The Hermitage, Vaucluse, Victorian Gothic mansion in Vaucluse, Australia.
The Hermitage is a Victorian Gothic residence sitting elevated above Sydney Harbour. The structure displays multiple roof gables, ornate barge boards along the eaves, and a fortified tower that rises from the hillside on Pennant Avenue.
An earlier building on the site was constructed around 1840 by Alexander Dick. The main house was completed in 1878, though major reconstruction work became necessary after a serious fire struck the property in 1936.
The name comes from the site's original isolation on the hillside above Hermitage Reserve. The house was modelled on Roslyndale in Woollahra, and its carved barge boards and castellated tower show the Victorian Rustic Gothic taste of the 1870s. A small timber cabin stands on a platform beside the main house.
The house is a private residence and cannot be visited inside. It can be seen from Hermitage Reserve and from the surrounding streets, where the gabled roofline, tower and chimneys are visible above the trees. The smaller 1840s house built by Alexander Dick is incorporated into the main building.
The Hermitage incorporates a smaller house built around 1840 by Alexander Dick, predating the main Gothic structure by three decades. The property is now owned by the family of Justin Hemmes, and its former gardens are noted for Norfolk Island, hoop and bunya pines and a stone-and-iron fence along Vaucluse Road.
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