Manor apartments, 18 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross, is an excellent example of adaptive re-use or recycling of an old building for a contemporary use.

This corner site was previously an ornate 19th century pub. It was common for pubs to be on corner sites to capture passing trade from more than one direction.
It seems to have been eventually architecturally linked to a group of terraces on its eastern side which were built c 1890. Both vacant sites were advertised by Richardson and Wrench in 1864 as part of the sale of the Kellet Estate. Kellet House had been demolished in 1885. It had previously been named Darlinghurst House and had been acquired by Sir Stuart Donaldson in 1845. He was the first Premier of NSW, a prominent merchant and a “colourful character”. He fought a duel with Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1851 over a perceived personal slur.
It was the last known official duel in NSW.
Mitchell was the Surveyor-General and a well-known explorer of NSW and Victoria. Donaldson was a well-known settler of the New England region and was later elected to the Legislative Council and then Premier of NSW in 1856.
While campaigning for re-election Donaldson and Mitchell exchanged words and Mitchell demanded a duel. Both men fired three shots each. All shots missed their targets but Mitchell’s last shot reportedly blew off Donaldson’s hat. That ended the matter.
Donaldson was described as “very stout, very bumptious, a great eater, a man of charm and more socially popular than politically popular.”

The sale of Kellet Estate created an opportunity for a Kings Cross pub. Land prices had increased enormously. In 1830 Lot 21 was sold for 562 pounds but by 1864 lots 1 and 33 were sold for 2,350 pounds. At the time the hotel was built Kings Cross was known as Queen’s Cross. In 1897 a resolution of the Municipal Council of Sydney had been passed to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria: “That the roadway at the top of William Street be hereafter known as Queen’s Cross.” Eight years later and after the Queen’s death in 1901 council renamed it King’s Cross thus also avoiding confusion with Queen’s Square in Macquarie Street.
Some say its gender has been unclear ever since!

The 19th century pub, called Mansion Hotel, was described in 1909 as “having a balcony to every floor, two dining rooms a drawing room, music room smoking and card rooms, accommodation for 150 guests and a ballroom.”
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The hotel was later completely remodelled in the Art Deco style by architect Francis G.Hood in 1937.
After the Sydney 2000 Olympics many hotel rooms became redundant. Mansions Hotel became Manor Apartments with its 29 apartments morphed into a modern set of apartments in a prime location.

By

Andrew Woodhouse
Heritage Solutions