The Retreat, heritage-listed cottage in Sydney, Australia

The Retreat is a heritage-listed cottage at 817 Victoria Road, Ryde, built in 1843 by Isaac Shepherd. It stands on land granted to James Squire in 1795 and sold to James Shepherd in 1799; the Shepherd family held it until 1911. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The land was granted to James Squire in 1795 and sold to James Shepherd, a former convict, in 1799, who became a major landowner and whose family held the property for many years. The cottage itself was built around 1843, likely by Isaac Shepherd or William Henry, a retired missionary who settled there after his work abroad.

The Retreat was the home of the Reverend William Henry, who in August 1798 held the first religious service in the district in a barn at Kissing Point. He married Ann, daughter of James Shepherd, as his second wife. In January 1843 he wrote to the London Missionary Society about retiring to Kissing Point, and the Society's reply hoped he would not lack chances to spread the Gospel in "the retreat" he had chosen.

The Retreat stands at 817 Victoria Road, Ryde, in the City of Ryde local government area of New South Wales. The address places it on the main road between Sydney and Parramatta, the route along which the old Eastern Farms district, renamed Ryde in 1841, was settled. The cottage is a heritage-listed building on the New South Wales State Heritage Register, listed on 2 April 1999.

The house was possibly built by James Shepherd, a former convict who became the region's largest landholder, or by William Henry, a retired missionary who led one of the first missions to the Pacific. This unlikely connection between criminal justice, Pacific adventure, and later retirement reveals how varied the paths of early settlers could be.