Playfair's Terrace

Playfair's Terrace consists of four connected two-story brick buildings with a continuous hipped roof at 1-7 Atherden Street in Sydney. The houses share a unified facade without visible divisions and maintain the original two-room layout on both ground and first floors.

Thomas Playfair, a local butcher, purchased the vacant land in 1880 and constructed these four terrace houses as residential buildings. The structures were later recognized as significant for understanding the residential patterns in the area.

The terrace houses show the simple building style of working-class neighborhoods in late nineteenth-century Sydney, with restrained exterior design. They reflect the modest living conditions that were typical for the area at that time.

The property is located in The Rocks, a historic neighborhood with narrow streets and pedestrian-friendly walkways. Access is straightforward since the address sits directly in this well-known area.

The four houses were designed as a connected unit by a single owner and retain this connection to this day. This type of unified project from the nineteenth century is unusual in the city's residential architecture.