The Manor, Mosman

The Manor seen from Iluka Road

South side of house, facing Sydney Harbour

The Manor is a mansion in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. Built circa 1911, loosely in the Federation Queen Anne style, it stands in the harbour-front street of Iluka Road, in the Mosman locality of Clifton Gardens. It is listed on the heritage register of New South Wales.^[1]

History and description

The Manor's original owner, a Mr Bakewell, initially planned a cottage of eight rooms, but the project kept growing until it was a mansion with over thirty rooms, most of which were lined with beaten copper. It became known locally as Bakewell's Folly.^[2] In 1922, the Theosophical Society rented The Manor for a community of some fifty people, headed by Charles Leadbeater, a claimed clairvoyant, and a major figure in the Society. The Manor became an important centre for the Society and was regarded as a great "occult forcing-house".^[3]

The English writer Mary Lutyens stayed at The Manor in the 1920s and described it as "a huge and hideous villa".^[4] The young Indian Jiddu Krishnamurti, who was presented as the new "World Teacher", stayed in nearby David Street with his brother Nitya while Lutyens—his eventual biographer—stayed at The Manor.^[5]

The Theosophical Society bought the house in 1925, holding it under a trust deed. In 1926 they started the radio station 2GB; the initials stood for Giordano Bruno, a saint. The station operated from The Manor for a few years.^[6] In 1951, they set up The Manor Foundation Ltd to own and run the house. The Society still uses The Manor as of 2013.

See also

• List of heritage houses in Sydney

References

Coordinates: 33°50′36″S 151°15′03″E / 33.8432°S 151.2508°E / -33.8432; 151.2508