Joyce Farmhouse, the bungalow on Sydney's colonial fringe named after pardoned convict, listed for auction

By Jonathan Chancellor
Thursday, 10 May 2012

Joyce Farmhouse, the colonial bungalow gem in Sydney’s Baulkham Hills, has been listed for June 2 auction through John Russell of Richardson & Wrench Baulkham Hills, who expects more than $900,000.

The property is named after a convict settler, William Joyce, who in 1794 built the house on 12 hectares of land granted following a conditional pardon. William Joyce had been transported on the Albermarle in 1791 after being tried in 1790 and sentenced to 14 years’ transportation.

After a fire in 1804, he repaired and rebuilt the house, now considered as the definitive design of an Australian colonial bungalow.

Joyce Farmhouse has walls of brick bond with mortar containing seashells along with foundations from the local sandstone.

Its gently pitched roof is supported by a row of timber Tuscan columns set on a sandstone-flagged verandah.

It was in 1969 when Parkes Development subdivided Joyce Farm's land for sale and the farmhouse was scheduled for demolition.

But after the farmhouse block was bought by Mavis Baker it was saved from the wrecker's ball.

Subsequently the late philanthropist Caroline Simpson, who displayed a repeated passion for conserving colonial heritage, bought it and restored it with her design team including David Sheedy, Thomas Gillies and Gay Stanton.

Now set on a 2055-square-metre Valerie Avenue block with level lawns and a circular driveway, the house is offered for sale by Simpson's children.

Bungalow architecture was the first topic of the current Sydney lecture series that traces housing styles in Australia hosted by the Historic Houses Trust as part of the Sydney Open program.

It kicked off last week with author, historian and conservation consultant Dr James Broadbent and Scott Robertson, director of Robertson & Hindmarsh Architects, addressing bungalow homes.

The Thursday evening talks run weekly until June 14 held at The Mint on Macquarie Street, Sydney.
Architects can claim informal CPD points by their attendance.

The series

Apartment
Thursday, May 3, 6pm - 7.30pm
Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon, assistant director, Creative Services, Historic Houses Trust
Adam Haddow, Director, SJB Architects

Villa
Thursday, May 10, 6pm - 7.30pm
Scott Carlin, Curator, Historic Houses Trust
Philip Goad, professor of architecture at the University of Melbourne

Mansion
Thursday, May 17, 6pm - 7.30pm
Dr Charles Pickett, curator of design and built environment at the Powerhouse Museum
Jonathan Chancellor, managing editor, Property Observer

Beach shack
Thursday, May 24, 6pm - 7.30pm
Dr Michael Bogle, design historian
Peter Stutchbury, Peter Stutchbury Architects

Terrace
Thursday, May 31, 6pm - 7.30pm
Keri Huxley, social and political scientist and former mayor of Woollahra Council
Hannah Tribe, founding principal, Tribe Studio Architects

Project home
Thursday, June 7, 6pm - 7.30pm
Dr Judith O’Callaghan, senior lecturer, The University of New South Wales
Tone Wheeler, principal architect, Environa Studio

Portable
Thursday, June 14, 6pm - 7.30pm
Megan Martin, head of collections and access
Sean Godsell, Sean Godsell Architects