Posts

Clarendon Hotel

Image
The Clarendon Hotel is located at 347 Hunter Street in Newcastle. It was purchased by Tooth & Company in September 1934 and sold in August 1985. On completion of rebuilding the Clarendon hotel in January 1943 the hotel was a three storeyed brick structure with a fully tiled ground floor exterior and an asbestos and malthoid roof. The architects were Pitt & Merewether and the style was known as Art Moderne or P & O Ship Style because of its similarities to ocean liner forms. The Australian National University has many interesting historical photos of Inter War hotels including the Clarendon hotel in the Noel Butlin Archives. Some low-res examples of these are displayed below. Sources: City of Sydney Heritage Listing

The Grand Hotel

Image
The Grand Hotel at 484 Princes Highway in Rockdale was rebuilt by Tooth and Company in 1941 to a design by Rudder and Grout. The large and imposing circular brick facade with in built verandahs and strong horizontal lines make good use of the small corner site. The style of the building is similar the Union Hotel in Newtown and the Rosebery Hotel in Rosebery. Facade detail View of the Lounge Bar View of the Ladies Parlour Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings ANU Open Research Library

The Friend in Hand Hotel

Image
The Friend in Hand Hotel is located at 58 Cowper Street in Glebe. Tooth and Company aquired the original hotel on the site around 1921 and plans for a new hotel, prepared by architect R.M. Joy, were submitted to Council in 1936 and the new building was completed in 1937. The hotel is one of many Sydney hotels built in the interwar Functionalist Style and is made further indicative of the period through the use of Art Deco overtones. Facade detail of the Friend in Hand hotel It is a very cosy hotel with an intimate, friendly atmosphere and great Bistro. The public bar is cosy and has lots of character The completed hotel in 1937 The Public Bar in 1937 Just a wee bit less cluttered than it is compared to today! Sources: City of Sydney Heritage Listings ANU Open Research Library

The Piccadilly Hotel

Image
The Piccadilly Hotel at 171-173 Victoria Street, Kings Cross, was constructed in 1939 for Brewers, Tooths and Company which replaced a previous hotel on the site called the Austral Club Hotel. The Piccadilly hotel is a fine example of an Inter War Functionalist style building designed by prominent architects Provost and Ancher. View of the hotel in Winter with no tree leaves! The hotel is unusual in that it is located in the middle of a block instead of a corner site. In Summer it is difficult to appreciate the Art Deco influences but in Winter the facade is not obscured by the trees in front of the building. The downstairs lounge area is the well known Soho Bar. It is decorated with a very Art Deco feel as illustrated in the photo. Sources: City of Sydney Heritage Listings

The Great Southern Hotel

Image
A hotel has existed at 717-723 George Street Haymarket since at least 1858. The hotel at that time was called The Farmer's Home and the licensee was Michael McNarmara. In 1903 he rebuilt Nos. 717-721 George Street as a four-storey hotel and renamed it the Great Southern Hotel. Notwithstanding the change of name the hotel continued to enjoy the patronage of country visitors. Being opposite Central station made it the first accomodation venue new arrivals would see. It is significant as the finest and rare example of a face brick hotel building of Interwar striped Classical Style in the CBD. The building retains all its original external detailing above the awning and much of the interior and original furniture. Detail of the facade I remember as a child on my first trip to Sydney with my father in the early 60's that the Great Southern Hotel is the first thing I saw when exiting Central Railway Station. It has been indelibly etched in my mind as my first memory of Sydn...

Sutherlands Hotel

Image
Originally called the Westminster Hotel, Sutherlands Hotel has been known over the years as Guys and Dolls Hotel and Bar Broadway. Situated at 2-6 Broadway Chippendale, it has one of the few corner hotel ceramic tiled interiors to be retained largely intact in Sydney. The Sutherlands Hotel is a fine example of an interwar Functionalist style building and is one of five hotels built in this style in the Sydney CBD. The others are the Clare Inn, the Australian Hotel, the Hotel Hollywood and the Civic Hotel. The hotel was put up for sale in 2022 with an expected price tag of $45 million. The original Westminter hotel building in 1930. This is the hotel just after being built in 1940. It is also significant by its association with the well known architectural firm of Rudder and Grout and the brewers Tooth and Company. The builder was Elvy &Co and it was completed on 13th May 1940. The Westminster public bar. The public bar is significant as a rare and fine example of ...

