The Ark (Glover Cottages)
The Glover Cottages are National Trust classified and form part of an historic group of buildings
which includes the National Trust Centre, the Agar Steps and the reconstructed Richmond Villa.
Thomas Glover arrived in the colony in 1812 as a free settler stonemason. He worked on
government buildings including South Head Lighthouse, the Hyde Barracks and the Church of St James and, in consequence, received from Governor Macquarie a land grant of 70 acres on the shores of what was then Cockle Bay, now Darling Harbour. On this grant Glover erected, between 1820 and 1823, some cottages of which the existing pair survives. This is the earliest pair of attached terrace houses surviving in Australia and were the seed from which developed all Australian terrace houses. They are made of coursed random sandstone with dressed reveals and a simple hipped roof. The shingled roof was renewed in 1978 and again in 2008; the latest roof is constructed from Australian red mahogany shakes.
Nicknamed ‘the Ark’ when left stranded by the lowering of Kent Street, the cottages are home to
the Australian Institute of International Affairs, NSW. The work of restoration in 1978 reproduced many of the features of the building as originally constructed.
Source: Australian Institute of Public Affairs brochure
The Ark (Glover Cottages)
The Glover Cottages are National Trust classified and form part of an historic group of buildings
which includes the National Trust Centre, the Agar Steps and the reconstructed Richmond Villa.
Thomas Glover arrived in the colony in 1812 as a free settler stonemason. He worked on
government buildings including South Head Lighthouse, the Hyde Barracks and the Church of St James and, in consequence, received from Governor Macquarie a land grant of 70 acres on the shores of what was then Cockle Bay, now Darling Harbour. On this grant Glover erected, between 1820 and 1823, some cottages of which the existing pair survives. This is the earliest pair of attached terrace houses surviving in Australia and were the seed from which developed all Australian terrace houses. They are made of coursed random sandstone with dressed reveals and a simple hipped roof. The shingled roof was renewed in 1978 and again in 2008; the latest roof is constructed from Australian red mahogany shakes.
Nicknamed ‘the Ark’ when left stranded by the lowering of Kent Street, the cottages are home to
the Australian Institute of International Affairs, NSW. The work of restoration in 1978 reproduced many of the features of the building as originally constructed.
Source: Australian Institute of Public Affairs brochure