Photo by: Greg O’Beirne licenced under (CC-SA)

Milton Terrace: 1-19 Lower Fort Street. The Rocks, New South Wales.

With a picturesque setting at the feet of the Sydney Harbour Bridge by the harbour this row of ten triple storey houses with sunken English style basements known as “Milton Terrace” built in 1880¹ and  includes individually named terrace homes including Kia-Ora (17), Chelsea (15) and Surrey (13).

The eclectic design of these terraces is intriguing.  Firstly the parapet is very plain, concealing a long single gable roof with exposed party walls.  Long and wide rectangular chimneys with a multitude of pots appear squat rising above the parapet.  Peculiarly for a filigree terrace the majority of interest in the facade is generated by the top level which is not screened.  Significant rhythm is generated by a series of deep classical pilasters.  Additionally rhythm is generated by the pair of equally deep temple like decorated label moulds held up by classical corbels over and around the windows spaced by large etched patterns and decorative vents.  Mayan square swirl motifs appear on both the frieze and the party walls.

A sloped corrugated iron roof is visible atop the verandah and is coloured in alternating vertical bands creating additional interest and rhythm.   The verandah has carefully planned cast iron decoration, although some of the verandahs have been at some stage closed in.  Heavy corinthian cast iron columns add significant weight to the verandah detail.  Interestingly the second storey not having any fringe, just brackets with fine pendants.  The overall impression is increase the detail and weight toward the base and front, effectively grounding the terraces.  This effect is continued through heavy use of cast iron fence railings.   The double hung windows and doors behind the screen are quite subdued in comparison.

The row was built for Donald Lanarch and some of these houses were used as boarding houses in the late 1880s and early 1890s² and remained in possession of the Lanarch family in 1900.