"But-Har-Gra" is a heritage listed mansion located on the corner of Georges River Road and Croydon Avenue, in the inner west suburb of Croydon Park. It was built in 1890 in the Victorian architectural style and became the Church of England Hostel for Girls founded by Mariam Annette Grant (nee Button). The name But-Har-Gra comes from her maiden name and her two married names. The estate was left to the Church of England and since 1959 has been used as residential accommodation for students and their families of the Moore Theological College, which instructs ministers for the Anglican Church in Sydney.
The chimneys are very special ;-)
ReplyDeleteVery large. Quite attractive, actually.
ReplyDeletePretty nice student accommodations.
ReplyDeleteWhat an unusual name! I agree with Jack quite good for student accomodation.
ReplyDeleteOne still hears the children laugh before leaving their bikes and entering for dinner.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful building indeed. Please have a good new week.
daily athens
mmmm, perhaps the other comment-ors have not been inside...:) It is incredibly run down inside, but the college and students have been slowly renovating. Excited to see the "But" featured on your blog. I recognize the car out the front as one of our friends who lived in the house while we were living there...
ReplyDeleteThanks for comment Tracey. It's interesting to hear from someone who has actually lived in one of the houses I've featured.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder some Aussies consider NZ as an Aussie state, the landscape and the buildings are almost the same.
ReplyDeleteWow that's a mansion
ReplyDeleteIts a beauty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving a comment on my blog, and now I get more Aussie loveliness in my blog reader. Thank you. You've just made me more homesick.
ReplyDeleteCyd
What a huge house. And good to look at. It is either transitional architecture (halfway between Victorian and Edwardian) or more likely, it was built during the later Victorian era and had add-ons in the new century. Good on the theological college for preserving the building.
ReplyDeleteI have been told that this Building is the old Siesta Private Hospital where I was born in June 1939. Can anybody please tell me who the original owner's were or who I can contact for this information.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Bob thanks
DeleteI have been looking for my pace of birth which was at Siesta Hospital in 1938. My father who owned a fruit & Veg shop at 22 Georges River Rd delivered goods to this place when it was a home. If you get this message please get in touch with me ( trenton.beasley@bigpond.com
Bob, I can't find any info on the Siesta Private Hospital but maybe somebody else might be able to help.
ReplyDeleteBob, I've been researching the history of the house. In 1939 it was the But-Har-Gra Bible Training School, for the Church of England.
ReplyDeleteThe house was left to the Church of England in 1934 by Mariam Annette Grant, in memory of her parents John and Mary BUTTON, her first husband Captain Frank HART, and her second husband Captain C. Hamilton GRANT. This is where the name But-Har-Gra comes from.
Since then it's been a Bible School, a hostel for girls come to the city to study at college/uni, and student accommodation for Moore Theological College.
Hi I played in the gardens as a young cild nearly 50 years ago when my Grandmother was the Matron of college...food service for the young students.
DeleteThank you for the picture.. My mother resided there in the post war forties when it was used as a boarding house for country girls. She spoke fondly of her time there
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