The County Clare

Image
Also known as the Keg Room Tavern, County Clare Hotel, the Hotel Clare and Clare Hotel. The hotel, situated at 20-24 Broadway Chippendale, was originally called Ryan's Hotel until 17th March 1941 when the sign was changed to The Old Clare Hotel. On 25th July 1966 the name was changed to County Clare Inn. It was designed by Sidney Warden and built by S.D.C.Kennedy and Bird Pty. Ltd. The County Clare Inn is one of five similar inner hotels that were built around the same time. These are the Sutherlands, the Hotel Hollywood, the Civic and the Australian Hotel. The green terracotta tiles The green terracotta detailing on the facade is particularly beautiful and is a distinctive feature of the hotel facade. Here is a picture of the main bar The Art Deco style interior ceilings and timber panelling to the ground floor have significance as a fine example of the interior detailing of this style of corner hotel. Ceiling detail above the main bar area. Picture of ...

The Australian Hotel

Image
Also know as the Abercrombe hotel the Australian Hotel, situated at 100-102 Broadway in Chippendale, was constructed in 1938 and is situated on the southern extremity of the Carlton (Tooths) Brewery site. It has aesthetic significance as part of a group of five brick hotels constructed in the Sydney CBD in the interwar Functionalist style. They are the Clare Inn, Sutherlands hotel, the Hotel Hollywood and the Civic hotel. The Australian Hotel building features face brickwork, vertical elements and a curving facade with deeply recessed balconies, all of which are identifiers of the style. The Australian Hotel was one of three hotels built in close proximity to the Carlton (Tooths) Brewery, the others being the Clare Inn and Sutherlands. The architects were Copeman, Lemont and Keesing the builder was H.W. Thompson. The original tiles are still on the building and are in good condition as shown in the photo. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The Hotel Broadway

Image
Originally known as the Albion Hotel the Hotel Broadway, situated at 166-170 Broadway, was constructed in 1936. It is a good and relatively intact example of an interwar Functionalist style hotel building, designed by architect Sidney Warden. Warden designed the vast majority of the Art Deco hotels located in Sydney. A pub crawl of Warden's hotels would be a very long and exhausting exercise! The Albion hotel in 1930 Before the 1936 renovation by Tooth & Co. The Hotel Broadway just after renovation The hotel in 1937 with additional signage on the awning Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings Historical photographs from ANU Tooths & Co Yellow Card Collection

Commonwealth Bank Croydon

Image
This example of the interwar style Art Deco bank buildings built by the Commonwealth Bank is located in Croydon at 6 The Strand. According the the owner of the grocery shop next door the bank finished operations in the building over 10 years ago and the building is currently a video store. The Commonwealth Bank building boasts a nice Art Deco relief above the front door however the rest of the building has been painted unsympathetically to the style. Art Deco relief above front door Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archive Department

Art Deco Buildings in Southport

Image
A stroll down Nerang Street in Southport reveals several beautiful Art Deco buildings. As one of the oldest suburbs on the Gold Coast in Queensland Southport has several excellent examples of Art Deco architecture. Continue down Nerang Street from the Town Hall and you will discover the Cecil B DeMilles Hotel on the corner of Scarborough Street. With its long open verandahs above the awnings and the imposing round Art Deco facade it occupies the corner site like a grand old Hollywood starlet. It is the oldest public house on the Gold Coast to maintain its original name throughout all its years of operation The new hotel replaced an ealier structure on the site and was designed by Addison and MacDonald. It opened in 1938. The exterior of the building included brown and cream tiles with Venetian red bricks cut through with cream bands. The roofing tiles were multi-coloured Marseilles tiles. The interior decoration of the hotel was in red, green and autumnal tones and featured poli...

Hahn Automotive Services

Image
The former Hahn Automotive Services at 117-117A Cleveland Street in Darlington is a rare example of an interwar Art Deco style service station that dates from the key period for the development of service stations in NSW from 1925 to 1939. Plans for the existing building were submitted to council 10/9/37. The building was built on the site in 1939 as a service station and was designed by DT Morrow & Gordon architects of 129 Pitt Street Sydney for Messrs Chippendale Estates Ltd. It has continued being a service station to this day. Sources: Sydney of Sydney Archives and History Resources