Clarendon House at Nile in Tasmania built in 1838 in the grand plantation style of the southern states of America. Classical columns and grand portico. The owner Cox had 16 children with two wives so he needed a large house.
Clarendon's wealth was built on assigned convicts instead of Black American slaves as in America.
Clarendon House at Nile.
This amazing Georgian Regency house with an impressive portico is unique in Australia. It is surrounded by English parkland gardens and a flower walled garden at the rear. The original owner wanted to impress people. He was James Cox whose father (William Cox) had taken a group of convicts to build the first road over the Blue Mountains towards Bathurst in 1815. For his efforts Governor Macquarie rewarded him with large land grants near Mudgee. James Cox settled in VDL in 1814 and received a land grant of almost 7,000 acres at Nile. He had Clarendon built in 1838 for a cost around £30,000. By this time he was one of the wealthiest men in DVL with six major properties. By sitting the house on a three quarters basement it makes it look even higher than it is. Sweeping steps lead up to the front door like a Southern American slave plantation homestead. From his first floor living quarters James Cox could look down on the world! The front door has a beautiful fan light above it, and the house was designed to be seen from all sides. The corridors inside form a simple cross. From the rear terrace the owners could look down on the South Esk River. He died in 1866 and was buried at St Andrew’s Church of England in Evandale. Inside the house note the nursery or play room upstairs. Cox had eight children with his first wife and then he married the daughter of Lieutenant Governor Collins in 1829. This wife was one of the illegitimate children born of Margaret Eddington just before Collins died in Hobart in 1810! He had another eight children with his second wife. So a nursery would have been an important room in Clarendon!
In Nile you will see other very old buildings possibly including a small stone cottage built by John Batman in 1827. He had 600 acres here and sometimes stayed here before he moved off to establish the village of Melbourne. In Nile village, if you can call it that, you will see the former Nile Inn, an old two storey Georgian style inn that lacks symmetry. It has been vacant for some years and is partly vandalised.
Clarendon House at Nile in Tasmania built in 1838 in the grand plantation style of the southern states of America. Classical columns and grand portico. The owner Cox had 16 children with two wives so he needed a large house.
Clarendon's wealth was built on assigned convicts instead of Black American slaves as in America.
Clarendon House at Nile.
This amazing Georgian Regency house with an impressive portico is unique in Australia. It is surrounded by English parkland gardens and a flower walled garden at the rear. The original owner wanted to impress people. He was James Cox whose father (William Cox) had taken a group of convicts to build the first road over the Blue Mountains towards Bathurst in 1815. For his efforts Governor Macquarie rewarded him with large land grants near Mudgee. James Cox settled in VDL in 1814 and received a land grant of almost 7,000 acres at Nile. He had Clarendon built in 1838 for a cost around £30,000. By this time he was one of the wealthiest men in DVL with six major properties. By sitting the house on a three quarters basement it makes it look even higher than it is. Sweeping steps lead up to the front door like a Southern American slave plantation homestead. From his first floor living quarters James Cox could look down on the world! The front door has a beautiful fan light above it, and the house was designed to be seen from all sides. The corridors inside form a simple cross. From the rear terrace the owners could look down on the South Esk River. He died in 1866 and was buried at St Andrew’s Church of England in Evandale. Inside the house note the nursery or play room upstairs. Cox had eight children with his first wife and then he married the daughter of Lieutenant Governor Collins in 1829. This wife was one of the illegitimate children born of Margaret Eddington just before Collins died in Hobart in 1810! He had another eight children with his second wife. So a nursery would have been an important room in Clarendon!
In Nile you will see other very old buildings possibly including a small stone cottage built by John Batman in 1827. He had 600 acres here and sometimes stayed here before he moved off to establish the village of Melbourne. In Nile village, if you can call it that, you will see the former Nile Inn, an old two storey Georgian style inn that lacks symmetry. It has been vacant for some years and is partly vandalised.