades runs across the symmetrical front. John Verge designed it in 1829; George Arthur Mansfield later added a third storey, a tower and a ballroom.
George Allen commissioned John Verge to build Toxteth House in 1829 on 39 hectares in Glebe. His son George Wigram Allen inherited it in 1877 and, before moving in in 1881, had architect George Arthur Mansfield add a third storey, a tower and a ballroom. Lady Allen sold the property to the Sisters of the Good Samaritan in 1901, and St Scholastica's school moved here from Pitt Street.
St Scholastica's opened in Pitt Street in 1878; when Central Station works resumed the site in 1899, the school moved to Toxteth Park in 1901. Its Pitt Street gates were brought along and are still in use. The Sisters of the Good Samaritan now run the house as the Good Samaritan Congregational Centre.
The property is now managed by St. Scholastica's College and can be visited through scheduled group tours with advance booking. Visitors should arrange their visit in advance since tours are offered only at specific times.
George Allen built two additional houses called Tranby and Emslee on the estate, showing how the wealthy family used their large landholding. These secondary buildings are a rare example of an early residential complex from this period.
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